Free A Lifetime to Find Love by Ava Riley Page B

arms around her waist and gently pulled her to him.
     
    “Do you like it?” he asked.
     
    “It’s beautiful, Cade.”  Tessa waited a moment to work out the lump in her throat before she spoke again.  She turned in his arms.  “I can’t believe you went to all this trouble.”
     
    Cade gently stroked her cheek and sealed his mouth to hers for a quick taste.  He would never get enough of her and he would take every opportunity presented to him to take what she would give him.
     
    “Tess, doing this for you is no trouble at all.  It is my pleasure.  I hoped you would like it.”
     
    “I love it.”  Tessa’s stomach spoke up once again and they both began to laugh. “As beautiful as it is and as much as I would love to stand here thanking you over and over again, I think my stomach is going to win this battle.  The food smells wonderful by the way.”
     
    Cade pulled out Tessa’s chair then sat across from her.  Patrick, one of the doctor’s who helped Cade out with his practice from time to time, helped Cade set everything up for tonight.  Cade was not known to go to such great lengths to impress a woman. So when he asked Patrick for his help, he quickly obliged. 
     
    “Cade, I don’t know how you did it, but this is absolutely wonderful.” 
     
    As Cade poured their wine, Tessa dug in.  She was not shy about her appetite and Cade couldn’t take his eyes off her long enough to eat his own meal.  He had been nervous about the whole night, but mostly about this.  He wasn’t sure how Tessa would react.  She was a simple woman, a no fuss kind of girl.  He knew that she would never want to go to a fancy restaurant, though if he had taken her to one, she would have been polite about being there.  For that very reason, he decided to bring the fancy restaurant to her, so to speak.  Joe’s Crab Shack definitely wasn’t high class, but the food was amazing, better than any restaurant in Long Beach.  Seeing the expression of pure bliss on her face made him glad he chose to set the night up the way he did.  The night was perfect; the sounds of the ocean, the way the moon danced upon the sand, and the company were all mesmerizing.  He couldn’t have asked for things to being going any better.  Tessa’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.
     
    “I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head, “what did you say?”
     
    “I said, aren’t you going to eat?  Where were you just now?”
     
    “Sorry, I was just thinking.”  That smile of his rose up again causing her own smile to make an appearance.     “And, yes, I’m going to eat.”
     
    “Care to share those thoughts with me?  I’d love to know what brought that smile to your face.”
     
    “Baby, you bring this smile to my face.”
     
    “You know,” Tessa said quick to pull the attention from her, “Joe’s Crab Shack is my all time favorite restaurant.”
     
    “Nobody does seafood the way Joe does.  Remember when Rowan worked for him?”
     
    “You bet I remember.  He’d always bring me home something after his shift.  I was so mad when he quit.”
     
    “Well, he was offered a job at the hospital, not like he put himself through medical school to work for Joe.”  Cade laughed. He felt so carefree sitting in her presence enjoying their conversation and the sound of her voice. 
     
    Their time during their meal flew by. Just as quickly as they sat down to eat, they were done.  They sat in the quiet, listening to the sounds the night provided.  The sound of the ocean waves lapping the shoreline, the people on the boardwalk talking and walking, yet with the all the sounds surrounding them, the world blurred and left just the two of them there on the sand.  Surprised at how comfortable she was sitting  across from Cade, she couldn’t stop the smile that formed on her lips.  She realized in that moment how much Cade and her fit together.   The security  she felt earlier holding his hand and  how