Page 291 of Steamy Ever After

What the hell—as long as this dream refused to end, she’d get some answers.

“He’s a player, Kade, like Lang. The boys will get attached to him, and then he’ll leave them the same way you and their dad did.”

“I’m sorry I left you, Peyton.”

God, she loved the sound of his voice. The dream was so real that she could feel its vibration throughout her body.

“Why did you talk to my dad? He said you wanted to marry me,” Peyton asked out loud.

“I did, but now I see how wrong it would’ve been.”

“Thanks, Kade. Great dream this is.”

“I was never the right man for you. You knew that. And even though I didn’t want to admit it at the time, I knew it too. That’s why I never told you about the agency.”

“I loved you so much, Kade. I can’t love Brodie the way I loved you.”

“No, you can’t. You can love him more. He’s always been the one for you. He said it the other night. If he’d met you first, you wouldn’t have been available to date me.” Dream-Kade laughed. “He’s got it bad for you, Peyton. But then, so did I.”

When she reached up to kiss him, he kissed her forehead instead. “Sleep, Peyton. Sweet dreams.”

When she woke, the sun was shining. In her dream, it was still dark. Damn Kade. Damn Brodie too. What did she have to do to stop thinking about them? See a hypnotist?

Peter excused himself and went to the men’s room, giving Peyton time to take a deep breath. Dinner was nice, but as Alex had said about her date with him, she wasn’t feeling it. She was bored out of her mind and cringed when he drove up to Mama’s Meatballs. Of all the restaurants he could’ve chosen, why this one?

She heard the vibration of her phone that was stuffed inside her purse. She never ignored it in case it was one of her boys. Peter returned to the table at the same time she ran her finger across the screen and saw a missed call from Brodie.

“Something important?” he asked.

“No.” It was a lie. She only hoped her phone would vibrate again, indicating he’d left a message. “I’m sorry, Peter. I need to return this call—you know, the boys.” Another lie.

Peyton excused herself to the ladies’ room and waited. Her phone didn’t vibrate, which meant he hadn’t left a message. She waited for a text, but that didn’t come either.

“We should head home,” she said when she returned to the table.

“Everything okay?”

“No, not really.” That wasn’t a lie; it just wasn’t what he meant, and she knew it.

The waitress brought the check, and when Peyton offered to pay her share, Peter refused.

“I enjoyed having dinner with you, Peyton. I’d like to say I hope we can do it again, but I sense that won’t be happening.”

“I’m sorry, Peter.”

“Don’t be. I mean it. I enjoyed this very much.”

“You’re a good guy, Peter.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He laughed. “Alex said the same thing.”

Peyton winced.

“No worries, I’m sure I’m not the only guy turned down by both of the hottest women in San Luis Obispo County. Come on. I’ll take you home.”

She’d left her car at Stave. Even that hadn’t felt right. She’d wanted to follow him down, so he didn’t have to make the return trek to Cambria after dinner, but he’d insisted.

“Good night, Peter, and thanks again. I’m going to head inside for a minute and make sure everything is cleaned up. We’re closed tomorrow.”

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