Page 8 of Whisker Me Away

A warm nervousness flutters inside my chest. Not only does Cade think I’m pretty, but he also wants to get to know me better. This isn’t just some lustful feeling making us crazy about each other, there’s something deeper here. I just know it!

“Okay,” I say slowly, giving Cade a shy smile. “You go first. Ask me a question.”

“Tell me about your family.”

“My family is a pretty tight knit group. My mom and dad live in the same town as me and we have dinner together every Sunday night. I have a little brother and a little sister. They’re both in college at the moment, both in different states. I don’t get to see them as much as I wish but we try to get together at least once a year.”

“How old are you?” Cade asks, raising his brow. “Are they a lot younger than you?”

“I’m 30,” I tell him, feeling almost sheepish. “They’re both in their twenties, so not ahugeage gap.”

“Huh. You still have a baby face but I knew you had to be older since you said you used to work in a restaurant before working at the job you have now.”

“How about you? How old are you?”

“I’m 35. I’m basically an old man at this point.”

I snort, shaking my head. “You are not, shut the fuck up, Cade.”

Cade gets a soft look on his face. I tilt my head in question. “Sorry, I just like the way you say my name. It sounds so sweet coming from your lips.”

“Jesus,” I hiss out, covering my face. I can feel my cheeks flood with color and my stomach swoops dramatically. He has to stop saying shit like that or I’m going to end up passing out from all the blood running to my cheeks. Or worse, I’m going to blurt out something really embarrassing like ‘marry me’. “You can’t just say shit like that.”

“I can. And I did. Deal with it,” he says lightheartedly.

“Tell me something about yourself. Please, take the attention away from me and back onto you.”

Cade’s chuckle warms my insides. I pull my legs up, leaning my chin against my knees and wrapping my arms around my shins. My back vibrates slightly against the wall as the train continues to pull us forward but the feeling is soothing.

“For a long time, it was just me and my mom. I have no idea where my father is. He left right after I was born.”

“Oh,” I breathe out. “I’m so sorry.”

Cade shrugs. “It’s alright. I can’t really miss someone I don’t even know, right? My mom mated a lovely man when I was a teenager. He brought a daughter along with him, so it went from just me and mom to a brand new family unit. My little sister is ten years younger than me which was frustrating as a teenager but now we’re pretty close. It’s amazing what some distance andnot living under the same roof will do for sibling relationships,” he says with a laugh.

“I get that. My siblings are closer to each other than they are with me, but they’re also less than a year apart in age. Cat shifters have really short pregnancies so we had to pass them off as ‘Irish Twins’ growing up.”

Cade opens the bottle of wine, passing it over to me. “New rule. You take a drink and then you can ask a question.”

I take a drink of the wine, savoring the sweet taste against my tongue. I know some people enjoy a dry wine, but the only place for that in my book is inside a dish I’m cooking. For drinking, I want the fruity taste of a sweet red wine.

“I have the most important question,” I say, passing the bottle back to Cade. “What’s your favorite dish? The one you could eat over and over and never grow bored of.”

“That’s a tough one,” he says softly, wracking his brain. “Probably fettuccine alfredo. I’ve never had an alfredo dish I didn’t like. There’s just something so comforting about it.”

I nod my head. “Great answer. Someday I’ll have to make you my homemade version,” I say without thinking before freezing.

This is what I get for trying to drink and stay chill. I throw things out there like future plans without thinking. Just because we’re having a good time on vacation doesn’t mean Cade will want to see each other when everything is said and done!

Cade gives me a soft look. His socked foot moves into my space, poking my calf. “That sounds perfect.”

And just like that, all the worries and anxiety about my blunder fall away.

It’s Cade’s turn to ask a question so he takes a drink of the wine. My eyes are glued to the way his lips wrap around the mouth of the bottle. Not to be stuck in a teenager mindset, but I can’t stop thinking about how my lips were just touching it and nowhislips are touching it and soon enough, my lips willbe touching it again. In a weird, abstract way, we’re kissing each otherthroughthe bottle!

Oh my gods, what the fuck is wrong with me? If Cade wasn’t sitting across from me right now, I’d be burying my face in my hands and groaning in frustration. Am I really so out of touch with dating that I’m getting butterflies from sharing a bottle with a beautiful man?

“Do you date much?”

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