Never Just Friends by Katerina Winters
Chapter 9
With her knees pulled up to her chest, Maritzia looked out to the pitch-black water ahead of her. With only a few bobbing lights the resort had sprinkled into the water around the bungalows, the oppressive darkness beyond her bungalow's balcony was consuming. An hour or so ago she watched the sunset over the water in an array of magnificent orange and white streaks that slowly faded into hues of purples and deep blues. It had been stunning and a little bit healing.
Victor made his decision, she told herself for the hundredth time. He stopped trying before the trip truly even began. Why bother making such an impassioned plea with her on making things work? Why take her all the way out here only to get immediately frustrated and leave? Did he want her to chase after him to prove her love? Suddenly, she had a picture of him standing in the airport waiting for her for hours with a hopeful look on his handsome face as he stared at the entrance looking for her. Tendrils of guilt began to creep into her mind over the sad concocted image and she shook her head, dispelling them at once. No, that would be dumb since he left while she was asleep and left a note calling it quits. Besides, he knew her. She was not the type to chase after any man—ever.
Feeling a little more invigorated she sat up straight in her seat and looked around for her phone. Oh yeah, she realized as looked back behind her through the wide double glass doors that separated the bedroom and the large bungalow balcony, her phone was dead on the nightstand. Well, that didn't matter, she thought turning to face the darkness of the sea around her. First thing tomorrow, she was going to call the front office of the hotel and either convince them to let her go home early and refund the rest back to Victor's card or she would just have them transfer the entire stay to her own card and she would just work overtime for the foreseeable future to pay it off.
Taking a deep breath, she felt her resolve returning. Running her hands through her loose hair, she sat up on the lounger and eyed at the plunge pool at the corner of the large deck. She had yet to use it. Earlier she had put on her bikini and a white lace coverup after she ate her delivered breakfast. She had planned on taking a swim, but all she ended up doing was getting lost in her thoughts.
A splash near the edge of the deck stole her attention. Stilling in her chair, her heart leapt as she heard another splash just as a hand appeared on the metal ladder on her deck. Fear began to lodge in her throat as she watched the large form pull itself from the water and up the ladder.
She blinked as she stared at the familiar wet figure.
"Cade?!" she called out, her voice sounding croaky.
Standing in what looked like a pair of black cotton boxers, Cade swiped a hand through his curly hair wicking the excess water backwards, and grinned at her. "Hey, Sunshine."
Standing up, Maritzia couldn’t stop staring at him. Was he really here right now or did she somehow tumble off the balcony at some point earlier and bonk her head on the way down and this was all just a figment of her imagination?
"How…how did you…" She couldn’t find the words, she just stared as he walked across the balcony and stopped in front of her.
Clasping both of her shoulders, he pulled her into his wet, firm chest and she couldn’t help but let out an involuntary sigh. "It’s only a three-and-a-half-hour flight to Jamaica, and I swam around from the pier because someone wouldn't answer their door."
Maritzia wanted to step back and laugh or apologize or even just smile at his ingenuity, but she couldn’t. He was here with her right now, the one person she needed so badly right now. The one person she had tried not to think of each second after Victor left. Earlier she had been so tempted to call him, to hear his deep voice on the other end of the line reassuring her as she cried out all her frustrations, but she had stopped herself. Cade had always been friends with her because she was strong. She didn’t want to burden him with her issues with Victor. But as she stood here now pressed against his chest, she felt all her resistance dissolve. Wrapping her arms around his narrow waist, she felt the sting of tears as she buried her face into his wet chest.
"I tried," she said thickly against Cade's cool wet skin. "I tried to make it work. I really did. But…I don't know. I think…maybe I didn’t try hard enough."
The tears she had been holding in for so long breached her final defenses and her shoulders shook.
Cade's arms hugged her tighter and she felt the warm puffs of his breath against her forehead as he leaned over her. "You did try, Sunshine. You tried and gave it more than your all with that prick." His voice rumbled through his chest and around her and Maritzia could feel herself melting into his hold further as he told her the words she needed to hear. "Don't cry for him," Cade continued. "He doesn't deserve it. That entitled asshole left you after you gave him another chance he did not deserve. You tried more than enough, sweetheart."
They stayed like that for a few more minutes as both her tears and his body dried in the cool night air. Eventually, Maritzia pulled away with reluctance and stepped back not looking up to meet his gaze. She felt foolish and exposed.
Clasping her hand, Cade gently pulled her to follow as he walked across the deck to the double glass doors and went inside. Closing them inside the room, he let go of her hand and walked to the door that led to the small entry hallway where the kitchenette and front door was located. Unlocking the door, he rolled in his shiny black luggage which balanced what looked to be a stack of clean sheets on top of it.
"I'm assuming housekeeping left these for you since you had yourself barricaded in here."
Meeting his gaze, Maritzia felt some of the embarrassment fade as she took in his gentle smile. Nodding, she took the stack of linen from him and sat it on a nearby chair as he rolled his suitcase to the closet next to hers.
"Yeah, I didn't feel like seeing anyone," she admitted softly.
"Or talking to anyone, I see," he said, picking up her dead phone off the nightstand. Finding the end of the cord, he plugged it in and gave her a meaningful look.
Needing to look away, she began to peel back the bed's covers. "I just needed time to get my head straight," she explained with a deep exhale. "I didn't expect to feel so-"
"Guilty?" Cade offered.
Maritzia looked up sharply. Standing on the other side of the bed, Cade had his own corner of the sheets scrunched up in his hands as he looked backed at her.
"Ritz, sweetheart, that's what that son-of-a-bitch wanted," he explained. Ripping the rest of the sheets down with one strong tug he let them fall into a pile on the floor at the base of the bed. "No one pulls a bitch-ass move like that not wanting the other person to feel guilty. Fucking asshole," he muttered
"Yeah, I know you're right," she agreed, sounding a little defeated. "It just feels so real now. Even though I have been planning to break up with him for what feels like months now, I just can’t believe it’s here and how it happened."
"I know. Trust me, I know," Cade gave a self-deprecating, dry laugh. Tossing the other end of the fresh, crisp sheet, it floated down slowly between them before she grabbed the other corner. "It's odd," he continued, "how all you want is an escape and your own life back, but when it actually happens you end up feeling guilty. I swear to God, it's like some sort of Stockholm syndrome or some shit. The first day after I broke up with Bethany, do you know I actually felt guilty and asked myself was I making a mistake? Sweet Christ, Ritz, I was fucking miserable in that relationship. Who the hell ask themselves if they're making a mistake when leaving years of slow, grueling torture?!"
She shook her head in disbelief and sat down on the now made bed and looked at him. "I would've knocked you out and dragged you away if you went back to her."
Sitting down heavily on the other end of the bed, he turned so that one knee was bent in front of him. "So just imagine all the very illegal things I wanted to do to Victor while you were slowly making up your mind," he informed her, his eyes flashing dangerously and she knew he meant it.
"Well, it’s over now," she told him, actually feeling a little relieved by the statement.
"Thank God," he grumbled, standing up. Going to the nightstand with her phone he pressed the power button until her phone lit up. "Now come over here, and call your mom and dad while I shower and change. And you may as well call Luis, too, because I damn near had to fight him at the airport from getting on the plane with me."
Maritzia laughed at the image of Luis's stern face clashing with Cade's. "Okay, I will," she sighed and stood up. "And tomorrow, I will get up and speak to management about maybe getting this trip canceled early and refunded to Victor."
Cade was turned with his back towards her as he unzipped his bag on top of the sleek wooden luggage rack. Cade pulled out a set of folded clothes from his bag, and she couldn't help but watch the muscles in his back move under his taut golden skin with each action and realized this was the first time she had ever seen Cade with so little clothes on. Even when they were younger, when he and her brothers went to the pool she had always stayed back at home, too self-conscious of her body in a swimsuit, Cade had worn a shirt and shorts with her brothers as they walked to the pool.
"Don't worry about it," Cade spoke, breaking her out of her reverie. "I already talked to the manager at the front desk on my way in. I got the whole thing refunded to that asshole and put it on my card."
She froze and her stomach knotted. "Cade, you didn't?!" she cried, praying he was lying.
Facing her now, he stood there in his partially dry boxers and gave her a challenging smile. "I did."
"You can’t!" she exclaimed, her mind reeling and trying to calculate the no doubt staggering cost of the fancy resort. Cade had already spent a fortune last month on her expensive birthday gift; he couldn’t afford this too. They were just city employees, for God's sake.
"I can," he drawled out the word as he went into the bathroom, leaving the door opened behind him. "I mean, I will be eating ramen noodles for a while but I can-"
"Caden Moore, listen to me," she demanded, taking a step forward towards him. "You will not. I can't let you. Tomorrow, we will go down to the front desk and-"
Grabbing her by the shoulders, he spoke to her softly but firmly, "Tomorrow, all I plan on doing is lounging side by side with you on that deck." He pointed to the double glass doors. "We will snorkel, order room service all day, and maybe even hang out in that terrifying hammock-looking thing. Because you and I need a break, sweetheart. Between your uncle working us like slaves and the horribly shitty relationships, we have endured, we fucking need it. You want to pay me back, then start saving for Switzerland because I'm dead serious about going with you, Sunshine."
Not knowing what to say she wrapped her arms around his waist once more and buried her face into his warm chest with a smile and nodded.
~*~
The cool breeze softly brushing over her bare back was the first thing Maritzia sensed as she stirred awake with a groan. Frowning into the soft pillow she hugged the lush bedding closer around her face. Her mouth felt incredibly dry as memories of last night slowly trickled to the surface.
She and Cade had stayed up late drinking a tasty little drink he concocted from their stocked kitchen. Mixing the rum and papaya juice over ice, he had handed her a tall glass of the stout drink. Laying out on the hammock above the dark lapping water, they had stared up at the stars and talked deep into the night. He told her stories from his time in the army, some she had heard before and he had elaborated on and some completely new. Despite growing tipsier and tipsier by the hour, Maritzia had listened intently. Through his stories, she saw new facets of Cade's personality that she rarely experienced. Telling her of the time he had to chew out a corporal officer under his command reminded her of him barking orders at her on the night of her birthday party. His angry face from that night still burned in her mind. His wide-set jaw and his narrowed dark eyes radiated authority as he came running toward her, his large hand outstretched towards her ready to pull her to him. The memory made Maritzia feel hot all over. Embarrassed by the feeling, she had taken a healthy swallow of her drink—and it was the last clear memory she had.
Fragments of scenes whirled in her mind. Images of Cade's strong hands reaching for her as he knelt down with a smile on the deck next to her. Flashes of his naked chest coming closer to her as she lay in the bed mixed with images of the fan slowly rotating above her in the dark. That was all she could piece together, everything else was blank. There was nothing about how they slept together in the same bed, a thought that had weighed on her earlier that night while he showered. Maritzia had nearly dropped her phone when talking to her mother, busy assuring her that she was fine and Cade was with her now when she realized what him staying for the rest of the trip meant. Not once growing up had she ever slept in the same room as Cade—well, not alone. She had fallen asleep on the couch in her living room once as they watched movies, but her mother was always nearby in the kitchen sitting at the table talking on the phone while her brothers were in the next room. But her worries were whisked away by the lulling effects of the rum and now she couldn’t recall a single detail of last night's sleep.
The sound of a door opening and muffled talking drew her from the soft confines of her pillow. Using all of her strength, Maritzia sat up onto her forearms with a groan. Looking past the empty spot in the bed, she watched as the door that separated the kitchen area and the bedroom opened and Cade walked in carrying a dark wooden tray filled with food and drinks.
Catching her eye, he gave her a wink. "Good morning, Sunshine."
"Good morning," she returned groggily as she pushed herself onto her back.
She watched as Cade's dark eyes widened at her before shifting suddenly away. Confused, Maritzia looked down and started at the sight of herself. Twisted around her torso, her lavender tank top she slept in was pulled down beneath her bra, exposing an ample amount of her cleavage. Sitting up, she readjusted her shirt and immediately realized she needed to pee. Looking over to Cade who was sitting the food down at the edge of the sun-soaked bed, he looked up and gave her an understanding smile.
"Go pee while I set up breakfast," he ordered playfully.
Smiling back at him, Maritzia ran a self-conscious hand through her tangled curls. Cade's light brown curls were mussed from sleep and puffy without their product, but he looked good. Turning to stand in front of the double glass doors, he pushed the curtains out wider, the sound of metal-on-metal screeching softly in the quiet room as more of the Caribbean sun drenched their suite. Rays of sunlight outlined the lines of his muscular back and powerful arms through his white t-shirt and matching white linen shorts as he stood with his arms outstretched by the window. He looked amazing, while she knew for a fact without the need to look in the mirror that she looked like roadkill. Quickly going to the bathroom she grabbed her hairbrush and her toothbrush out of her toiletry bag and got to work.
With fresh breath, perfectly brushed hair, and a scrubbed face, she was presentable. Stepping back out into the bedroom with a robe tied around her waist, Maritzia crawled back into her spot on the bed, noticing that her and Cade's pillows were now propped up against the headboard, making it perfect to sit up and eat.
Cade walked out of the kitchen area holding some silverware and waved at the tray of food on the bed and announced, "Your breakfast, though it's technically a little past noon."
"Thank you," she said, taking a sip of the milky coffee.
"So, we have the next six days to relax and chill before we go back to New York and face the no doubt human-sized stack of cases the chief will give us. Any ideas on how you want to spend them?"
Leaning back into the pillows, careful not to spill her coffee, she tilted her face up to the glorious sunlight and considered his questions. "I want to do a little bit of everything."
~*~
With each day that passed, Maritzia could feel her guilt ebbing away under the tide of happiness. Sitting on the warm deck, the bright sun was slowly drying the droplets of water still sprinkled on her skin. Having just pulled herself up the metal ladder of their bungalow, her snorkeling equipment sat next to her on the warm wood as she smiled down at the big shape moving around under the crystal blue surface. Cade's muscular figure glided beneath the water's surface like a shark barely rippling the surface as his powerful arms reached forward to propel himself through the water.
Bending one knee, Maritzia rested her cheek against it and watched the slow, mesmerizing display. Had she ever been this happy before? For the past few days her heartfelt so oddly light, she had nearly had the desire to giggle—an act that was not at all in her skillset. The urge to laugh, hum, sing and even dance was all around her as she woke up each day next to Cade.
At first, she felt anxious climbing into bed with him on their second night. Completely sober this time, she felt hyper-aware of every action she took as she pulled back the sheets. It felt as if her heart was hammering in her chest while her thoughts were twisting and soaring to every possibility. Was this a betrayal to Victor? Sleeping in the same bed Victor had just vacated days ago with the man he hated. Was she wrong? No, she told herself firmly as she pulled the crisp white sheets up to her chest. Victor left her! Besides, this was technically Cade's bed now since he was the one paying for it. Steeling herself to look to the left side of the bed, she bit her lip to suppress the groan at the edge of her lips as she watched Cade pull off his t-shirt. Hard flesh thickened by daily rigorous workouts flexed at the simple action. The firm round rise of his pecs bunched and gathered as he tossed the shirt to the side and reached for the edge of the comforter. Her eyes watched helplessly as the deep grooves along his tight abdominals relaxed and tightened with each movement. It was like a cruel synchronized dance. She had forced herself to look away. Staring up at the slow-moving ceiling fan, she tried to purge her riotous mind from the images.
But despite the nightly torture Cade's body caused her, Maritzia was truly happy. Their days alternated from lounging peacefully in their bungalow ordering huge platters of room service, to snorkeling and exploring the resort's other activities. Yesterday, Cade had taken her jet skiing on the far side of the resort away from the crystalline lagoon their bungalows sat in and into the deep blue waters off the coast. Holding onto his lean waist for dear life, she laughed and squealed in delight as he zipped them around in circles. By the time she had gotten off, her legs felt like jelly and her cheeks were sore from laughing so much.
"Oh, no," Cade had said as she started to take the pathway back to their section of the resort. Taking her arm, he gently pulled her down the other fork in the concrete path. "We've got way more things to knock off this list." With a list of activities and their daily times he retrieved from the activity center, Cade waved the paper at her.
After a day of jet skiing, zip lining, and windsurfing, Cade blessedly allowed her a day of rest today. Waking up, he had served her breakfast in bed and somehow found a cheesy Lifetime movie on TV. Spending the morning watching a woman nearly get killed by her new good-looking boyfriend and her ex-husband coming in to save the day, they finally got up and went snorkeling.
Bracing herself with her outstretched arms, Maritzia leaned back letting her head fall between her shoulder blades, and closed her eyes. The rays of the sun felt good on her body. Stretched out like this she could feel her skin begin to grow warm and her blue and white swimsuit dry. Water splashed to her left and she felt the gentle thump of Cade pull himself up and onto the deck, but she didn't open her eyes. Heavy footsteps vibrated around her until she felt the warm presence settle alongside her. Maritzia didn’t need to open her eyes to know that the warm radiating heat running alongside her body belonged to Cade as he stretched out next to her. She would not look at his glistening, Adonis-like body. She would not, she repeated over and over again. The small seafoam green swim shorts he had put on this morning had tested the very fabric of their friendship already.
She had emerged from the bathroom with the same swimsuit she had worn every day prior, a blue and white short and tank set that showed off her hard-earned abs. Maritzia had picked up the sporty suit at a Nike store, loving the way the bold colors and understated cut made her feel feminine and sleek. Opening the bathroom door, she stopped in her tracks while her heart nearly did the same. Standing by the open double doors drinking a bottle of water, Cade stood in the blinding sunlight wearing a tight pair of swim-trunks.
Pointing her finger at them, she gave him a startled look. "What in the world?"
Lowering the bottle from his lips, Cade followed the line of her finger and glanced down at his shorts before looking back at her with a guilty grin. "Yeah, well…I didn't realize these would be so small," he said, plucking at the seafoam green fabric that had light blue sailboats faintly patterned across it.
Small was an understatement. Unlike the black shorts he had worn the day before, these sat much higher on his legs showcasing, his muscular thighs perfectly.
"Why not wear your shorts from yesterday?" she asked, still stunned and forced to look away.
"I hate putting on a wet pair, I don't know how you do it."
"Well, I only brought this one suit so I have no choice, and secondly, I lay mine on the balcony to dry," she informed him as she folded her pajamas and laid them inside her suitcase. Anything to keep her eyes off of him.
"I brought four pairs," Cade said smugly.
"And are they all going to be the wrong size like those?" she countered, gesturing dismissively towards his shorts.
"Maybe," he drawled. "But as long as my junk has plenty of room there's really no issue."
"I suppose, but they are small as hell. They make you look…look like a Magic Mike cast member," she said, flustered for words. "While mine makes me look just-"
"Gorgeous?" he offered with a smile, his eyes, however, completely serious.
Swallowing, she took an unsteady breath. She was not prepared for him to say that. Over the years he had called her beautiful dozens of times, each time she cherished and kept the moments stored deep in her heart, but never did he say gorgeous. Awkwardly she began to reach for the folded towel she had on the bed, anything to avert her gaze from his.
"Umm…well, I was gonna say toned, but thank you," she laughed nervously.
Cade made a scoffing noise as he too grabbed his towel off the nearby chair. "You are fit as fuck, but not in the way I'm sure your anxious mind is conjuring right now. I for real thought I was going to have to get, how should I say it mildly—authentic—with the jet ski guy yesterday," he said crisply, his eyes twin pools of danger and amusement.
"What? With David?!” she asked, a little startled by the look in his eyes as she recalled the nice attendant at the beach. “What for? He was so helpful."
"Mmm…almost too helpful," he grumbled. "Hell, nearly every guy here who sees you nearly trips over himself watching you go." He raised an eyebrow in challenge.
"Okay, now I know you're lying.” She shook her head with a laugh. “It's sweet, but there is no need. Come on, let's go before it gets too hot."
Every guy. Maritzia still snorted at that. Like hell, she thought. Besides, the secret forbidden thought voiced itself deep in her heart, she wouldn’t want the attention of every guy here—just one would do.
"Hey," his deep voice whispered at her side.
Opening her eyes, she squinted from the bright sun and turned her head. Her stomach tightened as she looked to see Cade staring directly at her from his position lying on the deck next to her.
"Mmmm," she intoned softly.
Turning more onto his side until he was able to prop his head up with his hand, he gave her a questioning look. "Want to have dinner at the resort's restaurant tonight and get all dressed up?"
Thinking of the dress and heels she brought, she nodded eagerly. She had bought the cocktail dress last year for a wedding that got canceled. This would be a perfect chance to wear it. "Sure, let's."
~*~
Standing beside the double glass doors that overlooked the deck, Cade stared out into the night at the familiar blue and white swimsuit sitting on one of the loungers to dry. The accursed thing was the bane of his existence. For days now, he had watched Maritzia emerge from the bathroom dressed in the impossibly tight material and somehow each time he stifled back the urge to let out a long painful groan. Her figure was fucking criminal. Trim and tight, her body was like a sculpted work of art, from the graceful lines of her shoulders down to the narrow curve of her waist. Cade could see flashes of her toned abs pressing beneath the soft skin of her smooth stomach with each movement. Overly defined musculature was something he knew she was adamantly avoiding when they worked out together during their lunch breaks. Focusing on cardio rather than weights, her body was lean and tight, which favored the aura of vitality and strength she exuded daily. But he had no idea she had been hiding this body beneath her clothes. They were friends and partners. There were never reasons to see each other without clothes on, so how could he know? Fucking hell, he hadn’t been prepared for this.
The door to the bathroom opened and Cade turned and stopped. With her hands crossed over her chest, holding the front of the deep purple lace gown flat to her breasts, Maritzia gave him a shy but pleading look.
"Can you button up the back?" she asked, her voice whispery soft, losing some of its normal huskiness.
His body tightened as he forced himself to calmly walk over. For days, he had been living in a dream with her. Climbing into bed with her each night was like living in a beautiful sparkling dream that ended with him being sandblasted in the face each morning when he woke up next to her supine body with a raging hard-on. It was a glorious cruel torture that he loved. If risking the massive blood loss to his brain each and every morning was what he had to do, he would. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, he realized—he loved her.
Those were words he had never said, never thought, never even allowed to come into existence deep in his mind until her fucking brother dragged them to the surface. Ritz was his friend, his family, and he loved her more than anything. It was a feeling he realized was there but couldn’t quite name as a kid. But at that time, he had no right to act on it, to explore it further, he couldn't jeopardize his new family. By the grace of God, he and his mother had found people who took them in as if they were their own. Alina DeLeon, Ritz's mother, treated his mom like a true sister, not only giving her the friendship his mom needed, but also the emotional support she needed even more. Suddenly a single mother with a young teenage boy, his gentle mother was in over her head. The DeLeons had stepped in and saved her. Their never-ending supply of kids his age and a team of father figures were always at hand to help not only guide Cade through the tenuous stage of life, but also a wall of solid strength for his still-grieving mother. Cade knew deep down if he had made his unnamed feelings known for Ritz, he would have changed everything for the worse. He would have been seen as a predator by Maritzia's protective dad and brothers, and he and his mother would have been pushed out of the protective nest their family provided all because of him. He could not risk it.
Besides they were friends, just friends, he had told himself over and over again. Convincing himself that his feverish feelings were just temporary and that of a teenage boy, Cade had left for the army telling himself that Ritz's tears were that of a girl losing her friend and not of a broken heart. It wasn't until he brought Bethany back with him did Cade acknowledge the hurt in Maritzia's eyes, exposing the truth he thought he buried. But by then it was too late, he had already made Bethany upend her life for him, leaving her comfortable nursing position in Alabama to follow him to New York. He had told himself he loved her and savagely reminded himself that his feelings for Maritzia were just that of family. That’s what it felt like with sisters who were your best friend, he had thought. You love them with everything you have until it becomes a constant dull pain that flares within you every time you see them. Cade just didn't expect the pain to become excruciating when she began dating Victor. He had no idea he had been in love with her for years! What did he have to base it on? When he got with Bethany, the feelings he had for her were so mild, so sedate, it was almost a relief. How could he have known that tepid relief would turn into discomfort and resentment? Bethany had told him he had wasted valuable years of her life as he strung her along, pretending to love her. She had cried and thrown things at him as he gathered his belongings and left her in their apartment. She was right. It was all his fault, he knew that. He had been an idiot who had been too scared to acknowledge the inferno burning inside of him for another woman.
The woman standing in front of him now.
"Turn around," he ordered thickly.
Flicking her dark cinnamon eyes up at him to try and read his mood, Maritzia slowly turned on her bare feet until her back was exposed to him.
Cade sucked in a breath at the sight. There was no bra. Only her hold of the gown against her chest kept the off-the-shoulder dress from falling straight to the floor. His eyes trailed down the curve of her shoulders and down the smooth hot skin of her back. Very carefully, he reached out his hands at the base of the dress and gathered the lacy material tighter. The slight movement against her freshly washed skin brought his attention to the scent of amber and jasmine floating in the air around her. Cade's jaw tightened as his fingers worked at the tiny fabric-covered buttons. One by one he pushed them into their respective tiny loop counterparts as he ignored the savage howl of his senses.
He needed her. He wanted to grab the dress by both sides and rip all his work away. He wanted to yank down the dress and turn her around and kiss her shocked expression before carrying her to their bed. Tightening his fists for a second, he paused at the near top of her gown, gathering his waning sanity for a moment, before buttoning the last buttons.
Stepping away from him, Maritzia turned and gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you. I honestly didn't realize it had so many buttons."
"I'm happy to help," he forced himself to reply in his normal cheerful tone.
Maritzia made a noise of agreement as she grabbed a pair of black heels from her bag and sat at the edge of the bed. He wanted to help her, to push her hand away and kneel down and put them on her himself, but Cade knew his limit—and he was at the fucking edge of it. Standing back, he watched her as her curly hair fell around her face like a curtain as she bent to strap on the shoe.
"Yeah, I'm glad too, the more I think about it," she mumbled as she grabbed the other shoe off the bed. "I'm sure if Victor was still here, he would have found a way to complain about it or something else I'd done."
And there it was, the sign he was making the right decision in keeping his feelings quiet. Done with her shoes, Maritzia stood up and paused at the silent comforting look he was giving her. A flash of pain passed through her eyes and Cade knew she still needed time to heal. It wouldn’t be fair to her to thrust his feelings on her. Not now, not after only a few days of her jerk boyfriend walking out of her life. Did she still love Victor? Was there still a chance she would want him back once they were back home? Cade didn’t know what she was fully thinking, not yet. Holding out an arm, he watched with satisfaction as she stepped towards him and linked her arm with his. But just because he didn’t have her answers now didn't mean he didn’t have his own. And the simple fact of the matter was, he loved her, and he knew deep down she loved him, too.
Now, the only thing they needed was time.