Free Second Chance Mates by Sabrina Vance Page B

rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. She looked so peaceful
and innocent with her hands curled under her head, her lips pouting
slightly as she slept. He was surprised she'd fallen asleep given
her agitation at dinner, but then maybe it was the amount of food
she'd packed away when he thought she'd just been
picking.
    "She okay there?" asked Luke, as he
shut and locked the folding windows before dropping onto the
armchair.
    "Fast asleep."
    "What do you make of that developer
guy?"
    "Stanton? I remember Colton mentioning
him. He's a mid-sized employer around here though I don't know
anyone who works for him. I don't like the way he's been bugging
Clara."
    "She's set on staying, huh? I can see
why. This place is a dream."
    "Yeah. Colton used to say that." Cade
smiled as Clara stretched and her feet ended up in his lap. He took
one, gently massaging it. She purred sleepily. "I guess Stanton is
kind of a pest. He doesn't seem to be getting the
message."
    "You reckon there's anything we can do
to help him get the point?"
    Cade shrugged. "I don't think Clara
would appreciate us getting up in her business. I'd rather wait and
be asked even if my instincts tell me that next time Stanton turns
up I should beat his ass back to the road."
    "You too, huh?"
    "I'm bothered about what he said about
the bank. I tried asking Clara about it a couple times but she shut
me down."
    "Think she's struggling
financially?"
    "I don't know. Maybe. I wish she'd tell
me."
    "Have you noticed she hasn't yelled at
us today?"
    Cade laughed, quickly tempering down
the noise in case he woke her. "And she didn't tell us to go
either. Another point in our favor."
    "Maybe she's getting used to
us?"
    "She's always been used to
me."
    Luke grinned. "She didn't seem too
pissed about the sun lotion thing." His grin faded as Cade's eyes
darkened. "Call it the acid test. And it wasn't like I jumped her,"
he reminded his friend.
    "Yet."
    "Yet," agreed Luke.
    "I'm going to take her upstairs. If she
wakes up on the couch she's going to be stiff and cranky." Cade
edged off the sofa, moving her feet onto the cushions. Bending at
the knees, he slid his hands under her back and knees, lifting her
like she weighed nothing. He was out the room before Luke could
offer to help, not that he needed it.
    As he walked up the stairs, he caught
another whiff of her shampoo, a light, fruity scent that made him
breath deep then kiss her forehead.
    Depositing her on the bed, he took a
look at the shorts and t-shirt she wore. Should he remove them and
risk her wrath like the other day when she fainted, or let her be
pissed that she slept in the clothes she'd worn all day? Carefully,
he undid her shorts and slipped them off, leaving her clad in her
tee and panties. It didn’t escape his notice that they were pink
and lacy, a one hundred percent improvement on yesterday. Was she
dressing up for him? He swallowed hard and looked away.
    She couldn't object to him removing her
shorts, could she? His cock certainly didn’t mind. Just the touch
of his hands on her thighs had him hard. He gave it a tug through
his jeans then felt slightly guilty as he looked down at her. Best
not think of sex. Or how good it would feel if she woke and drew
him down to her, where he could rest between her legs. Best think
of anything else. Like, like...he couldn't think of anything.
Damnit, his mind had turned to mush.
    He yawned. It was kind of early to turn
in but his body was warm and relaxed and he'd done plenty of manual
labor, something he enjoyed but his regular desk job didn't allow
him the opportunity to do. Her bed looked awfully inviting. Far
more so than the floor downstairs, given that he was much too tall
to sleep on the couch.
    As Cade looked down at Clara's blonde
curls spilling across the pillow, he slid off his jeans and folded
them over the back of the chair, then his t-shirt, and got in, the
sheets cool against his body. As if she somehow registered the
weight of another body joining hers, Clara shifted