Seaside Dreams (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers, Book One) Read online

  “And?” He tried to read her expression, but she was looking past Caden at two officers joking around behind him.

  She blew a bubble and shrugged. “I’ve got nothing on them. They go to Nauset High, parents are respectable, no history of delinquency on either.”

  Caden breathed a sigh of relief.

  She shifted her eyes back to him and blew a big bubble, then sucked it back into her crimson lips. “Is this a case of little boy growing up and his daddy being overprotective, or did you have a reason to worry?” Kristie was a single mom with a twenty-year-old daughter, and the way she tossed her red hair over her shoulder and then narrowed her eyes and set her stare on Caden told him that she’d been there and done that.

  “They acted a little nervous around me earlier today, but it must have been the uniform. And the superintendent of the high school said there were some troublemakers around, so I was just checking.” He shook his head. “I’m glad they’re not troublemakers.”

  “Wilma Ritter?” She waved her hand in the air. “Willa thinks any kid who’s not a robot is trouble. What does your gut tell you?”

  “I only met them briefly a couple of times, but they seemed like normal kids.”

  “Cops usually have good instincts.” She leaned across the desk and stopped chewing long enough to lower her voice. “Spend time with them. Let them know you’re a cop and you’re watching them.” She pointed her index finger and her second finger at her eyes, then pointed them at Caden. “You’d be surprised how a little fear can instill good behavior in kids.” She walked away with a curt nod.

  Caden knew damn well what fear could do. It could backfire as easily as it could instill good behavior. He’d have to find a middle ground and hope those kids weren’t trouble in the first place, because he also knew that if a kid was set on getting into trouble, sometimes there was no deterring him.

  He read over the reports one last time before heading home for the evening. There were three vehicles broken into, each within a few miles of Bella’s cottage, and in the late afternoon another cottage had been hit. Luckily, no one was home at the time. His muscles tensed with the thought of anything happening to Bella.

  Caden drove home thinking about how important Bella had become to him. He wanted to protect her as much as he wanted to protect Evan, and even though she wasn’t quite as forthright with her emotions, he knew in his heart that her feelings were just as strong for him.

  His cell phone rang on the way into his house. Evan. “Hey, buddy.”

  “Hi, Dad. Do you mind if I hang with Bobby and Mike tonight? We’re gonna play video games at Bobby’s house.” Evan sounded excited.

  Two thoughts fought for Caden’s attention—his son’s safety and a few hours alone with Bella. He had an instant reaction of jumping at that time with Bella, but the father in him made him slow down and ask the right questions.

  “Are his parents going to be home?”

  Evan sighed. “Yes.”

  “You’re not going out anywhere? You’ll be there all night?” In Boston Caden had known most of Evan’s friends’ parents. Not knowing the adults who would be in charge of the boys was new to him, and refraining from being overprotective was a struggle.

  “Yes, Dad.” Evan’s annoyance came through loud and clear.

  Caden’s gut told him to stop by and meet the parents, but he trusted Evan, and he didn’t want to make his son appear to be a daddy’s boy. Kristie had already given him both of the boys’ parents’ names, addresses, and phone numbers. He decided to give Evan a little rope and hope he didn’t hang himself.

  “Okay, but be home by ten. Do you want me to pick you up?” He felt like he was sending him off to preschool for the first time. At least with preschool he could sit in his car and watch Evan playing safely under the guidance of the teachers. This was much scarier.

  “Nah. I’ve got my bike, but can we say eleven instead?”

  “Evan.”

  “What? I had a curfew of eleven back in Boston. And it’s summer, Dad.”

  The frustration in Evan’s voice shot straight to the center of Caden’s chest. He was right. It wasn’t an unreasonable request, and it would give Caden an extra hour with Bella.

  “Okay, but not a minute later.”

  Caden showered and changed, excited to spend a few hours alone with Bella. On his way out the door, he grabbed his leather tool belt. He loved this little ruse they were playing, and he intended to make the most of it.

  He pulled over to the side of the road before driving into the Seaside complex. He removed his shirt and wrapped the leather tool belt around his waist, feeling the thrum of anticipation. He caught a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror and shook his head. He had no chance of quashing the smile from his lips. He tilted the mirror so he could see his abs. He worked out often and he was in great shape. As he confirmed that fact, he felt incredibly silly. He hadn’t done anything even remotely similar to this since his college days, when he and a group of his buddies went to an Anything But Clothes party wearing nothing but plastic beach inner tubes and their private parts.

  He pushed the mirror back into place and leaned his head back. What am I doing?

  He pulled out his cell and brought up the picture of Bella in her lingerie and leather boots. The mischievous glint in her beautiful eyes gave him confidence.

  Hell yeah, he was so going to do this. He threw the truck into drive. After he parked at Bella’s cottage, a quick scan of the immediate area told him that no one was outside, which was good, because while he loved the idea of surprising Bella in his shirtless, boot-clad getup, he knew damn well that there would be no hiding the thought behind the outfit.

  With a deep breath, and his stomach doing all sorts of funny things, he climbed from the car.

  “She’s at Leanna’s.” Tony came around the side of the cottage and assessed Caden’s outfit with a knowing smirk.

  “Christ.” Caden closed his eyes for a beat and shook his head.

  “Dude, let me get her. Trust me. You don’t want those girls seeing you like that. Bella yes, but Jenna? Man, she’ll eat you alive.”

  Caden couldn’t even thank him, he was so embarrassed. He banged his forehead against the door, then reached for the buckle on the tool belt to take the damn thing off.

  He heard their giggles before he could get the tool belt off. Fuck.

  “Oh, come to mama,” Jenna teased.

  “Damn. You are one hot handyman,” Bella said as she came up behind him and patted his butt.

  “Wowza,” Amy said. “I told you that lingerie, leather boots outfit would put a spark in your relationship.”

  “Holy Christ.” We needed a spark? What else could he do but roll with it? Caden turned, threw his hands up in the air, and spun around slowly. “There you go, ladies. Get an eyeful, because it’s the only one you’re gonna get.”

  “Dude, you’re upping the ante here big-time. How are we supposed to keep up?” Kurt and Leanna followed Jenna onto the deck.

  “Well, you know. You’ve already got Leanna, so you probably don’t need to do this stuff anymore. I’m still wooing Bella.” Bella trailed her fingers lightly along his abs, with such a lustful look that he was thankful the tool belt was hanging in front of his junk.

  Kurt shook his head. “If you think it ends after you’re together, boy, you’ve been out of the dating scene for too long. I know I was.” He pulled Leanna close, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

  Bella hooked her finger into the belt and smiled up at him. “I love that you came over ready to work.” She lifted her brows and nibbled on her lower lip.

  Holy hell. He shot a look at the others.

  Tony held his hands up in the air. “I tried, dude.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “If you thought we’d miss this, you were sorely mistaken.” Jenna and Amy made no effort to hide their gawking.

  “If you’re going to drool over me, you’d better have a few dollar bills ready.”
r />   Bella put her hand flat on Caden’s chest. It was warm and soft, and even with all the people around them, he couldn’t help taking her in his arms and kissing her.

  “Hi, sexy,” she said. “Kurt and Leanna were helping me write up some of the stuff I need for the project I’m working on. We can finish tomorrow.”

  “No need. It’ll take me some time to get these locks on. Why don’t you guys finish and then we’ll spend time together.”

  She ran her finger down the center of his chest. “Will you stay dressed like this?” She fluttered her lashes and nibbled on her lower lip.

  Did she have any idea how crazy that drove him?

  He glanced at the others, talking among themselves but still close enough to hear them. Being with Bella had calmed his nerves, and he no longer felt embarrassed. It struck him that Bella’s friends had already become that comfortably familiar to him.

  He shrugged. “Why not.”

  Bella went up on tiptoes and kissed him. “Hot damn! And in case you didn’t get the memo, we’re dating, so you can totally do boyfriendy things.”

  He lowered his cheek to hers. “I got the memo and the racy selfie. Do you really think I’d have dressed like this if I didn’t think we were dating?”

  Her smile didn’t falter.

  “Does this mean you’re committing to seeing only me, or do you plan on dating anyone willing to don a tool belt?”

  She drew back and searched his eyes. “I am totally breaking my plan for you, you know.”

  “I do know.” But I’m hoping your new plan will include me and Evan.

  BELLA HAD A hard time focusing on the marketing pitch and designing the outline for the work-study program with Caden walking around half naked. They’d been trading heated glances that made her feel like a high school girl crushing all over again. Only Caden was not a high school boy. He was one hundred percent man. She wondered what he was like in high school. Was he strong and silent, a little mysterious, the way he was as a man? Or did that come with being a father or simply growing up? Had he been a jock or a studious nerd?

  She imagined he was a sexy combination of both.

  Bella brought her attention back to Kurt, staring at his laptop and tweaking the marketing plan for the work-study program. Leanna claimed to think better when her hands were busy. She’d made a catastrophe of Bella’s kitchen, while baking bread and calling out ideas for them to jot down. Now Leanna was poking around in Bella’s refrigerator.

  “I think you’ve got a solid plan.” Kurt turned the laptop toward Bella. “I just changed a few words here and there.”

  “Really? It doesn’t suck?”

  Kurt laughed. “Of course not. What you had before didn’t suck, but this is even better. I like the new spin on it.”

  Leanna pulled a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven, filling the small cottage with the delicious scent of warmth and comfort. “You know I’d sign up for the program if you really wanted me to.”

  “I know you would, but there’s no need. I’m going to make this work. I just have to be creative.”

  Leanna closed the refrigerator door. “Where’d you hide the jam?”

  Bella opened the refrigerator and pulled a jar of Luscious Leanna’s Sweet Treat apricot-lime jam from the door and waved it at Kurt and Leanna. “Want some?”

  “Don’t sweat it. I can never find anything in my fridge either,” Bella assured her.

  Caden came out of the bedroom, where he’d been installing the last of the new locks on the window. “It smells like heaven in here.”

  “Leanna made bread.” Bella glanced at Leanna’s dirty T-shirt. “As you can see by the flour, sugar, and”—she leaned in close to look at an oily streak on Leanna’s jeans—“butter that she’s wearing.”

  “That’s my girl.” Kurt kissed a streak of batter from Leanna’s cheek.

  “Hey, cleanliness and creativity do not go hand in hand.” Leanna began gathering the bowls and utensils she’d used. “That’s a banana, cranberry, almond loaf, and this mess is a small price to pay.”

  “Agreed,” Bella said. “Leave it. I’ll take care of it. Thanks for your help, you guys. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Of course you could have, but if we didn’t keep you busy, Caden wouldn’t have gotten any work done.” Kurt reached for Leanna’s hand. “Come on, babe. Let’s go check on Vera and give them some privacy.”

  “Thanks for helping Bella and for giving me time to get the locks installed,” Caden said. “Now at least I know she’s got ample security.”

  Leanna opened the door to leave. “Like she’ll lock her doors? See ya guys.”

  “Tell Vera we said hello,” Bella called after them.

  Caden placed his hands on her hips. His fingers slid beneath her billowy tank top and skimmed her waist as he touched his forehead to hers.

  “Do you feel good about what you’ve accomplished?” His breath was hot, his voice rich and seductive.

  Bella’s body hummed with anticipation. She wrapped her arms around his bare back, feeling the muscles she’d just spent more than an hour watching flex and bunch beneath his taut, tanned skin. God, he felt good.

  “Yeah,” was all she could manage. “How about you?”

  He lifted her chin and kissed her softly. It was the kiss of a man who had no place else that he’d rather be, tender and full of promise.

  “That depends. Will you use these new locks?”

  I’ll do anything you ask. “Mm-hm.”

  “Then yes. I feel better knowing that you’re a little safer.”

  “I never thought I needed protecting, but I have to admit, there’s something about you protecting me that feels good.”

  “Yeah?” He lowered his mouth to her neck and trailed kisses to her ear. “Everyone needs protecting.” He licked the shell of her ear, then whispered, “Even tough women who make plans.”

  Bella closed her eyes, relishing the sound and feel of him.

  “Are you sure you can commit to me?” he whispered.

  Oh God, yes. A shiver of worry skittered up her spine. With her eyes still closed, she whispered, “I know I can commit, but you might find I’m not all you were hoping for.”

  He pressed his lips to her cheek. “You’re exactly the woman I’ve hoped for.”

  Her throat tightened.

  Caden drew back and cupped her cheeks in his big, strong hands. “Look at me, Bella.”

  She forced herself to open her eyes, and the compassionate, loving look in his told her everything she needed to know, and his words drove that feeling home.

  “I’m not afraid to commit, and I’m not afraid to love.” He searched her eyes, pausing, Bella assumed, long enough for his words to sink in.

  “But we’re adults, and Evan’s still just a kid. I’m not a free agent, Bella. My life includes Evan, and always will. My decisions affect him, so if there’s any chance you’re going to run scared, then let’s take things slow.”

  She tightened her grip on him. “Slow? It doesn’t matter what we call it, Caden. Our hearts and bodies don’t know slow. At least not when we’re together. You’ve weaseled your way into my heart so fast. I have no desire to go slow with you. I just want to...Oh, Caden, I don’t want to make a life decision about my job, or my house, and then get hurt. I need to make those decisions without the rest, but that seems unrealistic.”

  He brushed her hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. “Then how about if we just make damn sure we don’t hurt each other? Because I need that same level of commitment from you. I can’t afford to be hurt. Evan doesn’t need a lovesick father making his life more complicated.”

  “I don’t cheat or lie. I never have,” Bella said adamantly.

  “Neither do I.”

  He sealed his mouth to hers in a tender, drawn-out kiss that made her long for more.

  “Tell me what I need to know before I take you into your bedroom and make sweet love to you until neither of us can remember how to ta
lk.”

  She could barely breathe, much less think straight.

  “I…I break rules,” she managed.

  The left side of his mouth quirked up. “In the bedroom or in general?”

  She placed her hands on his bare chest and felt his heart beating as fast as hers. Every breath, every second, pulsed with heat. She forced herself to answer.

  “Both.” She didn’t really break rules in the bedroom, but now, with him, the idea was tantalizing.

  “Holy…I’m not a cop in the bedroom.” He lowered the strap of her top and kissed the curve of her shoulder, sending her mind reeling. “Tell me about the rules you break outside the bedroom.”

  He ran his tongue along her collarbone. Bella closed her eyes, relishing the feel of his body against hers, his tongue on the skin above her breasts, the feel of his arousal against her belly.

  “Fireworks,” she said in one long breath.

  “You see them now?” he whispered. “Or you use them?” He slid his hands up her ribs, making her feel small and feminine—and crave the feel of them on her breasts.

  “Both.” Another breathy word. She couldn’t help but bring her lips to his chest. He smelled like passion and strength. Earthy, musky, and sweet all at once. She kissed the arc of his pecs, nipping at the muscle.

  “I can’t break the law,” he whispered.

  She heard restraint in his voice. “I would never ask you to.”

  His eyes darkened as he grazed the underside of her breasts with his thumbs. Oh God, yes. She couldn’t have pushed words from her lips if her life depended on it. She was too focused on his thumb brushing over her tight nipple. She felt ripe and ready, hot all over.

  He kissed her again, then whispered, “Tell me all the bad stuff now so we go into this with our eyes open.”

  He slid his thumb from her nipple, and before she could stop herself, a little wanting sound escaped her lips. He captured her mouth with his and took her in an impatient, tongue-thrusting kiss. When he drew back, she was dizzy, drunk with desire.