her body against his and wondered if he should push his luck and invite her back to his place again. Then she glanced down at her phone and sighed.
“I’d better go. I have an early morning meeting with the kitchen staff.” She leaned up on her toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Thanks for… last night and for today.”
His hands ran slowly up her sides as he kissed her again. “Call me if you need any help putting your new things away.” He smiled, remembering the sexy items she’d purchased. “Especially that little red number.”
She chuckled. “I bought that with our next date in mind.”
“Friday,” he blurted out, causing her to laugh.
“Saturday?” she countered.
“I’ll pick you up at six.”
“Make it six thirty.” She kissed him again. “Good night.”
“Night.” He watched her drive away before climbing into his own truck and heading home.
When he got there, he sat out on the back porch and waited while Blue enjoyed the dying sunlight as night fell around them.
He had to admit, he felt the emptiness of his home for the rest of the night. Even Blue’s company couldn’t break him out of his loneliness.
What he wanted was someone to spend the rest of his nights with. Someone to talk to. Someone to hold.
Lying in his bed alone, his mind kept playing over how different tonight was than last night. Finally, he gave up trying to sleep and pulled out his cell phone and sent her a text message.
“Did you get settled in your new room okay?”
He was happy to see an almost immediate response.
“Yes, I’m in room four-eighty-two. It’s smaller than the last room, but it will do until the west building is up to date.”
He was still reading her response when another text from her came in.
“Thanks again for being there for me today. I don’t think I could have handled that alone.”
“Something tells me you could have handled it just fine. But I’m happy I could help,” he texted back. Then he smiled. “So, what are you wearing?”
She sent him a little emoji that looked a lot like her with a bunny suit on, which had him laughing.
“Sexy,” he replied.
“It keeps me warm.” Then she added, “I’m saving the red number for Saturday night.”
“Looking forward to it.” He realized he really was anxious to see her again. To be with her again. And not just for sex, even though it was really great sex.
How long had it been since he’d felt excited to just spend time with someone? With Julia, he couldn’t even remember wanting to spend time with her. In his mind, that relationship had been purely sexual. She’d been the one to drag him around for dates.
“I’d better get to sleep. I have an early meeting,” she texted.
“Good night,” he replied.
“Night.”
He shut off his phone and sat it in on the charger. Suddenly, he felt tired and lay back in the bed. Blue was snoring at his feet, and he was just drifting off when Blue jerked his head up and started growling, then barking.
His dog normally didn’t turn on his security dog mode at night. During the day, Blue would bark at squirrels or racoons, but at night…
Cade climbed out of bed and followed Blue to the glass door that led to a small balcony that sat off his bedroom. He glanced out and was reaching for the light switch when a dark figure darted across his side lawn.
“Shush.” He nudged Blue slightly and twisted to get a better view of the figure, who had disappeared behind his garage.
Rushing to the bathroom, he looked out the window and watched, but when he didn’t see anything, he headed to the guest room and looked out that window. Blue had lost interest and had climbed back up in the bed. Since he was up, Cade grabbed a flashlight, put on his mud boots and jacket, and headed out to see if he could figure out who was sneaking around.
He flipped on all the flood lights. The moment he stepped outside, Blue was on his heels, looking excited to be going out in the middle of the night.
He made two rounds around his place and couldn’t find anything out of place. He didn’t spot so much as a single footprint.
Maybe he’d dreamed it? Either way, when he finally climbed back in bed, he was totally exhausted and fell asleep immediately.
The following morning, when he and Blue climbed into the truck to head to work, he realized what had