As I drove, I thought about Kade. For most of our relationship, since about the time I turned fifteen or sixteen, he’d done a lot of teasing of me. Not in public, mind you, but in private, he always had a little taunt for me. I wondered as I drove if perhaps Kade’s teasing was just his way of trying to deal with the attraction that I realized I’d felt for him most of the time I’d known him. At first it had just been a little teenage crush thing. I mean, there I was, thirteen going on fourteen, and Mom was dating a guy whose son was tall, muscular, handsome, smart, just a total dream. He was like the unattainable perfect guy, and I dismissed it as I focused on getting started in modeling, and yes, learning to date myself.
Later on, as Kade left Los Angeles and established himself up north, I thought I’d moved on. Still, every time he came back to town, I found myself admiring him and occasionally having the little fantasy about him. I know it had cost me one boyfriend, who’d come by the house at the same time Kade was in town and broke it off with me two weeks later, stating I was obsessed with someone else. I never told Mom, Derek or Kade about it though, and just tried to put it out of my mind.
Pulling up to the house in Laguna Hills, I saw that Kade’s car was still out front, which gave me a flare of hope. There was another car there, but I didn’t think about it, since it was still during the staff’s business hours. I figured it belonged to the maid or something.
Heading inside, I listened for any signs of Kade being around. While his car was out front, that didn’t mean he was actually there. He could’ve gone out with an old buddy for all I knew. Tossing my bag on the table next to the door, I walked upstairs. “Kade? Hey, Kade, are you around?”
I heard movement from Kade’s room, and I walked toward the sound when the door opened and Kade came out, a pair of shorts on and nothing else. “Alix,” he said, closing his door behind him. “What are you doing here?”
He looked surprised to see me, and there was something else on his face that I wasn’t sure I could identify. His face was flushed, and there was a light sheen of sweat on his upper body, his six pack shining in the dim light of the hallway. Each muscle was flushed and defined, and he looked sexier than I’d ever seen anyone look in my life. I had to swallow twice to get enough lubrication to free up my vocal cords.
“Uh, I just wanted to come by and say thank you,” I said, making sure to keep my distance. I didn’t know if I could trust myself with the way he looked standing there. “I just talked to my bank and . . . ”
The door behind Kade opened and a pretty blonde girl walked out. She was shorter than me, and she looked like she was at least partially Asian, at least from her facial features. Considering she was wearing an emerald silk bath robe, I knew for certain that she was a knockout, while at the same time I also knew exactly what they’d been up to. “Oh.”
“Kade, after that, I am so going to need a shower,” the girl said with a confident, sexy little smile and swagger to her voice and body. She looked at me with frank consideration, and then her smile grew larger, like she had just discovered a secret. “So you’re Alix. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Rita, a . . . friend of Kade’s from a long time back. Good to finally meet you.”
Rita offered her hand and I shook it out of pure instinct. She sauntered off down the hallway, giving Kade a little wave as she disappeared into the guest shower. “So . . . ”
“Alix, I’ve known Rita for a long time,” Kade said. “She and I, there’s no emotional bond there. We’re just friends.”
“A bit more than friends, I’d say,” I replied. I shook my head. “Listen, Kade, it doesn’t matter. Your life is your life. I had some assumptions, sure, but obviously things are different than what I thought. I just wanted to come by and say thank you in person, you did me a really huge favor.”
“You’re welcome. Um, I know this is strange, but would you mind hanging out a bit? I’d like to just make sure you understand some stuff from yesterday,” Kade replied, shifting from side to side. I really wished he hadn’t done that, I could tell from the way the fabric moved and things shifted around he wasn’t wearing any underwear underneath the shorts. “Please?”
“I think you should probably shower and get changed first,” I replied, giving him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he didn’t feel for me the way I felt for him, but he was trying to be nice. I’d hear him out. “Tell you what, I’ll go hang out in my room. Just come get me when you’re ready. If anything, I still owe you an Indian dinner.”
Kade smiled, his white teeth flashing brightly in the hallway, and I felt a twinge at my heart, thinking that smile would never be meant for me the way I had come to realize I wanted it to be. “Yeah, I think we can do that. Let me shower and get changed.”
I went to my room, trying to distract myself by picking up the same bad novel I’d been reading just a few days before. This time I actually was able to get into the hackneyed prose when there was a knock on my door and someone came in.
“Kade, I know that . . . ” I started, before seeing that it was Rita. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t invite you in.”