Need You Tonight (13 page)

Kaden looked stricken at this revelation. And she supposed someone like him, the honor
student who would have scholarship offers stacking up from everywhere, probably hadn’t
considered the possibility that not everyone gets to go off to a big college. “Is
that what your plan is?”

She looked down at her hands. “Sort of. Doug’s going to go to Georgia Tech. He said
I can follow him there and . . . stay with him. I wouldn’t have to worry about the
money stuff then. I could take some classes there.”

There was a long stretch of silence then a groan.

“Motherfucker,”
Kaden said, standing up. “That’s it, isn’t it? The reason you stay with him. His
goddamned money.”

Defensiveness surged through her, bringing her to her feet to face him. “No. I love
him.” Possibly. Maybe.

Kaden stepped around the coffee table in two swift movements and was in front of her
in a flash. “Bull. Shit.”

She reared up like he’d slapped her. “You don’t know anything about how I feel.”

“No, b-b-but I’m about to f-f-find out.”

The increase in stuttering should’ve tipped her off to what he was about to do, but
she was completely unprepared for it. Kaden’s hands cupped her face and tilted it
upward. He stared at her for a second, maybe giving her a chance to stop him, but
she couldn’t form a thought. Then his mouth was against hers.

She lifted her palms to his thrift store Doors T-shirt, intending to push him away.
But instead, as he moved his lips over hers, she found her fingers curling into the
worn material and holding onto it like a life raft. Despite his grip on her, the kiss
wasn’t demanding or aggressive. And it wasn’t sloppy like Doug’s. It was soft and
sweet and . . . perfect.

His hands dropped to her waist and drew her closer. All thoughts fell away, her whole
being suspended in the moment. There was nothing outside of this. No worries about
the future or friends or temporary families. Just hands and lips and feeling. Only
when his tongue moved against hers and her body went hot did reality come reeling
back into place. She stepped back in a rush, his T-shirt slipping from her fingers.

“Stop,” she gasped. “We can’t.”

“Tess—” The yearning on Kaden’s face almost did her in.

But this was wrong. So wrong. She had a boyfriend. And Kaden was . . . who he was.
And if anyone ever found out . . .
Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God
. “I need you to take me home.”

“Tessa, p-p-please, wait, let’s talk.”

She grabbed her book bag with jerky movements, her hands shaking, and turned to head
to the door. “I need to go.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t m-m-mean—”

She whirled around, fiery emotion bubbling over the top of the lid she was trying
to keep closed. “No? What did you m-m-mean, then, huh? Jesus, what were you
thinking
?”

His jaw tightened, and she instantly regretted her hateful mocking.

“Kaden—”

But he didn’t wait for her apology. He yanked his bag off the couch, hauled it over
his shoulder, and strode past her, saying on the way, “At least now we know you’re
not just pretending to be like them.”

TWELVE

Tessa stared at the cabin she hadn’t seen in over a decade, then dragged her attention
back to the man next to her. The vulnerability in Kade’s eyes was such a direct contrast
to the confidence that had bled from him the moment she’d met him in his restaurant.
And in that glimmer of a moment, she could see the younger version of him in the lopsided
set of his mouth, the stark honesty in his eyes. Everything was more refined now.
Polished. The angles of his face had emerged from the roundness of youth and hardened
into masculine edges. The stringy long hair had been cut into windswept stylishness.
And any traces of his former stutter had disappeared. But when she really looked underneath
all of that, she could still see the boy she used to know.

The boy she’d hurt.

And the man she’d slept with.

Her stomach did a somersault as all of that information crashed together in her head.

“You knew who I was and
lied
?” she asked, rewinding to the night in the restaurant. God, had this all been some
revenge scheme to pay her back?

“Tess—”

Tess
. He was the only one she’d ever let call her that. The car felt stifling all of a
sudden, and she pushed her door open to climb out.

He followed suit, coming around the front of the car to stand in front of her. “I
swear. I didn’t know, not at first. I didn’t realize it until the EMT needed your
medical information and I saw your name.”

“Why didn’t you
say
something?”

“I would’ve if you hadn’t left the hospital before I got there.”

“Oh, don’t give me that. You knew the other day in your office,” she said, squaring
off with him. “You could’ve let me know between offering me a job I don’t deserve
and signing me up to be your fuck buddy tonight.”

Displeasure clouded his features. “You’re not my fuck buddy. Don’t ever refer to yourself
as that again. And I didn’t say anything because I needed you to know me as I am now.
I didn’t want that loser Kaden Fowler tainting the picture.”

Her spine stiffened. “Hey, how’s about I don’t call myself your fuck buddy and you
don’t call yourself a loser. Kaden Fowler was the best boy I knew back then.”

He scoffed. “Right. Which is why you walked away from him that night to be with the
guy who beat up and humiliated that same boy. And why you went on to let people think
the worst of me.”

Tears pricked her eyes, the horrible memories rushing in like a stampede of ugly buffalo.
She wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. “You told me to go.”

“And so you did.”

Yes, she had. Even knowing that Doug would probably hit Kade, she’d walked away and
left them there. She wouldn’t defend herself on that. She’d been scared back then,
lost and confused. But she’d never forgiven herself for what had happened. She and
Kaden had been on a sinking ship and she’d saved herself. She hadn’t even thrown him
a rope.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a choked whisper. If this was supposed to be some sort of
punishment, she deserved every bit of it. He was probably here to tell her that the
job was a fake, that her charity really wasn’t going to get help, and that he’d only
pretended interest in her to get revenge. “Say whatever you want to say to me. I’ve
earned it. I was stupid and a selfish coward.”

Kade’s hard expression melted away, and he moved into her space, cupping her shoulders.
“Hey, look at me.”

She forced her teary gaze upward.

“Don’t cry, Tess.” He brushed thumbs across her cheeks. “I’m not here to make you
atone for something that happened back then. You did what you had to do. If you had
taken a stand on my behalf, they would’ve pounced on you like wolves, torn you to
bits like they did with me. I see now that I had nothing to really offer you back
then. It was stupid teenage bravado to think I could compete and fix it for you. You
needed concrete security not a wing and a prayer, and Doug had the money to give you
that.”

She shook her head. “Kade—”

“I buried Kaden Fowler and what happened that night long ago. Really. My life changed
after that. For the better.”

Tears slipped by. “How? After that night, you were just . . . gone. I heard you were
hurt, that they found you—”

“I had to get out of there,” Kade said, cutting her off like he couldn’t bear to hear
the rest of the sentence. “I needed to get away from that school. Away from my asshole
stepdad. Away from Doug and his friends. And away from seeing you every day. I couldn’t
handle it all. When my mom found out I was planning to leave, she dropped a bomb on
me that she knew who my real father was and gave me an address in Dallas. I showed
up on the doorstep of a man who hadn’t even known I’d existed and he took me in.”

She blinked at him. “Oh my God.”

“Walt Vandergriff changed my life and made me the man I am now. So, no, I didn’t bring
you here to punish you. I brought you here because I needed to tell you the truth,
and I wanted to remind you how much fun we had together when we didn’t have to worry
about other people watching.”

She made some sort of laugh-sniffle sound, overwhelmed by all this information and
the memories. “You mean like the time you kissed me, and I acted like a total snot?”

He smiled and glanced toward the darkened door of the cabin as if seeing the ghosts
of their younger selves. “But you came back for your next tutoring session and apologized,
groveled even. I enjoyed that a lot, by the way.”

She sniffed—not from the crying this time.

“I’d decided to leave you be at that point. Keep it a tutoring thing only. But three
sessions later, you brought in a
B
plus on your term paper. You were so excited and proud of yourself, and you hugged
me.
Really
hugged me. Like I meant something to you.”

She glanced downward, remembering the day she’d been overwhelmed with joy over her
grade. One second, she and Kade had been in a laughing embrace, the next he’d given
her a look that had zipped right down to her toes. She’d backed away, scared that
if she didn’t, she’d ruin everything with Doug right then and there.

“I saw how you looked at me that day.
You
wanted to kiss
me
. And even when you didn’t, I knew I hadn’t been wrong about that kiss we’d had.”
Kade’s eyes glimmered with mischief in the moonlight. “That was a great day. Worst
case of blue balls
ever
, but a great day.”

She smacked his chest and laughed. “Hey, I was trying to be a good girl.”

“Thank God you’ve moved on from
that
awful phase,” he teased, sliding his hands downward and molding his palms over her
backside. “I much prefer wild and liberated Tessa who lets me lick olive oil off her
naked body and agrees to let me have my deviant way with her.”

She pressed her forehead to his shoulder. “Oh my God, I can’t believe we’re here again.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Mmm, but this will be much more fun than deciphering
British poetry. Promise.”

The image stirred all kinds of decadent possibilities in her head. She’d been fantasizing
about Kade since the first night she’d been with him. But now it all had an added
layer. A few sexy nights with some suave stranger had been risky enough. A few sexy
nights with someone she used to care about was far more dangerous. Especially when
she’d be working at his company for the next few months. She’d turned her back on
Kaden all those years ago, but it hadn’t been because she didn’t have feelings for
him.

She let out a breath, and he pulled back a bit. “What’s wrong, my little overthinker?”

She tilted her face to his. “This changes things and scares me. I need to know what
you want from this. Is this really about one more night?”

The smile that lifted his lips was a wry one. “I told you. Kaden Fowler is gone. I’m
not some lovesick kid. Everything I told you before this still stands. I want to have
fun with you—whatever that turns out to look like. The only reason I’m rehashing our
past is because you deserved to know who I was. I needed to get this out in the open
and bury it for good so that we can move on.”

She rubbed her lips together, considering him. He’d given her a nonanswer about the
one-night thing, but part of her was okay with that. If he really just wanted to have
fun, maybe this could be a good solution for her. No pressure. A friend with benefits—someone
who she already knew and trusted on some level. No one else would have to know. They’d
always been better behind locked doors anyway. “I can’t believe I finally slept with
Kaden Fowler.”

He dragged her body against him, the heat of him bleeding through the thin fabric
of her dress. “No, you didn’t. You slept with Kade Vandergriff. And I think it’s time
I remind you of the difference.”

Her pulse picked up speed, and she peeked at the cabin. “Your family still owns this
place?”

“No. But I do.”

She didn’t have it in her to question why he’d keep the place. She didn’t want to
know. “Is that right?”

The wickedness that glittered in his eyes sent her body into melt mode. “Yep. And
I’m thinking the old place needs an exorcism. Wipe away old memories with new ones.”

The breeze swirled around them, snaking up her legs and making her all too aware that
her panties were no longer there. “Good plan.”

With that, he released her and she instantly missed the warmth. His gaze tracked down
the length of her. “But first, lose the dress and anything beneath. All I want you
wearing are those shoes.”

Her bottom lip dropped, and she peered out at the darkened woods. “Are you kidding?
We’re outside.”

“And alone,” he said, clearly unmoved by her protest. “You agreed to let me be in
charge tonight. I would like to see you wearing nothing but moonlight.”

“And if I say no?” she asked, both unnerved and completely intrigued by the sensual
command in his voice, the utter confidence in his stance. He looked like some fallen
angel intent on dragging her over to the dark side. That part of him had always been
there. Even when he hadn’t had the confidence, he’d always represented everything
that threatened her carefully taped together existence.

Kade tipped his head toward her as if to concede the point. “Yes, let’s talk about
that. Do you know what a safe word is?”

“Uh, not really.” There was lingo involved in this? She was so very out of her league.

“Like I told you, I enjoy games of control. And I will push you, but you have the
right to stop things. If something is too much, you tell me. You always have permission
to say so. But if you need something to stop immediately or you’re truly frightened
or hurting, you use your safe word. It’s the emergency parachute cord. Not to be used
lightly.”

Oh yeah, she was totally in over her head. And maybe if this had only been the stranger
Kade Vandergriff telling her this, she might have chickened out. Heck, she was alone
in the woods with this powerful man with no one around to save her if she needed help.
If she’d been watching this in a movie, she’d be screaming at the imbecilic woman
to steal his keys and book it out of there. But knowing it was Kaden had her battered
trust wanting to rise up and rally. He wouldn’t hurt her. He’d had the chance and
good reason to do that back when everything went down in high school, and he’d kept
her secrets anyway. “What word should I use?”

“The most common one is
red
. Like a stoplight.”

She nodded. “Okay. Red.”

“Take off your dress,” he said again, but this time the words had soft edges. “You’re
safe with me.”

The promise smoothed the last ripples of worry moving through her.
Safe
. After pulling in a deep breath, she tugged off her cardigan and then reached behind
her to unzip the dress and unhook her bra. The clothes fell to the leaves at her feet,
and she stepped out of the puddle of fabric. The trees rustled around them and the
soft song of night things filled the air, but all she could focus on was the sound
of her own quickening breaths. She was naked. In the middle of the woods. The number
of times she’d had sex with the lights on could be counted on two hands, and now she
was standing bare in the moonlight.

Kade’s gaze moved over her like a physical touch. Anywhere his focus landed, her body
tightened in response. But self-consciousness ate at her. Yes, he’d seen her naked
already but it hadn’t been like this. And now she knew that he was very aware of what
she used to look like. Her teenage body had been thin and athletic, firm. Standing
here left her acutely aware of how much had softened and rounded. Doug had reminded
her regularly of how her body had changed. Her arms instinctively moved to cover her
chest.

“Don’t you dare,” Kade said, the words like bullets in the quiet. “Let me look at
you.”

She lowered her hands to her side with marked effort, but her cheeks heated with embarrassment.

He took a step closer. “You are so goddamned beautiful, Tess. “

She deflected the comment with a shake of her head. “You’re good at flattery.”

His eyes narrowed with censure. “Is that what you think? You think I’m someone to
feed you stories. Unzip my pants.”

“What?”

“I think you heard me.”

The shift in his demeanor had her springing into action. With fumbling fingers, she
reached for the fly of his pants and unfastened them. Before she could pull away,
he grabbed her wrist and tucked her hand inside. His erection pushed hot against her
palm, making her fingers instinctively curl around it and her sex clench in response.

“Do you feel that?” he asked, wrapping his hand over hers. “You think I’m not enjoying
the view, that I’m giving you empty words to make you feel better?”

The weight of him in her hand had her thoughts fragmenting. She closed her eyes. “We
both know I’m not a sixteen-year-old, bounce-quarters-off-her-belly cheerleader anymore.”

“No, you’re not. And I thought you were pretty in high school, Tess, but the woman
in front of me makes that girl pale in comparison.”