Brodie started to speak but Kade shook his head. "No, don't say it's a mistake, that we shouldn't be doing this. Just forget about everything else. This is just about you and me... There are no other complications right now. They'll be back later, but right now...? There's nothing but you...and me."
"I was just going to tell you to hurry up," Brodie whispered, lifting her face. "Hurry up and kiss me, Kade."
Kade leaned forward, cupped the side of her face in his hand and lowered his mouth to hers. Part of her thought that if Kade did nothing else but kiss her for the rest of her life, she could die happy. Another section of her brain just squawked warnings: they had to be friends only. She still had to be his matchmaker. They shouldn't be doing this. If the media found out they would go nuts. Then Kade took control of her mouth, her brain shut down and she felt energized, revitalized, as if he'd plugged her in to recharge.
"Take me to bed, Kade," she muttered against his lips as her arms looped around his neck and her fingers played with the taut skin there.
Kade groaned. "Yeah, that was my intention. Except that my bed is too far." Kade used his forearm to push everything standing on the center island to the far edge of the block before bending his knees and wrapping one arm around her hips. In one easy, fluid movement he had her sitting on the island, their hands and mouths now perfectly aligned. Brodie placed her palms on Kade's shoulders and tipped her head to give him better access so he could brush his lips against her neck, her jaw, her cheekbones.
"You are so beautiful."
She wasn't, not really, but right now she believed him. Feeling sexy and confident, she dropped her hands and gripped his T-shirt, slowly pulling it up and over his chest, wanting to get her hands on those muscles. Kade used one hand to finish pulling the T-shirt over his head and toss it to the floor. Brodie sucked in her breath. His track pants were low on his hips, displaying his ripped abdomen, those long obliques over his hips. Those sexy muscles made her feel squirmy and stupid and so, so wanton.
Brodie's fingers drifted over his abdomen and hips, the side of her hand brushing his erection. She heard Kade suck in a breath. Liking the fact that she could make him breathe faster, that she could make his eyes glaze over, she pushed her hands inside his pants and pushed them over his hips to fall into a black puddle on the wooden floor.
"Whoops." She smiled against his mouth.
"Since the urge to strip is all I ever think about when you are in the room, I'm not complaining," Kade said, his mouth curling into a delighted smile.
His smile could melt ice cream, make women walk into poles and stop traffic. It heated up every one of Brodie's internal organs and made them smile, too.
He had a hell of a smile, Brodie thought, especially when she felt it on her skin.
Nine
A few days later, Brodie parked her car next to Kade's and ran an appreciative hand over the sleek hood. Had Kade realized this car was something he'd have to give up or, at the very least, that he'd need to buy a new one to transport the baby? There was no room for a car seat and she doubted a stroller would fit in the trunk.
So much was changing, Brodie thought as she headed to the entrance of his apartment building, quickly keying in the code to open the front doors. She and Kade were sort of lovers, kind of friends, about to be parents. The parenting bit was the only thing she was certain of, she thought as she walked into the private elevator that opened into Kade's hallway.
Kade could rocket her from zero to turned-on in two seconds flat. And he was funny and smart... She was crazy about him.
Brodie rested her head against the panel of the elevator, petrified she was building castles in the air. She was pregnant and it was so natural to look to the father of her baby for sex, for comfort. It made complete sense. Who wanted to be a single parent, who wanted to go through this frightening, exhausting, terrifying process alone? But castles built on fantastic sex and thin air and wishes could collapse at a moment's notice. Kade wasn't going to be her happily-ever-after guy. She didn't believe in happily-ever-after. She believed in getting through, doing the best she could, building a safe and secure life. There was only one person she could rely on 100 percent and that was herself.
Brodie hit the emergency stop button and rested her forehead against the elevator door. She had to pull back from him, had to put some distance between them. She was being seduced by what-ifs and how-it-might-be's. She couldn't afford to think of Kade as anything more than the father of her child. He was her temporary lover but he wasn't her partner or her significant other.
He definitely would never be her husband.
The last time she'd planned her future she'd had it ripped from her. She'd lost everyone she'd loved in one fell swoop and she refused to take that risk again.
She couldn't taste love, hold love and lose love again. That was too big a risk to take.
She smacked the emergency button and the elevator lurched upward.
No, she'd had her fun...too much fun. It was time to back the hell away and get a handle on this relationship. She needed to dial it back to a cordial friendship. She could do that. And she would do that before the story broke in the press. Presently the press saw her as nothing more than his matchmaker but they'd soon sniff out the truth. With her spending nights at his place, they'd been lucky to keep it a secret this long.
Luck, as she knew, always ran out.
* * *
Kade walked into his loft, ignored Mac and Rory and Quinn, and walked straight over to Brodie. He picked her up and turned her upside down so her head was facing the floor. She gurgled with laughter and placed her hands on the floor to steady herself.
"Kade, she's pregnant!" Quinn grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting blood to her head, something that was obviously missing when she chose my date," Kade replied, easily restoring Brodie to her feet. "She's lucky I didn't hang her over the balcony."
Brodie wiped her hands on the seat of her pants and sent him a cocky smile. She hadn't been remotely scared at being tossed around like a doll, Kade mused. Her eyes were bright and full of mischief. "Really, Stewart?"
Brodie attempted an innocent shrug. "What? She's a biokinetics engineer and a part-time entertainer."
"And a full-time loony. She wants to be a freakin' mermaid." Kade pointed an accusing finger at Brodie.
"What are we talking about?" Mac asked, mystified.
"The latest date Brodie and Wren sent him on. He had lunch with her today," Quinn explained. He turned to Kade. "You do know it's weird that you're going on these dates while Brodie is pregnant with your child?"
No, the thought hadn't occurred to him, he sarcastically, silently replied. Brodie and he had an understanding-basically, they both understood they had no idea what they were doing. "Blame Wren. Besides, the dating is done."
"When did you do date number two?" Mac asked.
"A couple of weeks back. Teacher, triathlete. We had lunch," Kade answered him. "I am now off the dating hook."
"Anyway, getting back to today and this date-" he pointed a finger at Brodie "-revenge will be sweet."
Brodie didn't seem particularly concerned, so Kade left her to talk to his friends and headed for the kitchen. On the plus side, he'd fulfilled his duties to Wren's publicity campaign. The public could vote, speculate and talk about his love life until the damn cows came home but the only woman who interested him, on any level, was standing on his balcony, carrying his child.
He opened the fridge, yanked out a beer, saw Quinn behind him and reached for another. Kade handed Quinn a bottle and closed the fridge door with a nudge of his knee. He cracked open the beer and took a long swallow. He looked across the loft to the balcony where Brodie stood. It was a nice evening, his friends were here and he'd ordered Thai for dinner. He'd had a busy, drama-free day and then he'd joined Quinn and Mac on the ice for a workout. While the news had been unexpected, he was going to be a father and he was starting to become excited at the prospect.
Life should be good.
So what was the problem? In a nutshell, it was this half on, half off, up-in-the-air arrangement he had with Brodie. Half friends, sometimes lovers, future parents, both of them wanting, on some level, to run. He was jogging in place but Brodie had her sneakers on and was about to sprint, as hard and as fast as she could.