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“Whatever. Keep dreaming. So, Cade, who’s your team?”
I stumble in surprise. Cade is talking with my brothers. Shit. They didn’t say anything earlier this morning, but there were tons of people around, and Cade had saved the day. I grin. Well, I did bust Randall in the nuts.
“I’m a Kansas City man, born and raised. I support my local team.”
“Shit,” both men groan. “Well, neither of our teams stands a chance against yours. Your Q.B. is legit.”
I step around the corner to see Cade smiling. He glances in my direction. “Lola, come, have a seat and save me from having to listen to their excuses for why my team is going to dominate for the next ten years.” He stands and pulls out the chair next to his.
“Fuck.” Eddie shakes his head but doesn’t contradict him.
Derrick lifts his glass of orange juice. “Well, my team had a good thing going for twenty years. I guess I can let someone else in on the action.”
“See. What did I tell you?”
Okay. He’s not going to pretend we’ve not been intimate, but he’s treading on thin ice in front of my brothers. I drop into the chair, and Cade slides in next to me. He trails a finger up my back and tugs on a loose curl, causing heat to settle in my core. I’d been too tired to do anything but fall into his arms and go to sleep. Now my body’s reminding my brain that we’d both like to do something different with Cade in my bed.
Eddie lays down his fork. “Good morning, baby sister. Hope you got a couple hours of sleep.”
Cade puts his hand on my thigh, and I smile at him. He gives my leg a quick squeeze. “You look refreshed this morning.”
“Do. Not. Say. Anything. Else.” Eddie glares.
“I took a shower.”
“Oh.” Eddie’s face flushes.
“Morning, Lola.” Derrick hits Eddie in the upper arm. “Leave them alone.”
“You don’t think it is our business that our youngest sibling is being groped by a man while we’re eating breakfast?”
“She doesn’t seem to mind. So, ignore it and eat your food. Besides, he saved our sister’s life this morning.”
I watch Derrick. What is he playing at? He usually jumps on the bandwagon to hassle me anytime a man expresses interest, and Cade is obviously making it known we’re an item. Of course, it would be hard to hide it when he rescued me, and I wouldn’t leave his side afterward. I needed his strength to make it through the police questioning.
Cade removes his hand from my thigh to glance at his wrist. “Lola, you’d better eat up. We don’t have much time before we have to head to our appointment.” He seems oblivious to their chatter as he returns to shoveling down the pile of biscuits and gravy on his plate.
I scoop up a spoonful of eggs and grab a couple of pieces of bacon. What appointment? Randall is in jail. We don’t have an appointment. “What appointment?” He raises his eyebrows. “Oh, that appointment.” Heat floods every part of my body.
***
Cade
The second the door snaps, I cradle her in my arms, resting my cheek against hers. She smells like shampoo and vaguely like bacon. It’s not a bad combination. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Her hands slide under my shirt and stroke over my back.
“No.” I shake my head and pull back. “Are you really okay?”
“Yes.” She smiles. “I’m good. I took a long shower and scrubbed every nasty and vile thing he said off. I’m not going to proclaim I’m never going to think of him again or that I won’t ever be leery of the dark, but I’m good. I knew you’d find me. And I knew I’d kick his ass if I ever had a chance.”
I cup her face. “That’s my girl. I don’t know why I ever doubted you. You’re one of the toughest women I’ve ever met.”
“Thank you. That’s a compliment since you have some strong ladies in your life.”
I walk over to the bed and pull her onto my lap. “It scared the shit out of me when I woke up, and you were gone. Thank God you were smart enough to leave me a clue. It would have taken time we didn’t have to find you.”
“I knew you’d look for me, and thankfully, I was vain enough to put on lipstick before going to put the jewels away. I didn’t want to run into anyone looking like I’d been run over by a Mack Truck.”
