Page 27 of Dreaming at Seaside
Chapter Seven
BELLA HEARD CADEN’S truck roll onto the crushed-shell driveway in front of her cottage. Her stomach did a little flip.
“Oh no. He’s early.” Bella turned away from Jenna and Amy and took a quick look in the mirror. She didn’t usually wear pink in public, and when she bought the pale-pink, strapless, crushed-cotton minidress on a whim one summer, she’d thought she’d wear it around the quad when she and the girls were hanging out. She had yet to wear it, even around the quad, but when they were searching for just the right outfit, this one spoke to her.
“Better that he comes early now than later,” Amy said with a devilish grin.
Jenna laughed. “Did our Ames really just say that?”
“There won’t be any coming later,” Bella said with a serious voice, though she wasn’t as confident as she sounded. Memories of their make-out session made her icy nerves turn white-hot.
“Yeah, right.” Jenna patted Bella’s butt.
Amy peered out of the bedroom window. “He’s gonna knock on the door,” she whispered. “Hi, Caden!” Amy waved out the window.
“Oh, hey, Amy.” Caden’s deep, sexy voice settled in Bella’s ears like a tease.
“Come on in.” Amy turned around with a wide smile. “Not-date time.” She pretended to clap her hands.
“You guys are sure I look okay?”
“Hold on.” Jenna disappeared into the bathroom and came out with Shalimar perfume. She spritzed it on Bella’s neck, then bent and shot it up her skirt.
“Really, Jen?”
“Hey, just in case.” Jenna dragged her out of the bedroom.
Caden met them in the living room, looking devastatingly handsome in a pair of jeans, a gray button-down shirt, and a pair of leather sandals. He held a brown bag in one hand and a bouquet of pink roses in the other.
He dragged his eyes down Bella’s body. “Wow. You get more beautiful every time I see you.”
“Thanks. I just threw this old thing on,” Jenna said, twisting from side to side.
Bella held his stare, ignoring Jenna’s joke. It was hard not to ignore everything else when his eyes said,I want to kiss youand her mind replied,Oh yes.
“You’re not looking so bad yourself.” Bella felt as though they were moving in slow motion as they each stepped forward.
“Hi,” he said softly. “These are for you.”
“They’re my favorite. Thank you.” He smelled like strength and a warm embrace. Bella lifted up on her toes, and he met her halfway for a sweet kiss. She felt the bouquet slip from her fingers and heard Amy padding into the kitchen. The running faucet told her Amy had snagged the bouquet and was putting it in a vase. When their lips parted, Bella remained on her toes. She felt his fingers touch hers, and only then did she come back down to earth.
“I also brought you something else.” He lifted the bag between them. “There was another break-in, and I noticed that you had pretty simple locks on your doors and windows.”
“You bought me locks?” Bella peered into the bag. She glanced at Jenna and Amy and knew they could hear her silent remark.He bought me locks!Locks were a whole different level than flowers. Locks showed that he cared about what happened to her. That thought conjured up all sorts of futures.
“I know it’s not a very romantic gesture, but this isn’t a date, so…”
“But you brought me flowers. That’s pretty dateish.”And I love it.
“Okay, maybe you got me there. But when I saw them, they screamed your name. I really had no choice but to bring them to you.”
Bella didn’t think before she reached up and stroked his clean-shaven cheek. His skin was baby soft. She ran her finger along the sharp line of his jaw, then went up on tiptoes again and kissed the dimple in his chin.
“That wasn’t a date kiss, either. Your dimple was screamingmyname.”
He tightened his grip on her hand, and the room became ten degrees hotter.
“Okay, kids. On that juicy note, we’re outta here.” Jenna grabbed Amy’s hand. “Let’s go, sugar pop. I’ve got a bottle of Middle Sister with our name on it.”
