Lucky Break (15 page)

Okay, so maybe this opening wasn’t the
best
thing he’d ever felt.

The best was currently sitting on the stool next to him, laughing and smiling like she couldn’t be happier to be where she was. He knew it wasn’t true, but right now he felt completely content. No, that wasn’t a strong enough word. More like, complete. Like he had everything he wanted.

“Beer?” Rowan asked, but he shook his head.

All he wanted to do was look around Lucky’s…look at the beautiful woman sitting next to him and enjoy it.

Sidney turned and started talking to Betsy, who was sitting on the other side of her. She’d gone back to her long skirts and oversized shirts, hiding the figure she’d hinted at the other night.

Not that Kade had his eyes on her. He only wanted one woman here. Over the years he’d dated others. Women he liked and who liked him. Girls who made him laugh or who made him think. People whose company he enjoyed, but nothing like this. Nothing like her.

Kade rubbed a hand over his face before signaling Rowan over again. “How ’bout that beer.”

Chapter Ten

“Look at this place!” Jace walked up to Kade, Sidney, and Betsy. He had a blond woman on his arm who Kade didn’t recognize. Another lady with short hair and an even shorter skirt stood on the other side of the blonde. Kade held in his laugh. Jesus, Jace liked the ladies. He always had…but
two
of them?

“It’s doing all right.” Kade nodded at him.

“This is Leslie and her friend Tracy. I told them about the opening tonight and they were both really excited to check out your place.” Jace’s cocky grin told him they wanted to check out a lot more than just Lucky’s. “Ladies, this is Kade.”

Tracy stepped up closer to him, giving him a much bigger smile than he felt comfortable with. “This place is amazing…Jace said you did most of the remodeling yourself. You must be good with your hands.”

“Excuse me. I better get going,” he heard Betsy mumble before she slipped away. That’s when Sidney turned around and her gaze zeroed right in on the woman beside him. Damned if he didn’t like the way her eyes narrowed in jealousy.

He raised his eyebrows at her, showing her he knew exactly what she was thinking. Then he grabbed her and pulled her to his lap. She tried to jerk away—stubborn woman!—but he wouldn’t let her. Yes, they may be temporary, but he also wanted everyone to know she belonged to him, for that moment at least.

“Sidney, you know Jace. These are his friends, Tracy and Leslie.”

Tracy stepped back and he felt the tightness ease out of Sidney’s body. Yeah, he
definitely
liked this jealous thing.

“I knew it.” Jace playfully pulled a small lock of Sidney’s hair. “About time you two crazy kids got together.”

Peaches leaned away from Jace and he expected her to pull back from him, too, but she surprised him by staying firmly planted in Kade’s lap and saying, “Yeah, maybe one day you’ll grow up, too.”

Jace chuckled. “Touché.”

Kade gave her waist a small squeeze. She always was good on the fly. “Have a seat. Drinks on the house for you guys.” He motioned the three of them to the stools Sidney and Betsy had emptied. Rowan filled their orders and then stayed while they all talked.

He kept his arms tight around Sidney’s middle while looking over her shoulder to talk to Jace. “How’s work going?”

“Good. Why’d Betsy leave?” Jace asked Sidney. He eyed the room for her, which honestly surprised Kade.

“I think she suddenly got a bit nauseous,” Sidney said. Two in a row. He hid his laugh by kissing her neck.

When he looked up, Jace was still searching the room, but then he turned back to Leslie. “Is your drink good?” She gave him a purr in reply and he could have sworn he felt Sidney stiffen again.

“Your bag is gorgeous!” Tracy said to Sidney. “Your shirt, too. Where did you get them?”

“Oh.” she sounded surprised by the question. “I made them…”

His pulse jumped, as though the compliment was given to him. It hit him almost as strongly as praise for Lucky’s. “Wow. You’re a designer?” Leslie asked. “I’d love a bag like this in pink.”

“No, no.” Sidney shifted on his lap. “I just do it for fun.”

“You don’t sell them?” This from Tracy. “I bet a ton of women would love it. They’re different…funky. I’d definitely buy one if you’d be willing.”

“Tell her yes,” Kade whispered in Sidney’s ear. “You never know, you might enjoy it.” And then he went back to nuzzling her. Jesus, he never got tired of the fact that he could do this whenever he wanted.
Or until she goes home.

“Umm, sure. I guess.”

“Oh! Me too! I want one! Let me give you my info!” Both women wrote their phone numbers on a napkin.

He didn’t have to look at Sidney to know she was smiling. He wondered if she could tell that he couldn’t stop himself from smiling for her, too.

…

Sidney sat in her sewing room. Time went by much too fast for her. She spent most of her time at her machine. She’d made bags for both Tracy and Leslie. She didn’t plan to sell them to the women because it just felt weird, but she’d have Jace deliver them.

Why
can’t
you sell them?
she wondered. She loved working on her old machine; it broke her heart that she hadn’t been doing it for five years. She hadn’t realized how much she missed it until she started sewing again.

She spent a lot of time on the bow for Kade’s opening, too. It shouldn’t have taken her very long, but she wanted it perfect. She’d already started over three times.

Yes. On a bow.

She also made him curtains, hoping he would like the added surprise.

Kade spent most of his spare time at Lucky’s. He had a few things to fix up and she figured he just liked to be there because it was so important to him. When he wasn’t at Lucky’s or with her, he was fishing.

They watched movies and worked in Mae’s garden. No matter what they were doing, she loved spending time with him.
Temporarily,
she thought.

Sidney sighed. Nerves multiplied inside her, though she couldn’t say what the trigger was. Actually, she could. She missed Kade. They hadn’t been together for a few hours and she missed him. When he held her, she forgot about everything else.

With each day, she struggled more to keep her feelings in check. To resist the urge to knock down all those walls keeping them from going to the next level, and embracing it.

No…it wasn’t nerves prickling her. It was bone-deep fear that she was falling in love with him. This man who gave so much, cared more than anyone she knew, and made her feel like she could conquer the world.

It scared her so very much. But what could she do about it?

She’d called her old landlord and found out he had a smaller apartment for cheaper rent than she’d paid with Steve. Time was dwindling down before she’d go back to LA. She’d be leaving the day after Lucky’s opening.

There was no way she could miss it.

Sidney was supposed to have a meeting when she got to LA so she sent Lydia a text, confirming the date she’d be back. Turning on the small laptop she’d brought with her, she waited to get into her e-mail. She wanted to look over the ones Lydia had sent her again. Her inbox had gone unchecked since Lydia’s last call.

It was always hard to make yourself work on vacations. If she got into a California mindset, she’d get her head back into her dream, into the game.. Nostalgia must be what was making her sluggish. That and the fact that she’d been so busy since coming here. Once she got back into LA mode, things would be different.

Still, instead of doing what she needed to, she played around online for a few minutes. Then, spur of the moment, she started a different project.

“Hey. What ya up to?” She jumped at the sound of Kade’s voice behind her.

“Geez. You scared the crap out of me. What are you doing home?”

He walked into the room and stood behind the chair. “I took the rest of the day off. Thought we should go do something. What are you looking at?” He leaned over the laptop and her first reflex was to close it. She felt sort of stupid, but then she remembered this was Kade. He would never make her feel stupid about anything.

“It’s silly, but I thought maybe I’d start my own website…or a blog? I mean, it’s not really serious or anything, but it might be fun to post some pictures of my clothes and purses. I’m sure no one would be interested but—”

“But nothing. That’s a great idea. You should go for it.”

Sidney sat up straighter. It could be a way for her to wind down, when she wasn’t waitressing or acting.

“You really think I should?” When she got home, she might be too busy; maybe it wasn’t a smart idea to start something new. But really, how much time would it take? She’d already decided she wasn’t losing sewing again, and updating a website didn’t take much time.

“Of course you should. You saw how those women reacted the other day. You definitely have talent, Peaches, and you love it. Why shouldn’t you pursue something you love?”

His words filled in all her bubbles of doubt. It touched her heart how much he supported her. Sidney watched him—the set of his jaw as he concentrated. The way his eyelashes touched his face when he blinked. She could practically see the ideas running through his head just with her small mention of the possible site.

He was incredible.

And she wanted this project. She’d make the time to have it.

“We should probably get your site up and running. After that, we can get some business cards made up…” He let his words trail off as though he just realized what he said. She wouldn’t be here long enough for them to make the business cards together. A knot formed in her gut.

“Well, I guess you can do the site when you’re here. It would probably make more sense to have the cards printed when you get back to Los Angeles.”

He stepped away and she missed his warmth. That scent of man and the outdoors that always clung to his skin. “Yeah, it would definitely make more sense to wait until I get home.”
Temporary, temporary, Temporary. Kade and Shamrock Falls are only temporary,
she chanted in her head.

Kade cleared his throat. “Come on, Peaches. Let’s get out of here for a little while.”

She turned to see his hand was held out for her. She grabbed it, wondering if there was anywhere she wouldn’t go with Kade Mitchell.

She recognized the place as soon as Kade pulled his truck off the road and down the bumpy gravel that looked like it led absolutely nowhere. It straddled the line of the property where he’d lived when they were younger.

There was a lake back here where they used to sneak beers and come down to jump off the old tire swing and wade in the water. Okay, so others swung off the tire swing and she watched. The only time she’d braved it was if Kade swung with her, but she’d still never been able to take the leap off.

She wondered if Kade’s little abandoned cabin was still out here. No one had lived in it as long as she remembered, but Kade used it as a sort of clubhouse when they were little. As they got older, they’d come here to do stuff they weren’t supposed to do.

It’s where they’d found his mom the night Sidney discovered his dad liked to hurt her.

It’s also where they’d come on graduation night.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about coming here with him again.

“You don’t want to stay?” he asked as he pulled off to the side of the gravel to park. “We can go somewhere else if you want. I just thought it might be nice to be alone somewhere we used to spend time.”

Her heart did a flip-flop. He was the sweetest man she knew. “How did you know I was nervous?”

She glanced over at him to see the little tick in his jaw he always got when he didn’t want to answer a question.

“You tense up. Your body language is easy for me to read.”

“Oh…” She wasn’t sure what else to say to that. Even though she probably shouldn’t, she liked that piece of their relationship. “I want to stay. It’ll be nice.”

They climbed out of the truck. Kade grabbed the basket with food they’d packed and she grabbed the blanket. She followed him down the trail she couldn’t believe was still there until they got to the creek. The cabin was off to the right, and his house was up the small hill and to the left. Trees were all around them, but the one she couldn’t take her eyes off was the huge, solid tree with the tire still attached.

“Wow…,” she said, walking toward it.

“It’s been replaced. The rope is new.”

“Still, it’s cool someone else put it up again. It’s like a staple of our childhood.”

He nodded and then set the basket down on the ground. “Yep. When I came to find out about the house, it’s one of the first things I checked. Too bad you’ve never been on it alone.” He winked.

Sidney ignored that last part. “The house?”

“Yeah…that’s part of the reason I came back. Mom’s owned it this whole time and we had renters in it, but they’re moving soon. I’m going to buy it from Mom.”

For some reason, that did something to her heart. Softened it. She loved the idea of Kade being back in his old house, so close to the cabin that meant so much to them.

“I know I didn’t always have the best memories of this place, but…I lived here for eighteen years. I used to chase you and Rowan around these woods. It holds a lot of good memories for me, too.”

She never could understand how Kade came from such a horrible, abusive man. “Good memories have the ability to outshine the bad. That’s what Mae always says.”

“I always thought she was smart.” Kade pulled the blanket out of her hand and laid it out. “Come swimming with me.” He tilted his head toward the water.

Her heart started to thump wildly. “I didn’t bring a suit.”

He rolled his eyes at though she was being silly. “Wear your bra and panties.”

“What if someone comes down here?”

“They won’t,” he promised and though she was nervous, excitement came to life inside her too. Sidney nodded her head. They had reclaimed other little pieces of their past, like the drive-in, and now she wanted to have this again as well. They’d missed out on too many memories together.

“Can I undress you?”

Sidney ignored the voice in her head telling her to pull back and answered with another nod. Anticipation now zipped through her.

Slowly, he walked toward her. Kade put his hands on the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head. He traced the line of her bra and said, “Beautiful.”

Sidney’s knees went weak. Could he feel her heart thumping, she wondered? Her pulse pounded in her ears.