Page 27 of Finding Forever

His thumb skimmed over her lower lip, then circled lazily over the crest of her upper lip. Fern stifled a moan at his unexpected touch, shocked by how erotic she found this relatively tame caress.

“You have the prettiest mouth,” he said, almost to himself, his gaze laser focused on her lips and the movement of his thumb. To her shock the pad of his big, sexy thumb tugged her lower lip down before inserting itself between her parted lips and then her teeth.

She was aware of his breath quickening only because of the movement of his chest. And that’s when she realized that he was standing close enough for her tofeelthat movement. Her own breath hiked up to match his and when the rough pad of his thumb dragged over the sensitive lining of her inner lip, she whimpered and leaned into that touch.

That soft sound of longing seemed to snap him back to reality and he snatched his hand down while simultaneously moving away from her.

Fern swayed, disoriented by the sudden loss of his heat, and it took her a moment to adjust to his absence. When she jerked back to the reality of the moment it was to find him clear across the room, standing by the bathroom door.

“We can go for that walk in an hour or so. I have a few phone calls to make.” He turned away abruptly and left her standing there, wondering what the hell just happened.

Fern didn’t really knowwhat to do with herself in this quiet, alien place. She wandered around the apartment, careful toavoid any space Cade was occupying. Whenever he happened to walk into a room she was in—usually engrossed in conversation on his phone—she slid away as unobtrusively as she could within moments.

She didn’t want to be a nuisance, and strove to make herself as quiet and as inconspicuous as possible. It was a trick she’d learned growing up in the Abernathy home. Staying out of sight had been a self-preservation tool that had stood her in good stead.

In the end, she gave up—evading him was hard when he was so restless—and retreated to her room, where she sat on the massive easy chair by the picture window and stared fixedly and unseeingly out into the grayness beyond.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before she felt the firm hand on her shoulder, at which point she startled back to the present with a gasp.

“Christ,” Cade muttered beneath his breath. “Where’d you go? I called your name several times before I had to shake you out of your stupor. Were you sleeping with your eyes open?”

Self-conscious, Fern shrugged out of his hold and got up, putting some space between them.

“Sorry, I must have been daydreaming.”

He gave her another one of those uncomfortably long probing stares before his jaw tightened and he shoved a hand through his overly long hair. He struck her as a man of strict discipline in both his appearance and his behavior, so the long, shaggy hair had surprised her when she saw him again on Thursday. It was much longer than it had been at their first meeting. And, as if in confirmation of her thoughts, he grimaced and attempted to smooth down those unruly waves.

“I wondered if you were ready for that walk? The mist is lifting,” he said, and she darted a surprised look outside. She had no idea how long she’d been zoned out, but it must’ve been a good while if the mist had lifted that much.

She peered out and sure enough, the gloom had abated enough for her to appreciate the truly magnificent view. Pristine white beach, azure water, the powder blue sky—still retaining some of its milkiness thanks to the lifting mist—added an ethereal watercolor quality to the vista.

“How beautiful,” she whispered quite unable to keep the reverence out of her voice.

“It’s still quite cool outside but you’re going to need sunscreen and a hat,” Cade said, his brooding gaze sweeping over her face. “You’ll burn in a nanosecond with that skin.”

True, the sun had never been her friend and Fern had had way too many broiled lobster incidents in the past to venture outside without slathering herself with SPF100 sunscreen from top to bottom.

“I’ll be ready in ten minutes,” she told him and he gave her his usual curt nod, before swiveling on his heel and striding from the room.

He was still wearing a suit and Fern idly wondered if he’d walk on the beach in that three-piece suit with his shiny cap toe black Oxfords. She smothered a laugh at that ludicrous image and pushed herself up from the chair, fighting back a wave of dizziness at the sudden movement. She’d do well to remember not to get up too fast right now. Cade was right, of course, she had to make an appointment somewhere first thing on Monday. Even if it seemed pointless to find an OBGYN in Cape Town when they’d be living in London. Still, seeing someone immediately, considering the dizziness, was the wisest course of action.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to keep the swell of weary panic at bay as she considered the magnitude of what lay ahead of her. Pregnancy, motherhood, the looming specter of Granger and the damage he could still conceivably do in her life.

And then marriage… to a perfect stranger. A man with whom she’d share a home and a name for the next three years.

It was all soterrifying.

“God, Fern, what have you got yourself into?”

The sheer amountof steep stone steps leading down to street level from Cade’s apartment building was daunting. Thanks to the view she’d known they were quite high up on the side of the mountain. But she hadn’t realized exactly how high until faced with these steps.

“You okay?” he asked when she paused at the top of the walkway. She glanced at him and then quickly diverted her gaze back down the steps.

No suit after all.

Instead, Cade looked gut-wrenchingly gorgeous in an open necked white and blue pinstripe shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, navy blue board shorts, and well-worn pair of gray canvas sneakers. Fern felt even more shy than usual around him and found it hard to look at him without staring. It was safer to cast covert glances his way.

“Yes… it’s just a lot more stairs than I was expecting.”

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