She stared up at him, seeing a flicker of old pain in his eyes. But she couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the idea of Doug being abusive. She’d seen abuse. Before her mom had disappeared for good, Tessa had watched her mom’s boyfriend knock her around. She’d sworn she’d never let a man do that to her. She would not become her mother. But here she was, feeling like shit over what some guy had said to her even when she knew the accusations weren’t true.
“This is definitely not how I wanted our evening to start,” she said finally. “Now you know why I wanted to keep things to one night. My life is messy.”
His hands coasted up her arms to cup her shoulders, his gaze capturing hers and holding it. “You think I care about your asshole ex-husband?”
She looked away. “You don’t understand. Doug can cause lots of trouble when he wants to. I’m glad you didn’t tell him your name. Finding ways to humiliate people who he thinks have wronged him is a favorite pastime of his.”
Kade’s expression darkened for a moment, but as quickly as the shift was there, it was gone. “Baby, I’m about as scared of him as I am of a yapping puppy.”
She pressed her lips together. He didn’t get it. She’d learned early to not cross Doug. The man was like a dog with a bone when he perceived a slight by someone. He’d do everything he could to take that person down a notch.
“Tell me what’s going through that head of yours.”
The gentleness in his voice and the heat of his palms against her face nearly unraveled her. She swallowed back the emotion that wanted to show itself. “I came here to get a fresh start. But every time I feel like I’m catching my stride, my past rears up and bites me. God, those things he was saying on the phone . . . I can’t even imagine what you think.”
Hope you have a big bank account. Doug’s words to Kade rang in her head, and she wanted to fold in on herself. Kade probably had gold diggers fawning after him all the time. Now she’d look like another trying to cash in.
Kade didn’t say anything for a long time. But when she looked up, expecting to find judgment on his face, she found determination there instead. “I chose to get involved. And what I think is that your ex is a piece of shit and a bully.”
“I’m not what he says I am,” she whispered, her throat tightening with the embarrassment of it all—memory and a little guilt. Because part of her knew those gold-digging claims weren’t entirely baseless. Sure, when she’d married Doug, she’d cared for him, maybe even thought she loved him at some point. But when things started to go bad, she hadn’t tried to leave. She’d put up with his jibes and coldness because it was too scary to consider being on her own. She’d ignored the signs of deception—the way he never wanted her in his home office, the late night calls, the password locked computer and cell phone. If she had really looked, the clues that he was hiding something were there.
But the routine of her life, the posh luxury of her days had blinded her. Seeing him for what he was would’ve meant losing the only security she’d ever had, would’ve taken her admitting that she was there for the money, that her life, her friends, and the love she’d thought she’d found were a bedazzled pile of bullshit. So she’d refused to see it. Convinced herself she was content. She’d drowned herself in her shallow lifestyle. If she hadn’t caught him cheating, she’d probably still be wasting away her days shopping and lunching with women who were fucking her husband behind her back.
Thinking of that version of herself made her stomach roll and pitch.
“Baby, I know you’re not what he says you are. I’m the one chasing you down for another date, remember?” He smirked. “If you were a gold digger, you’d be the worst one ever.”
She laughed, quickly swiping at her eyes. “Maybe I’m just an evil genius at playing hard to get.”
“The truth comes out!”
She peered up at him. “So you still want to do this tonight?”
He hooked an arm around her waist and gathered her against him. “I’ve thought of little else since last Friday night. Now I have a nice, warm car waiting for us. Are you going to stop dawdling and get in with me, or am I going to have to throw you over my shoulder, Neanderthal style?”
She lifted a brow and scanned over his perfectly pressed charcoal slacks and pale pink shirt. Every inch of him screamed money and urbanity. “I’m not sure you could pull off Neanderthal.”
“Mmm, that’s where you’re wrong, beautiful,” he said, cupping the back of her neck and running his thumb along the hollow of her throat. “Don’t let the wrapping paper fool you. My thoughts when I’m around you are about as caveman as it gets. In fact, it’s taking everything I have not to strip you down right here and take you against your front door until that wrinkle of worry in your forehead disappears and you can’t even remember that phone call.”
A little gasp passed her lips, and her body went on high alert.
“So are you going to get in the car or do you need me to carry you?”
Her gaze darted to the darkened street and yellow porch lights. “Let’s not give the neighbors anything to talk about.”
He slowly backed her into her door anyway. Her shoulders hit the wood and a shiver radiated outward, tightening her nipples and awakening things much lower. He kissed the curve of her neck, shielding her from the street with his body, and his hands crept down over her backside, gathering her skirt in his fingers.
“Kade,” she whispered, teetering on the edge of letting him do whatever he wanted even though anyone could step outside and see them.
“Shh, Tess. You wanted me to take control tonight. Let me.” He hiked her dress up higher in the back, teasing the bottom edge of her panties with his fingertips. “Take these off. You won’t need them.”
She let out a little squeak when he tugged at the elastic and pulled her panties down over her ass. The skirt slid down to cover her bare skin as he worked her underwear further down. They were stretched over her mid-thighs when a car turned onto the street. Headlights flashed over them and she froze. She tried to reach for her panties, but Kade captured her arms against her sides.
“They’ll see,” she whispered.
Kade lifted his head and brushed his mouth against hers. “They’ll see a guy with his date. They can’t see anything else. I wouldn’t risk embarrassing you. It’s important that you know that.”
Her gaze flicked up to his, questioning.