Page 119 of Heartless
That shuts me up.
“In the coffee shop. I was standing behind you and couldn’t stop thinking about how incredible your laugh was. All fucking light and warm. It made me want to laugh too.”
My tongue darts out over my lips as I regard him.
“I’m—fuck—I’m scared, Willa. I’m scared you’re too young. That you haven’t lived enough. That you’re too far out of my league. I’m scared I won’t be enough for you and you’ll walk away. And I’ll be stuck here in the shambles again. And so will Luke this time.” His free hand swipes at his hat, shifting it on his head as he looks away again.
“I’m scared too,” I blurt out. “But not too scared to try.”
He stares at me. Hard. It’s unnerving really. And then he rasps out, “Yeah, me neither.”
I beam at him and see a ghost of a smile on his lips before he starts shoveling again.
“I’ll call my brother and quit. That will be fun.”
“If you need to go back to the city for a while, that’s fine. You might want to take your time.”
“And what? Pretend we haven’t been living together for almost two months already? Should I go live up at the main house with Harvey?”
He doesn’t even flinch. “That might give us a chance to date properly. Maybe a little distance is good for you to be sure about everything. Or we could commute.”
I roll my eyes and cross my feet. “Shut up, Cade. Stop being so mature.”
“Someone has to be,” he grumbles, tossing another shovelful of dirt over his shoulder and looking mighty sexy as he does it.
“Hey, you know what this yard needs?” I press my index finger to my lips as I make a show of examining the property.
“What?”
“A real good blow job.”
Cade barks out a raspy laugh and shakes his head. “Lord help me, what have I done?”
We spend the rest of the day like that. Him digging. Me making fun of him. And eventually Luke comes out and plays us a song he made up.
For once, I feel settled. Like everything in my life is where it’s meant to be.
30
Cade
Willa:Why did you leave me a Post-it note saying,No panties today?
Willa:That just ruins the surprise.
Cade:Because I want easy access.
Willa:Cade Eaton. This is a family event.
Cade:Hasn’t stopped you before.
Willa:That was a one-time thing.
Cade:No, it wasn’t. It was a precedent-setter.
Willa:Luke is going to be able to read these soon.
Cade:Did you change the subject because you know I’m right?
