From This Moment

chapter 3
~~ Rona ~~
Waking up to the sound of birds chirping away outside on the balcony is fabulous. I had such a good night’s sleep which makes me feel well rested and looking forward to spending the day with Cade.
Climbing out of bed, I make my way to the bathroom and then have a lovely hot shower. Pulling some clothes out of the closet, I put my black slim fit jeans on with my purple long sleeved t-shirt and leave my feet bare for now, going in search of coffee.
Arriving at the kitchen, I find Cade drinking coffee over the newspaper. Putting the newspaper down, he looks me over smiling. “Morning. Did you have a good night’s sleep?”“Morning. Yes I did thank you. What about you, did you sleep well?”“Eventually!” he frowns. “Help yourself to coffee it’s over by the microwave. There’s a cup to your right.”“Thanks.” Heading towards the coffee pot, I look out the window and can see deer not too far from the back porch. Cade comes over to stand beside me.“Would you like pancakes and bacon for breakfast?”“Oh my favorite. Yes please. Can I help with anything?”“No, I have it, won’t be long. Why don’t you take a seat over there by the window and watch the deer?”“Okay.” I head over to the window.
Taking a seat, I glance over to Cade, deciding to watch him as he prepares breakfast.
He’s so handsome.
Today he’s wearing brown jeans and a black, long sleeved t-shirt and all I want to do is go over to him and wrap my arms around his waist.
We sit down to breakfast, which is delightful and more so, because it’s with Cade.“I need to just get a few phone calls out of the way and one or two emails then I’m all yours,” he tells me with a slight hesitation, when he realizes what he’s said.
Smiling at him, “I wish!” Looking at each other the atmosphere starts to simmer.
Breaking the connection, I look away, “I’ll go and get my iPad after breakfast and read while you see to business.” Cade just nods in reply.
After all the dishes are cleared away, I run upstairs to my room to collect my iPad. Back downstairs, I grab another coffee and get comfortable on one of the overstuffed chairs.“Will you be okay while I’m in the office?” Cade asks me on his way through to the stairs.“Yes, I’ll be fine. Do you have wifi so that I can connect my iPad?”“Yes, give me a minute and I’ll go and hunt the password out for you.”
Connecting my iPad to Cade’s internet, I check my email account and am surprised to discover not one but around fifteen emails from Nick. I just stare at them at first not knowing whether to read them or delete them. Deciding that I’ve heard everything he has to say before leaving Ireland – I press delete.
There are a few emails from friends asking if I’m okay and wanting to know where I’ve disappeared to. I send a reply to my friend Angie from work, telling her that I’m fine and how glad I am that Nick called a halt to the wedding. Finishing the message, I tell her that she can contact me either by email or phone, which I’ve not actually switched on yet since leaving Ireland.
Having finished with my email, I put my iPad to one side and snuggle into the chair, falling asleep.~~ Cade ~~
Leaving Rona in the overstuffed chair, I head up to my office before I ravage her. She looks so cute cuddled up in the chair concentrating on something on her iPad.
Logging onto my email, I try to concentrate, especially on the message from a Denver law firm about an old case of mine. But I find having the object of my constant desire in my line of sight too distracting and my concentration is shot to hell.
Finally finishing the responses to emails, I switch off my computer and look down again to see Rona all cuddled up in the chair fast asleep.
I walk slowly down the stairs and sit in the chair opposite, so I can watch her without being observed.
She really is lovely, with her clear smooth skin and long eye lashes. It’s killing me knowing that tomorrow Jake will have her alone as they go into Jackson for the day. I feel as though she’s my woman and no one else has the right to her.
Waking up she notices me.“Why are you frowning?” she asks in a rather sleepy voice.“I don’t like the idea of you being away from me all day tomorrow with Jake,” telling her the truth.“You said we need to take a step back, and although I would much rather have you showing me around, I think I’d better go with Jake tomorrow.”“I don’t know what I want anymore, having you here is affecting me like nothing else ever has.”~~ Rona ~~
I head to my room after lunch to collect my boots, then back downstairs to meet up with Cade as I’m going to have my first horse riding lesson. I’m still a bit confused about how to act with Cade after his earlier comment.
The stable area is so much larger than it looks from the house. As we walk closer, some of the horses approach in what appears to be an outdoor training area.
Leading me towards a lovely honey colored horse, Cade introduces me to her.“This is Honey Bee,” he laughs. “Gabby named her after her favorite breakfast cereal.”
I smile at Cade, “That’s Anna’s daughter right?”“Yes, that’s right. Honey Bee is our gentlest horse and loves nothing better than to follow my lead.”“Okay,” smiling, “A female I take it.... it looks a long way up there,” I say in a shaky voice.“Don’t worry, you’ll be safe on Honey and I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Moving in closer to me, he puts his arm around me and rubs his hand up and down my back in a show of comfort. Moving away slightly, he helps me mount the horse.
Cade’s horse is a huge beast of an animal called King and he's black as the night.
After Cade has given me a brief lesson in how to hold the reins we head out along the trail to the side of the house.
We must have been riding for about thirty minutes when we come out of the forest of snow covered trees to a river.
Cade rides along side me, “Do you want to stop here for a short while?”“Oh, that would be great,” thinking my butt could do with a rest.
Cade climbs off his horse, takes the reins from me and leads our horses over to a tree and tethers them to it.
Helping me down from the horse, “Are you okay to walk?”“Yes, I think so.” I feel his hands tighten briefly on me before letting me go.
Stepping away, he takes my hand and leads me to a fallen tree close to the river. Taking a seat with his back against another tree, he pulls me down between his legs and puts his arms around me. I snuggle into him on a sigh.
He always smells so good and having his arms around me has my heart pounding. I’ve become so attached to him since meeting him just over twenty-four hours ago. Being in his arms feels like home, a feeling I haven’t had since my grandmother died.~~ Cade ~~
Sitting here at my favorite place on my property with Rona in my arms feels like heaven.... and hell. She’s snuggled into me with her face turned sideways against my chest. As I place a kiss on top of her head I can smell the apple shampoo she obviously used this morning.
Lifting her head, she lifts her gloved hand and caresses down one side of my face, “I could stay like this forever.”
I place a kiss on her lips, “I don’t ever remember feeling as content as I do right now with you in my arms.”
Tightening my arms around her we continue watching the river. I notice two deer appear on the opposite side.“Hey Rona, look over there.” I point towards the deer.“Wow! A mommy with her baby.”
Trying to get a rise out of her, “They usually taste pretty good.”
Rona elbows me in the stomach, “No way are you going to kill Bambi.”
Laughing now, “I was only joking and I don’t allow hunting on my land.” I briefly pull her tighter into me, and then start moving away. “Come on, we better head back before we freeze our butts off.”“Can we do this again sometime? Just the two of us?”“Yes, I think that can be arranged.”
Unhooking the horses we head back to the stables having really enjoyed my time with this amazing woman.~~ Rona ~~
Back in my room to shower before I head downstairs to help Cade with dinner, I decide it’s time to switch my phone back on. I regret doing so; I’ve over twenty voicemails.
Lying on my bed, I start to sort through the messages and they are mostly hang ups or from Nick, which I delete without even listening to them.
After my shower, I decide to put one of my dresses on. It isn’t really posh or special, but it’s comfortable and I want Cade to see me in something other than jeans. The dress is lilac and made of a soft knit fabric which falls perfectly against my skin. It has a sweetheart neck line with cap sleeves and I can’t wait to see Cade’s face when he sees me in it.
Not bothering with shoes, I glance one last time in the mirror and head downstairs.
I can see Cade in the kitchen and it looks like he’s made more of an effort as well. He’s obviously shaved again and is dressed in dark blue slacks and a pale blue shirt; he’s one sexy guy, my heart’s pounding. I walk towards him waiting for the moment when he sees me.~~ Cade ~~
Turning around to grab the wine off the worktop, I stop dead. Rona is walking towards me in a dress which highlights all her curves and doesn’t really leave anything to the imagination. She takes my breath away.
Looking into her eyes, I can’t look away. As she walks around the breakfast bar towards me, I find my legs moving towards her, reaching out with my hands, I take hold of her arms in a caress.“Wow, you look.... wow.” I’m acting like an idiot, but she really does leave me speechless.
Moving my hands slowly up her arms over her shoulders, smoothing my thumbs along her collarbone, I can feel her pulse throbbing, which probably matches the rhythm of mine.
Finally resting my hands lightly against her neck, I bring her into me for the sweetest of kisses. This isn’t about sex. It’s a tender moment with whom I’m falling in love.~~ Rona ~~
Cade’s kiss is so tender. I realize I’m really falling in love with him. He makes me feel as though I’m the only woman in the world; not even Nick made me feel like that.
Ending the kiss, we smile at each other, taking a step back and start to finish the meal.“So Rona, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you pick Jackson Hole for your.... vacation? I would have thought somewhere with plenty of sun, sea and sand?”“I actually wanted to go to the Maldives, but Nick said there was no way he wanted to lounge around on a beach and that he couldn’t think of anything more boring! I guess I should have realized what a mistake I was making then and there, but I didn’t. I thought he was really selfish, he wouldn’t even compromise.”“If it was me, I would take you to the ends of the earth if you asked.” Cade walks closer and smoothes his hand down the side of my face.
Leaning into him, I place a kiss in his palm and move away to pour a glass of deep red burgundy.
Tonight’s meal of Beef Casserole with rice is delicious. We’ve just finished when Jake arrives back, having been in Jackson all day helping his friends move house.“I hope you saved me some of whatever that was.” Jake rubs his stomach.“Of course, you have a plate in the microwave.”“Great, I’ll eat it now while you two have your coffee. I need to shower and change; I’m heading back to Chris and Jo’s place for the house warming. Hey, Rona, do you want to go with me?”
As Jake asks me this I can see Cade’s hand tighten around his cup of coffee.“To be honest I’m still really tired. My body’s still getting used to the difference in the time between Ireland and here. If you don’t mind I think I need to pass and have another early night.”“Don’t worry, but I will see you around eleven tomorrow to take you into Jackson.” He continues shoveling food into his mouth.“That would be great.”