Page 22 of Finding Forever

It reminded him of the night they’d met, when he’d found himself oddly fascinated by her, even attracted to her… but he should know better now. Should know that the attraction wasn’t real, that they weren’t compatible, that all it could ever lead to was disappointment.

And yet… he still felt himself tempted to touch her flawless, silken skin, to see if it was as velvety soft as he remembered. Her lush mouth still captivated him and he tried to recall what it felt like to kiss her, how those naturally plump lips had tasted. But he was drawing a blank and he knew it was because he hadn’t kissed her enough that night. Not enough and notproperly.

He’d taken her virginity without even giving her a decent kiss and that was fucking egregious. Part of him—the dumb, prideful part that lacked common sense—wanted a do-over. Wanted to prove to her and him that theycouldwork. That they could be spectacular together. But the other part of him—the sensible part—knew that he was fooling himself. That they didn’t have the chemistry required to be spectacular…

He deliberately diverted his gaze to the mug in his hand, idly considering refreshing his coffee, while he contemplated everything she’d just revealed to him about her personal life.

She didn’t see it. Didn’t grasp how brave she truly was. She hadn’t told him much, but it was enough for him to glean how completely that fucker had stripped her of her agency and independence. He’d believed her a doormat, but she’d been surviving the only way she could.

He recalled her saying she’d once tried to get away from Abernathy but it had ended badly. He now wondered exactly what had happened. But he could imagine. A sheltered woman like Fern trying to survive out in the world without any real-life experience and absolutely no money, was a recipe for disaster.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I could fix us some breakfast.”

He tilted his head, assessing her eager expression. “You can cook?”

She laughed quietly.

“Don’t look so skeptical, Cade.” He felt an unfamiliar, wrenching sensation in his chest whenever she used that name. It was unsettling, jarring… but not entirely unpleasant. “I spent my school holidays hiding in the kitchen and learning to cook from about three different master chefs over the years.”

“Hiding? Why?”

“You’ve met Toni and Allie, right?”

He shuddered as he remembered her awful stepsisters. “Yeah?”

She shrugged in athere you have it wayand he studied her quiet contemplatively.

“That bad, huh?” he asked softly.

“They weren’t kind. Things went better for me when I stayed out of their way.”

Cade’s hand clenched around his mug and he forced himself to loosen his grip. The way she spoke about these things, like they were no big deal, just normalizing cruelty because to her ithadbeen normal. It was disturbing, infuriating, and so fucking sad it made him want to punch something.

“So? Breakfast?”

“Sure,” he said, not certain why he agreed when he never ate breakfast. She just seemed so eager to do it and he didn’t want to see her face fall in disappointment when he refused.

“Bacon and eggs? I make decent French toast or flapjacks if you want something along those lines instead?”

“Surprise me,” he muttered. His phone chimed and he dug it out of his pocket, swiping to read the alert that had just appeared on his notification screen.

“The news of our marriage just went live,” he informed her and she tensed.

“Oh,” she said in a small voice.

“You okay?”

“Sure,” she said, her voice filled with false bravado. “I meanwe knew this was happening today, right? Do we have to do anything? Interviews and stuff, I mean?”

“Nah, we just got married, we don’t have to do a damned thing we don’t want to. We’re on our honeymoon.”

He was gratified when his words deepened her smile enough to produce the world’s cutest fucking dimple on her right cheek. What the fuck? How had he not known that was there? Where had it even come from? He stared at it for a moment—mystified by its charm—when it disappeared, just completely blinked out of existence as if it had never been.

He nearly snarled in resentment, feeling as if someone had snatched a hard-earned prize from him.

“What’s wrong?” The uncertainty in her soft voice snatched him back to reality and he clenched his jaw before shaking his head abruptly.

“Nothing I just—” He stopped, at a total loss. “I have to send a few emails. I’ll be on the patio. Let me know when breakfast is ready. Or if you need my help with anything.”

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