Every guy.Maritzia stillsnorted at that. Like hell, she thought. Besides, the secret forbidden thoughtvoiced itself deep in her heart, she wouldn’t want the attention of every guyhere—just one would do.
"Hey," his deep voice whispered at herside.
Opening her eyes, she squinted from the brightsun and turned her head. Her stomach tightened as she looked to see Cadestaring directly at her from his position lying on the deck next to her.
"Mmmm," she intoned softly.
Turning more onto his side until he was able toprop his head up with his hand, he gave her a questioning look. "Want tohave dinner at the resort's restaurant tonight and get all dressed up?"
Thinking of the dress and heels she brought, shenodded eagerly. She had bought the cocktail dress last year for a wedding thatgot canceled. This would be a perfect chance to wear it. "Sure,let's."
~*~
Standing beside the double glass doors thatoverlooked the deck, Cade stared out into the night at the familiar blue andwhite swimsuit sitting on one of the loungers to dry. The accursed thing wasthe bane of his existence. For days now, he had watched Maritzia emerge fromthe bathroom dressed in the impossibly tight material and somehow each time hestifled back the urge to let out a long painful groan. Her figure was fuckingcriminal. Trim and tight, her body was like a sculpted work of art, from thegraceful lines of her shoulders down to the narrow curve of her waist. Cadecould see flashes of her toned abs pressing beneath the soft skin of her smoothstomach with each movement. Overly defined musculature was something he knewshe was adamantly avoiding when they worked out together during their lunchbreaks. Focusing on cardio rather than weights, her body was lean and tight,which favored the aura of vitality and strength she exuded daily. But he had noidea she had been hiding this body beneath her clothes. They were friends andpartners. There were never reasons to see each other without clothes on, so howcould he know? Fucking hell, he hadn’t been prepared for this.
The door to the bathroom opened and Cade turnedand stopped. With her hands crossed over her chest, holding the front of thedeep purple lace gown flat to her breasts, Maritzia gave him a shy but pleadinglook.
"Can you button up the back?" sheasked, her voice whispery soft, losing some of its normal huskiness.
His body tightened as he forced himself to calmlywalk over. For days, he had been living in a dream with her. Climbing into bedwith her each night was like living in a beautiful sparkling dream that endedwith him being sandblasted in the face each morning when he woke up next to hersupine body with a raging hard-on. It was a glorious cruel torture that he loved.If risking the massive blood loss to his brain each and every morning was whathe had to do, he would. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, herealized—he loved her.
Those were words he had never said, neverthought, never even allowed to come into existence deep in his mind until herfucking brother dragged them to the surface. Ritz was his friend, his family,and he loved her more than anything. It was a feeling he realized was there butcouldn’t quite name as a kid. But at that time, he had no right to act on it,to explore it further, he couldn't jeopardize his new family. By the grace ofGod, he and his mother had found people who took them in as if they were theirown. Alina DeLeon, Ritz's mother, treated his mom like a true sister, not onlygiving her the friendship his mom needed, but also the emotional support sheneeded even more. Suddenly a single mother with a young teenage boy, his gentlemother was in over her head. The DeLeons had stepped in and saved her. Theirnever-ending supply of kids his age and a team of father figures were always athand to help not only guide Cade through the tenuous stage of life, but also awall of solid strength for his still-grieving mother. Cade knew deep down if hehad made his unnamed feelings known for Ritz, he would have changed everythingfor the worse. He would have been seen as a predator by Maritzia's protectivedad and brothers, and he and his mother would have been pushed out of theprotective nest their family provided all because of him. He could not risk it.
Besides they were friends, just friends, he hadtold himself over and over again. Convincing himself that his feverish feelingswere just temporary and that of a teenage boy, Cade had left for the armytelling himself that Ritz's tears were that of a girl losing her friend and notof a broken heart. It wasn't until he brought Bethany back with him did Cadeacknowledge the hurt in Maritzia's eyes, exposing the truth he thought heburied. But by then it was too late, he had already made Bethany upend her lifefor him, leaving her comfortable nursing position in Alabama to follow him toNew York. He had told himself he loved her and savagely reminded himself thathis feelings for Maritzia were just that of family. That’s what it felt like withsisters who were your best friend, he had thought. You love them witheverything you have until it becomes a constant dull pain that flares withinyou every time you see them. Cade just didn't expect the pain to becomeexcruciating when she began dating Victor. He had no idea he had been in lovewith her for years! What did he have to base it on? When he got with Bethany,the feelings he had for her were so mild, so sedate, it was almost a relief.How could he have known that tepid relief would turn into discomfort andresentment? Bethany had told him he had wasted valuable years of her life as hestrung her along, pretending to love her. She had cried and thrown things athim as he gathered his belongings and left her in their apartment. She was right.It was all his fault, he knew that. He had been an idiot who had been tooscared to acknowledge the inferno burning inside of him for another woman.
The woman standing in front of him now.
"Turn around," he ordered thickly.
Flicking her dark cinnamon eyes up at him to tryand read his mood, Maritzia slowly turned on her bare feet until her back wasexposed to him.
Cade sucked in a breath at the sight. There wasno bra. Only her hold of the gown against her chest kept the off-the-shoulderdress from falling straight to the floor. His eyes trailed down the curve ofher shoulders and down the smooth hot skin of her back. Very carefully, hereached out his hands at the base of the dress and gathered the lacy materialtighter. The slight movement against her freshly washed skin brought hisattention to the scent of amber and jasmine floating in the air around her.Cade's jaw tightened as his fingers worked at the tiny fabric-covered buttons.One by one he pushed them into their respective tiny loop counterparts as heignored the savage howl of his senses.
He needed her. He wanted to grab the dress byboth sides and rip all his work away. He wanted to yank down the dress and turnher around and kiss her shocked expression before carrying her to their bed.Tightening his fists for a second, he paused at the near top of her gown,gathering his waning sanity for a moment, before buttoning the last buttons.
Stepping away from him, Maritzia turned and gavehim a grateful smile. "Thank you. I honestly didn't realize it had so manybuttons."
"I'm happy to help," he forced himselfto reply in his normal cheerful tone.
Maritzia made a noise of agreement as she grabbeda pair of black heels from her bag and sat at the edge of the bed. He wanted tohelp her, to push her hand away and kneel down and put them on her himself, butCade knew his limit—and he was at the fucking edge of it. Standing back, hewatched her as her curly hair fell around her face like a curtain as she bentto strap on the shoe.
"Yeah, I'm glad too, the more I think aboutit," she mumbled as she grabbed the other shoe off the bed. "I'm sureif Victor was still here, he would have found a way to complain about it orsomething else I'd done."
And there it was, the sign he was making theright decision in keeping his feelings quiet. Done with her shoes, Maritziastood up and paused at the silent comforting look he was giving her. A flash ofpain passed through her eyes and Cade knew she still needed time to heal. Itwouldn’t be fair to her to thrust his feelings on her. Not now, not after onlya few days of her jerk boyfriend walking out of her life. Did she still loveVictor? Was there still a chance she would want him back once they were backhome? Cade didn’t know what she was fully thinking, not yet. Holding out anarm, he watched with satisfaction as she stepped towards him and linked her armwith his. But just because he didn’t have her answers now didn't mean he didn’thave his own. And the simple fact of the matter was, he loved her, and he knewdeep down she loved him, too.
Now, the only thing they needed was time.
Chapter10
Following Cade off the elevator, Maritzia sighedat the familiar smell of her apartment building's hallway.
"Good Lord, that was your third heavy sigh ina row." Cade looked over his shoulder at her with a smirk.
Wearing a white polo and khaki shorts. Cade wasstill dressed like a man on vacation and not a man preparing to work anine-hour shift tomorrow. Memories of waking up next to him each morning dancedin her head, teasing her with something she would never have again. Images ofCade ordering her breakfast each day and serving it to her in bed as he climbedin next to her and propped himself up against the headboard added fuel to herfire of longing. Or worse—the memory of them having dinner at the resort'srestaurant that night only to come out to a tropical rainstorm. Being the quickthinker he was, Cade had left her under the awning and rushed back insidebefore coming back with one folded piece of plastic. Spreading it out, hepulled the clear plastic over her head and arms, revealing it to be a rainponcho.
"But you only brought one," sheexclaimed, not understanding how this was going to help them both.
Cade had simply grinned at her before grabbingher wrist and jerking her close. Placing a kiss on her forehead he left herdazed and a little weak with no time to react as he bent down and wrapped hisarms around her thighs. Like a father carrying a child high in his arms, Cadecarried her back down the flooded paths and back to their bungalow.
