Page 53 of Family Affair

Coco closed her eyes. He was such a roughneck. And everything about him appealed to her.

Cade let her drink the tea in silence, flipping through TV channels, in no hurry to get back to Dan’s party. Coco was curious to know more about him. What shows did he like? Was he a NASCAR or a football fan? Did he play golf, like his brothers? She wanted to ask him so many questions.

Sensing her regard, he turned to see if she was finished. “Go take a shower. It’ll refresh you some more.”

“I don’t have energy for a shower.”

“Take it anyway. I’ll wait to make sure you don’t fall down in there.”

Coco went, holding at the walls. She could feel Cade’s eyes on her, but she didn’t ask for help.

He was right, and the warm shower helped bring down the sense of disorientation from the wine, but the headache didn’t go away. Ross was such a liar.

Coco put on a thin cotton tank top and panties, and threw on a thick terry cloth robe. Shooting a quick text to Stella to let her know she was alright and at home, she shuffled out of her room.

“I never even asked if you were hungry, Cade. I can quickly put something together… ”

He gaped at her. “Go to bed, Martha Stewart.”

“Does it mean you aren’t hungry?” The revitalizing effects of the shower proved to be very short-lived and she really was on her last leg.

“I am hungry,” he murmured. “But you aren’t serving what I want tonight. So off to bed with you.”

She got the impression that he wasn’t talking about cold meats, but her semi-functioning brain didn’t have the capacity to grasp the real meaning behind his words.

She swayed, and this time he grabbed her by her elbow and assisted her back to the bedroom where the steam from her shower made the air fragrant and humid. She was suddenly shy.

“Turn around.”

“Why?”

“So I can take my robe off and get under the covers.”

He rolled his eyes and turned around, and she started to shrug her robe off.

All of a sudden, her robe turned into a giant hugging monster. It wrapped its sleeves around and around her arms, restricting all movement, disabling her. She tugged frantically to wrestle her arms free, and the effort was almost more than she could bear. She managed to pull one arm out, only to have the cloth slide heavily down one side of her torso, clinging, wounding around her legs and ankles, trapping her feet. The knot on the sash solidified, and no matter how hard she yanked at it, wouldn’t come undone.

She was losing the fight with the robe when Cade’s hands reached around from behind.

“Stop thrashing.” In seconds, he released the sash and tossed the attacking garment aside. Her hero.

Instead of gracefully sinking into her inviting bed as envisioned, Coco plopped down face first and bounced lightly. The mattress dipped under Cade’s weight as he sat down next to her.

“Stay on your stomach. No, don’t turn over. Let me see to that headache.” His hands reached out and sifted through her hair, fingers rubbing her scalp at the base of her neck.

She whimpered.

“Does it hurt?”

Hurt? It felt heavenly.

His hands continued their magic, touching, rubbing, pressing in all the right spots, soothing the headache and making her body tingle. She let herself go and started slipping away, hating the feeling of lethargy, loving the sensation of his hands on her skin.

He moved her hair to one side and was now touching her neck, more a caress than massage. The roughness of his palm against the tender skin created wonderful friction and made her break out in goosebumps. He reached for her shoulder, cupped it in his palm, trailed his fingers down her spine. He traced her shoulder blades, a feather light caress that set her on fire.

Excitement rolled over her in waves and she gripped the pillow with both hands. Her bedroom with its yellow comforter and chintz drapes became another plane of existence, the sensual world where the touch of her lover’s hands was as important as breath itself.

Wait. He wasn’t her lover. Was he?