From This Moment

He stops and strokes the hair down my back. “Are

you sure you want to hear the rest?” he asks, his voice full of emotion.

I kiss his chest. “Cade, no matter what you say, I’m not going anywhere.”

“One night when the kids were about two years old, she told me she would try and get better, that she needed my help. She said it would help if we tried to make the marriage work, which meant she wanted to share my bed. That was the first time really, because we’d stopped sharing a bed shortly after we got married and we hadn’t had sex since the night we conceived the twins. At first she seemed to be trying. She was there for the kids, wasn’t snapping or crying. Or heaven forbid, drinking the days away. I started to trust she was making a change for the kids, changing for me. Eventually I let her into my bed again, which lasted for all of one night. She told me she was on birth control to regulate her period. Nine months later, Beth arrived.”

Cade’s body tenses and I chance a look into his eyes, stormy with anger. “Three weeks later she took off,” he continues, but it feels like the words are being dragged from him. “Three months after that, I found out she was dead. Drug overdose. I have three kids with a woman I only had sex with twice. What are the chances of that?”

I lift my head again and see the hurt and anger in his eyes. As much as he seems to have his life together, it’s clear the decisions regarding his late wife still haunt him. I want to comfort him and make him realize just how amazing he is.

Moving further up his chest so that we’re face to face, I say, “If it was me pregnant with your baby, I would consider myself the luckiest woman alive. I sure as hell would never leave you.” I caress his face. “Thank you for telling me.”

Lowering my head, I kiss her on the lips. “I love you.”

Another kiss, and I snuggle in to talk about my life, giving him time to recover from reliving part of his past. “I’m a native of Rhode Island. I was fourteen when my parents died in a plane crash in Alaska during a blizzard. My father was the pilot. Having no other relatives in the States, I went to live in Ireland with my maternal grandmother, whom I became close with during the eight years we lived together. I have a Degree in Computer Science and Languages from Trinity College in Dublin, which made my grandmother proud. She died in her sleep two years ago, leaving me heartbroken.”

Cade hugs me close while I continue, “Her husband was a banker and invested really well. When he passed away, two years before my parents died, he left her quite wealthy and she left it all to me, along with my inheritance from my parents. I never really thought about the money. My grandmother wasn’t about luxury and wealth, she was about living a comfortable and happy life. Honestly, I would trade in all of the money if it meant having her back, or having my parents back.”

I feel the sting of tears behind my eyes and I breathe in the calming scent of Cade to wash away my sorrow. “I met Nick just over six months ago and he charmed me right off my feet. Right from the start, I was swept away so I just allowed the current to pull me along. Before I knew it, we were engaged and planning a wedding. I didn’t love him. I guess I loved the attention and the idea of being part of a family again. Nick has four sisters, and each with at least a couple of kids. They all made me feel welcome.”

I lift my head to look at Cade and grin at him. “So after the wedding was cancelled, I took a flight to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and fell head over heels in love with the sexiest guy I’ve ever met. Not only does he have a hot body, but a great personality and an amazing voice. I could listen to him talk all day, and now I’m going to place a hot kiss on his . . .”

And before I can finish, Cade grabs hold of my head and brings me in for one very hot kiss. I end up wiggling all over him, his erection growing larger by the second against my stomach.

Cade

Still kissing Rona, I can’t get enough of her. In less than a week, she has come to mean everything to me. How the hell am I going to let her go back to Ireland? But more pressing is the fact that I have to leave for Denver very soon.

I pull away from the kiss. “I need to tell you something. I’m leaving for Denver in a few hours. If it was something I could get out of, then I would. But I have a meeting with a client tomorrow morning at eight.”

Rona goes still and the silence stretches so long that I wonder whether or not she’s fallen asleep. “Rona?”

“Sorry. I’m just tired.”

“Okay. I’ll ring when I can tomorrow. I even thought about taking you with me, but Anna and Beth have no idea about us and I really don’t want them finding out this way.”

“I don’t like the idea of you being away, but I’ll be okay. Maybe I can catch up with some laundry.”

I feel Rona drift off to sleep. Holding her close for about thirty minutes, I extract myself from her and grab a blanket from the back of the sofa. Covering her up, I head to my room to shower and pack for my flight.

Chapter 9

Jake

It’s been twenty-four hours since Elise called me on my cell, and I’ll admit I’ve been sitting, waiting for another call asking me to meet her. The wait is killing me. I just need to see her and ask her if she loves the guy she’s with. If she does, though it will break my heart¸ I’ll leave her alone. All I’ve ever wanted is for her to be happy.

Not willing to wait any longer, I send her a text message asking if we can meet now. Patience has never been one of my strongest points, at least when it comes to her. Get me in my uniform and I could stay put for days and wait for whatever was about to happen. But with Elise, it’s nonexistent.

I will her to reply as I stare at my cell, then drop the damn thing when it beeps. God, I’m reacting like a teenage girl. I need to get a grip before I make a total ass of myself.

Grabbing it from the floor, I grin like an idiot when I read her reply. Come over now. She doesn’t even ask if I know where she lives, which proves she knows me well. I probably knew her address the minute she rented the house.

Dashing to the bathroom, I spray on some cologne that Beth bought me last Christmas—she swears women find it irresistible. I only hope it works its magic on Elise.

I collect my cell and keys on the way through my room, and head through the house. When I detour through the kitchen I spot my dad and Rona cuddling on the sofa. I watch them for a minute before I slip out the door, closing it softly behind me so I don’t disturb them.

Climbing into my truck, I head down the drive and think about my dad. I can’t ever remember him being this happy. I’m not sure how my sisters will take to Dad and Rona. Hopefully, they’ll see what I see and accept the age difference because Dad finally has someone to call his own. He’s been alone a long time. I don’t even remember him bringing a woman home. So, with a bit of luck, they’ll be able to accept the age difference. I’m not even sure my dad’s fully there himself yet, but he will be.