Page 93 of Blindsided By the Enforcer

I push my chair away from the table, causing Cade to furrow his brows.

“It’s. . .fine, Cade. I know our ruse is over.” I stand and walk away from the table. I head into the living room area and look out to the backyard window. It’s dark outside and everything is covered in snow, but I’m overwhelmed and sad.

“Exactly, the ruse is over,” Cade says quietly, coming up behind me. I feel his thumb slowly caress my shoulder blade.

“I know it was fun while it lasted. You don’t have to feel obligated to stay friends or anything like that. I know it may be weird after everything we’ve shared,” I continue. I feel like I am out at sea alone and crying for help. Like a wave of sadness is enveloping me at the idea Cade will no longer be in my life. But Iam going to walk away with pride. With my head held high. Not the crying mess I was when I walked away from Ford. This feels so much worse though because I am falling in love with Cade, and I never felt this way about Ford. It probably explains the horrible pain in the center of my chest.

“Annie, is that what you want?” he asks. If I was paying closer attention, I would’ve heard the pain in his tone.

My lower lip quivers. The courage I felt earlier to share my feelings has melted away like ice on a hot day.

“It doesn’t matter,” I reply. I can’t look at him, but I feel his presence behind me like a protective mountain.

“It sure as hell does matter. I need you to look at me,” he insists with a pleading tone that confuses me.

“I can’t.” I giggle through tears. Yup, I’ve gone crazy.

“Why?”

“Because I have tears in my eyes,” I confess. As hard as I’ve tried to swallow my tears away, they have emerged like a faucet.

“Show me,” he says softly. This is Cade, the guy who stood up for me, who broke me out of my shell, who made me want things I thought I would never have.

I slowly turn to face him. The simple action alone is wearing me down, all my emotions are here in plain sight on my face.

“Why are you crying, baby?” He swipes at my tears with his fingers. He cups my face and bends his knees so he is eye level with me. The look on his face is one of utter confusion.

“I thought I’d be okay when this arrangement was over, but I’m not okay, Cade.” I can’t stop the tears falling down my cheeks and Cade is smiling. Wait. Why is he smiling? “Am I missing something?”

“I’m happy you’re not okay because I don’t want us to be over. I am falling so hard for you, Annie, and I didn’t know how to tell you. I know we set ground rules, but they all flew out the window from the start,” he confesses.

“OMG, I’ve been torturing myself, Cade. I’ve been falling for you too. I didn’t think you wanted more. I thought tonight, this dinner was the celebration of our end.”

“Baby, I want it to be the celebration of our beginning. I finally put an end to everything with Scarlett, and it was liberating because it made me free to tell you exactly how I feel.”

“Oh, Cade.” I caress his cheek and he leans in to kiss me. The kiss is soft and exploring, it is deep and meaningful. It is like he is telling me with his lips what his heart is feeling.

We kiss for a good ten minutes. I tug on the strands of his hair, reveling in the fact this isn’t fake or temporary. We no longer have an expiration date. We have real feelings that we laid out. The front door opens and we separate. My roommates walk in together because they are best friends and do almost everything together.

“Let’s finish our dinner,” Cade suggests.

“Oops, are you guys in the middle of some romantic evening?” Sadie asks, walking into the kitchen.

“Not really,” I reply. I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she is intruding on our special moment.

We finish eating and pack up all the leftovers and we head up to my room. Cade falls back on my bed. “I was nervous all day, trying to figure out how I would tell you how I felt.”

“You probably didn’t come up with the scenario that I would be a crying mess at the thought of us parting ways.”

“I didn’t want you to be a crying mess but your tears show you care, and you should never be ashamed of that,” he replies, and this is why he has become my person.

I walk over to the bed and straddle him. “You say the sweetest things.” I give him a quick peck.

He rests his hands at my hips. “There is something else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. . .”

“Is it something good?” I ask, feeling elated because our feelings are mutual.

“I want you to come home with me for break. You could meet my mom and my friends. We could ski and have lots of sex.”

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