Marrying Cade (12 page)

Chapter Twelve

Heat spread up Melo’s arm as Cade’s lips moved over the sensitive skin of her lower arm. She looked down at his dark head and shivered.

“Hang up,” he mouthed.

“I can’t,” she mouthed back.

Rosa was talking.

“He told me I was selfish,” Rosa complained. “That I need to grow up. We were talking about the business, and he…” Her voice trailed off, then there was a sob, a sniff, and she continued. “He said he was going to demand to see all the financial reports when we came back from our honeymoon. He doesn’t trust Dad, Melo. I can’t believe he would think Dad would hide something from us.”

Cade stood up. He took off his jacket and threw it on the chair. Then he slowly undid his shirt buttons, his gaze never leaving hers. As each button revealed more of his gorgeous chest Melo’s heart beat faster. She struggled to concentrate.

“He’s right, Rosa.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Melo pulled in a deep breath, and gave her the second barrel. “Dad
has
lied. At least by omission. He gambled with the company’s money, not his own. He could be facing an embezzlement suit.”

Melo barely registered her sister’s shocked gasp. She had to continue, had to make sure her sister understood that she wasn’t going to side with her on this one.

Cade undid his cuff buttons and slipped off his shirt.

Melo closed her eyes. Maybe if she wasn’t watching him she could focus on talking to Rosa, making her see…

“Adam is a partner in the business now, and he’s completely right in feeling angry about the way Dad has conducted his affairs. He’s completely within his rights to take Dad to court,” Melo said.

“But Dad knew he could pay it back… The beach—”

“The beach is my inheritance. You know that,” Melo interjected firmly. “Dad has made a play for it, and his bid may very well prove to be successful, but there’s no difference to him claiming the money Nonna left you as his own. Or her jewelry.”

“But you’re going to sell the beach to Cade, aren’t you?” Rosa’s voice was high and needy. “Because if you don’t the company will be ruined.”

Warm fingers dusted over her shoulders like butterfly wings. She breathed in Cade’s scent, and wished her sister would evaporate. She clenched her hands into fists to resist the urge to reach out and smooth them over his firm stomach.

“That’s a decision I’ll make when I find out about the validity of his claim,” Melo said. “Not before. And don’t be under any illusions, Rosa. I’ll fight Dad for it. Every step of the way.”

For too long the family presumed she’d always put their welfare first. Abandoning the claim left to her on her grandmother’s deathbed meant her family once again would see her as a walkover, and even though realistically she couldn’t build a house on Paradise Beach while the winery faltered and failed due to lack of resources—the fact Rosa
presumed
she would, burned.

“Adam is an intelligent man. With a legitimate gripe. You need to grow up, Rosa,” Melo finished wearily. “You force me into the role of older sister, even though we were born mere minutes apart. I’m not prepared to wipe up your tears any more. Not when you should be supporting your husband instead of fighting with him.”

Melo heard Cade step away. She opened her eyes, wanting him desperately to come back. But still Rosa’s voice sounded insistently in her ear.

“I don’t believe what you’re saying. What does Cade think? He didn’t tell you of his intention to buy the beach, did he?”

He’d moved behind her. The bed depressed with the weight of a heavier body, and then she felt the heat of his chest against her naked back. His legs surrounded hers, the fabric of his pants against her outer thighs.

Melo breathed out a ragged breath. Talking to her sister was torture when all she wanted to do was turn in his arms and…

Cade pushed her hair aside, and kissed her neck.

Melo struggled to speak. “I’m not discussing Cade,” Melo whispered.

“Cade is dangerous. You can’t see him for what he is,” Rosa muttered. “Your feelings for him have destroyed your objectivity.”

“My relationship with Cade is private.”

Cade’s hands smoothed over her ribs. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. Damn Rosa. She wasn’t putting her own desires on the back boiler any longer.

“I have to go. I’ll call you when I’m back on the island.” Melo’s hand shook as she hung up.

“That’s better,” Cade murmured into her ear. His arms slid around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

Irritation at Rosa melted away. Melo couldn’t hold back a smile.

“You’re very determined,” she whispered.

“I know what I want.” Cade kissed her neck. “And what I don’t. And I don’t want you worrying about your bloody sister.”

She didn’t want to worry about her sister either. Or her demanding family. They were adults, just as she was, they could take care of themselves.

“That feels good,” she murmured, leaning back against him. Her head rested against his shoulder, her neck angled to allow his warm mouth better access.

She breathed in the scent of sandalwood and man. Turned in his arms. And stared into his emerald eyes.

He stroked a hand over her hair, then feathered his long fingers along her jaw line. “Melo,” he murmured low and deep, angling his head to press his warm lips over hers.

He’d kissed her before, but this slow, sexy exploration of her mouth twisted her insides and sent a flood of arousal through every molecule of her being. With a sigh, she opened her mouth to let his tongue tangle with hers. There was no way she could resist this. The memory of her conversation with Rosa evaporated, like an inch of water in a saucepan on a gas ring set to high. Bubbling, boiling, then rising to the ceiling as steam.

Melo’s hands slid into Cade’s long hair, loving the feel of him under her fingertips. He undid her bra, slipped it off, and pulled her closer. When they’d made love before, it had been in a heated rush, without time to think of the consequences. This time was different. It was as if a silken cord tied them together as they shifted to lie on the bed. Cade had slipped off his shoes and socks before lying down next to her, and her foot skimmed over his as their bodies lay chest to chest on top of the smooth coverlet.

His hand caressed her head, cupped her nape.

And Melo’s heart melted. She felt safe in his arms, complete. As if being in his arms was where she should always be. Her mind tried to protest, to stop her from tumbling back into the heady delight of loving him.

Melo smoothed her hands over his chest, over his heart. Feeling it pound steadily beneath her palm. And ignored the voice of reason clamoring in her head to be heard.

He kissed the corner of her mouth. Then his mouth trailed over her jaw line, and down her neck, setting off a wave of tingles in its wake. One hand cupped her breast, and Melo breathed in sharply. He glanced up.

“Okay?”

“More than okay,” she whispered.

“I love the feel of you, your skin is so soft.” Cade’s mouth moved to her exposed breast and sensation arrowed through her as he enclosed her nipple in his mouth.

It was difficult to breathe as he slipped her panties off and kissed the soft curve of her stomach. His hair tickled. She arched upward, wanting him closer, wanting the weight of his body on top of hers.

“Come up here,” she demanded huskily.

Cade reached into his pants’ pocket and pulled out a small foil packet, which he placed on the pillow next to her head.

“I’ve got too many clothes on.” A lazy smile played over his lips.

“Let me help,” Melo murmured, reaching for his zipper and easing it slowly down. Her fingers feathered over his flat stomach, feeling them quiver as they slipped lower, under the waist of his briefs.

“You’re tormenting me,” he whispered as her hand closed around his silken length.

“Torment me back then.” Melo smiled.

Cade slipped his pants and briefs off, then lightning fast, pulled her close and tumbled on top of her. “Oh, I will.”

Melo’s laugh died in her throat as his mouth slanted over hers. His erection pushed against her thigh, and suddenly all thoughts of playing were over. She wanted him, needed him with a fierce urgency that couldn’t be denied a moment longer.

Cade quickly sheathed himself, then with one strong thrust entered her.

“Tormented yet?” he murmured against her lips.

Melo’s hands stroked over his back. He was still. And her body was in heaven. His eyes flickered open, a look of such tenderness in them that love swelled in her heart to overflowing. How could she live without him, when this was all over? She couldn’t pretend it was a brief liaison, not when he held her heart in his hand without even trying.

“Totally tormented,” she whispered. Her inner muscles clenched around him as he started to move.

The feel of his hipbones fused to hers; the current passing between all points where they were joined brought her higher and higher, as though inching up to the top of a roller coaster, then, when the tension was almost unbearable, they crested the summit together, and started into freefall.

Afterward, he held her closely against his chest. She breathed in his scent, rubbed her cheek against the light dusting of dark hair, and wished this night would never, ever end. His arm tightened around her.

“You’re never running out on me again.” Cade’s voice reverberated under her cheek. Melo felt her mouth curve into a smile.

Her arm tightened around him as he brought the duvet up and tucked it tenderly around her back. Last time, she’d had no option but to leave him the morning after their lovemaking. Here, far away from Isola dei Fiori, and her family, they could be together without the interference of other people. Surrender to this frantic passion between them. For better or for worse.
For a week anyway.

****

Melo had a smear of raspberry jam on her top lip. Try as he might, Cade couldn’t stop looking at it, imagining licking it off, but in the crowded dining room that would definitely be a step too far so instead he handed her his napkin. “You have some jam…” he said, looking away as she took care of it.

If it had been up to him, they’d have missed breakfast. Spent all day in bed. After making love with her all night, and again this morning, he still couldn’t get enough of being with her, losing himself again and again in her warmth. But before long people would come looking for them, and so he’d reluctantly let her get dressed for breakfast.

In jeans and an emerald green shirt, she wasn’t dressed to entice, but still he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. This obsession was a disturbing development. One that shook him to his core. Last night he’d felt closer to her than he ever had with anyone, he still did.

He picked up his coffee cup and drained it.

“You’re very quiet this morning,” Melo said, with a wide, open smile that lit her up from the inside. “What are you thinking about?”

“X-rated,” he replied tersely.

Melo laughed, pure joy drawing him in, as he felt his mouth curve in an answering grin. “I love it,” she confessed, reaching across the table to clasp his hand in hers. “You sounded so grumpy about it.”

“I am grumpy about it.” Cade brought her knuckles to his mouth and dusted his lips across them. “I thought I’d be past x-rated after last night.”

Her face colored with a faint flush. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?” She pulled her hand away, and played with the napkin.

Okay, so she wanted to inject a level of normalcy—which was good, considering the fact his body was already reacting to their flirtation.

“We’re going out to watch black bears,” he said.

Across the room, Margie waved a greeting. Cade returned it, hoping she wouldn’t come over and disturb them. “We’ll have a guide with us, so that should keep me in line.”

“Pity,” Melo answered quickly, then swallowed her coffee. “Although I’d love to see the woods. And later, will you be showing me around the hotel?” Her eyelashes dipped covering her eyes.

“No, we’re moving out.”

Her gaze flashed to his with a bolt of blue. “Moving out? But we just got here!”

Cade nodded, leaned closer. “This place is too busy.” He smiled at Margie as she passed him on the way out of the restaurant. “I thought we could move in to one of the cabins in the woods. Spend time alone together.”

He didn’t want to think about work. Didn’t want to consider how things would change between them when he bought the beach, and destroyed her dream of building a house there. He was saving her family from ruin. Something he’d had to do with his own after his father’s death, but rather than thank him, she’d resent him. The feeling might even grow into hatred. And there was damn little he could do about it. She’d gambled by recommending her family invest in Mezzuti, and now she held the only means of putting things right. Sooner or later she’d see, and realize she had a
responsibility
to her family, even if it meant giving up something that meant a lot to her. When they got to the cabin, he’d talk her through it, be the sympathetic ear she’d been when they were teenagers. The one she could confess to. Together, they could work it out.

“I thought you liked hotels,” Melo teased.

“I did,” Cade confessed. “Until you came into the picture. Now, for the first time, I can see the advantages of being totally alone with someone.”

Melo leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and tilted her head to the side. She pouted. “So, does this mean I’m going to be cooking?”

Cade shook his head. “No, you’re on holiday. I thought I’d be in charge of the culinary delights for the next few days.” Last night while she slept he’d rung down to reception and organized everything, including the delivery of basic supplies.
Hopefully she liked beans and barbeque.

“Wow. You cook too? I’m impressed.” Melo glanced around the restaurant. “When do we leave?”

Chapter Thirteen

Sooner or later they would have to talk about it.
But let it be later.
After a fantastic day trekking, they’d come across a family of bears playing in the woods. The dark shadows cast by the huge trees added to the feeling of unreality as Melo clutched Cade’s hand, holding her breath at the wonderful sight.

Everything was so different here. And for the next few days they would be totally alone. The thought sent shivers of anticipation through her as the guide left them at the remote cabin. A large black jeep was parked out front, so they could return to the hotel whenever they wanted. They were alone, with no distractions, except each other. With all nature as their playground.

Melo stretched her legs out on the sofa and covered them with the knitted throw in dark jewel colors from the sofa’s back. The fire Cade made flickered in the fireplace, filling the tiny room with warmth and light. The interior of the cabin was unlike anything she’d ever seen, thick logs stacked on top of one another formed the walls. The floor echoed the wooden theme with heavy honeyed planks covered in native Indian throws.

She’d thought herself in love with him once. In love with a confused, troubled boy. And maybe the girl she’d been had loved him. But she was different now. And so was he. The schoolgirl infatuation which had been part of her for so many years was gone, replaced with something much more dangerous.

The door creaked. “Are you ready for dinner?”

“Yeah.” Melo stood and walked outside. He’d been battling with the barbeque for an hour while she made a selection of salads and placed them on a mosaic-topped table on the deck. Her heart clenched at the sight that met her eyes.

It was stupid how the sight of lit candles on the table and Cade carrying a platter of steaks to the table turned her to mush. Maybe it was the half smile teasing his lips, or the gleam in his eyes promising more once the meal was done. Whatever it was, it had her weak at the knees.

Her mouth watered, “Those look great.”

He poured two glasses of wine. “Let’s eat.”

“So, do you reckon your sister will manage without you on the end of the phone for a couple of days?” Cade asked, as they settled under the starlit sky for dinner.

“She’ll have to,” Melo answered. “She has a husband now.”

“I know you, you’ll still be there for her.” Cade helped himself to tomato salad. “You’re a pushover for your family, you know that, right?”

A hint of censure lit Cade’s tone. As if there was something wrong with caring for the people you love. His words about her being a pushover stung. She’d never feel bad about wanting to help her family, but she sure felt bad about being taken advantage of. Her tone was harsher than intended. “I care about them. I don’t know how to care without being taken advantage of.”

Surely he understood? He’d helped Margie, helped the receptionist’s younger brother. Why did it seem as though he was in control, and she was spiraling into confusion?

She crossed her arms. “You care about people too, Cade. Why doesn’t that make you a pushover?”

Cade chewed a mouthful of steak slowly. He seemed to be carefully considering her question before answering. “Sometimes people need money to be safe, or to fulfill their potential, I have plenty.” His mouth tilted in a tight smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ve been burned before, but when I make the decision to help someone out, I’ve usually calculated the risks.”

“But your mother, your sisters…” Melo asked.

“They need my support, and they have it. They’ll never need for anything.” Cade swallowed a mouthful of red wine.

“Money can’t solve every problem.” Pain burned in Melo’s chest as she gazed at him, barely able to comprehend his attitude. “What about just
being there
, a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen to their worries?”

He’d been there for her when she was younger. They’d shared their worries and their fears for the future. Melo’s mind stumbled over the past few days. They’d shared teasing passion, but they hadn’t really
talked
, had they? Cold fingers clutched her heart and squeezed tight. She glanced over at his set face, the tight jaw.

“We should talk,” she said, finality in her tone. If Cade wasn’t the man she’d thought him, she needed to know.
Right now.

****

She didn’t understand.
Just like his mother and his bloody sisters, Melo was throwing some sort of crazy, female logic into the mix. As Cade watched her over the flickering light of the candle, his skin prickled with irritation. He was trying, dammit. Trying to come to terms with the fact she’d recklessly risked her family’s
home.
Just like his father.

With any other woman, he’d have walked away. Called time on whatever nascent relationship was bursting to life. But with Melo… Cade rubbed a hand over his eyes. He was in way too deep. She needed his financial help, and she was going to get it, whether she liked it or not.

He pulled in a deep breath.

“Okay. Do you want to start, or will I?”

Melo crossed her arms across her chest and her eyebrows raised. “Well, you started it when you called me a pushover, so I reckon you should do the honors.”

“Fine.” There was no point in getting angry, so Cade considered carefully before he continued. “In this instance, you are in the wrong. You know that, and so do I.”

Melo’s eyes widened. “I…”

Cade held up a hand. “Let me finish. You advised your father to invest in a dangerous opportunity you should have been more careful about. As a result, you’ve risked your family’s home. Their heritage. I know you don’t want to lose the beach, but it’s your responsibility to put things right. To provide for your family.”

The look of hurt in her eyes almost caused him to pause, but he couldn’t fall prey to sentiment, laying out the truth in all its darkness was too important. “Offering your family a shoulder to cry on isn’t enough. You need to offer money. I care about you, Melo. I care about you enough to provide the way out.”

“With your checkbook?” she whispered. “You’ve got it all wrong, Cade. So badly wrong.”

“You have to face your responsibility. Selling to me is by far a safer option than selling to someone else.” A frown wrinkled the skin between her eyebrows. “Yes, your father told me if I don’t buy the beach he’s going to offer it to a shark in man’s clothing.”

Cade’s voice softened, and he reached out to her, pulling her hand into his. “You made a mistake. Gambled with the family’s future. It was a mistake I’ve never forgiven my father for, but one I’m trying to forgive you for.”
Because I love you.
The thought ran through Cade’s mind and his muscles seized in shock. He couldn’t be in love with Melo.
Couldn’t.
But as her eyes misted over he realized he was.

“You’re not listening,” Melo said in a strong, clear voice. She pulled her hand away. “I am not responsible for gambling with my family’s future, my father is. He made the decision to invest without consulting me. If he had, I would have given him the same advice I give all my clients, to avoid them like the plague.”

“It’s big of you to try to forgive me,” she continued in an icy voice. “But I’m not the one in need of your forgiveness. My family needs my inheritance to pay for my father’s mistake. And that’s where me being a doormat comes in, because I’m not going to block the sale of Paradise Beach to you. Because I care more for my family than I do for money. If that makes me a fool, so be it.”

Confusion dulled Cade’s mind as he tried to follow Melo’s words. She wasn’t responsible? His throat was dry, and he swallowed.

Hurt blazed in her eyes, and her body was stiff, as if holding herself together by mere force of will.

“Why wouldn’t he—”

Her voice was bitter. “I told you. My father has no interest in taking advice from his daughter, not when it matters anyway.”

“And yet he expects you to sort out the problem,” Cade finished.

“Yes.” Melo’s shoulders drooped, and she looked down at the table, defeated.

“It isn’t your mess to sort out. The beach means something to you. If it’s yours, you shouldn’t give it up for anyone.” Cade walked around the table and pulled her up into his arms. “Perhaps I can organize bridging finance, invest in the winery as a silent partner…”

Melo pulled away from him. Her eyes widened. “Why would you? It’s more my problem than it is yours. Just because we slept together doesn’t make you responsible any more than it does me. The winery is a family business; Marco would never agree to take on a partner who wasn’t related.”

“I care about you,” Cade answered, feeling like a broken record saying the same thing over and over. “I want to help.”

Melo folded her arms across her chest. Her voice was so quiet he could barely hear what she said. “That’s not a good enough reason, Cade. You’re a family friend, not family.”

“I could be family.” The words came out before Cade could think them through, tumbling out like dry grains of sand trickling through fingers. “You could marry me.”

Melo looked so shocked, he stilled. The idea had obviously never crossed her mind, but as he said the words he realized it was the perfect solution to both their problems. He couldn’t see a future without Melo in it. Adam had found happiness, was it such a reach to think he could find happiness too? “Listen, I know it’s sudden, but I love being with you and we’re good together, you know we are. And we have to stop Felix Mezzuti from getting his hands on the beach, he’d destroy it.”

“We’ll talk about it in the morning.” Melo avoided his eyes as she took a step further away. “I need time alone.” With a wavering smile that didn’t reach as far as her vivid blue eyes, she crossed her arms. “Tomorrow,” she whispered, walking to the cabin.

****

As Cade suggested marriage, something inside Melo shriveled and died. She’d wanted to cry, wanted to rage at the world, but instead she put it all off, needing to escape more than anything else at that moment.

She’d dreamed of Cade proposing. For years as a dreamy teenager she fantasized about them falling in love, and one day standing on the beach with Cade holding her hand and asking her to be his wife. The difference between her childish dream and the brutal reality was so intense pain burned in her throat. Guilt at suspecting her of being responsible for the whole disaster had propelled him into making that ridiculous suggestion, one he first tried to justify by “caring about her” and then revealed his true intention, to stop Felix Mezzuti gaining control of the beach. He was still thinking money could solve every problem. But without love, what would their marriage be but an empty sham? How long before they settled on an amicable divorce? Marco would have no problem with being in business with her ex husband after all.

A black well of pain and disappointment settled in the region of her heart. She closed her eyes and gave in to it for a moment, then one remembered word floated up from the blackness.

Mezzuti?
Her head swam with the realization she’d missed a vital piece of the puzzle. If Cade didn’t take up his offer, her father intended to sell to Felix Mezzuti, the head of Mezzuti Investments, the same man who’d been after land on Isola dei Fiori for years. The man her father resolutely refused to sell to in the past.

This could be no coincidence. Mezzuti would be much more interested in getting a lien on land than he ever would in her father’s money. He must have engineered things to ensure Marco would have no option but to sell to him. Must have carefully manipulated the older man, under the guise of a solid gold investment opportunity.

Melo glanced out of the window, making out Cade’s shadowy form sitting at the table. She pushed back her hair with a shaking hand. She couldn’t think about him now. Couldn’t shred her heart any longer. He was an honorable man, determined to see her as a damsel in distress in need of saving.

Melo went into the bedroom where she’d left her bags, and closed the door firmly. She unzipped her carry-on bag and pulled out her laptop and the sheaf of files she’d brought with her from the Bellucci villa.

She’d been mourning the loss of Paradise Beach as if it were a done deal, instead of focusing her attention on this new, intriguing possibility. That the man who had conned a raft of hapless investors out of their life savings might have slipped up somewhere along the way. Might have thought he was dealing with one old, ill man, and in his greed, been careless.

She set up the laptop on a desk in the corner of the room and powered it up. There was plenty of room on the heavy oak desk, so she opened the sheaf of papers, and copies of the documents her father had signed. Felix Mezzuti may have thought her stubborn father wouldn’t seek her opinion before making the deal, but if he thought for one moment she wouldn’t search through the paperwork, examining every word looking for a solution, he was dead wrong.

She
was
a damsel in distress all right. But damned determined to rescue
herself
.