Page 53 of Unexpected You
“You know—” I started to say at the same time as she said, “So—”
We laughed nervously together.
“You go first,” I said, but she shook her head.
“No, you go.”
“I just wanted to know if you’re okay? You seem a little…” I trailed off, unsure of how to put it.
“Shit,” she said under her breath. “I…” She twisted her fingers together and gave me an anguished look.
“Cadence, what is it?” I leaned over the table toward her, wanting to reach for her hands so she wouldn’t hurt herself. I managed to stop myself just in time.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry about the cheek kiss thing from yesterday. I don’t know what I was thinking, and I know I made things weird, but can we pretend that it didn’t happen and just go back to how things were before? I know that’s trying to put the horse back in the barn or whatever, but I really love this job and I don’t want to lose it.”
Her words were all strung together in one breath and it was clear she was distraught.
I hadn’t considered that she would feel strange about the kiss. I’d assumed that it was completely silly and platonic on her side because why wouldn’t it be? The idea of Cadence harboring any kind of attraction to me was so far out of the realm of possibility that it was as likely as unicorns appearing in my garden.
“Cadence,” I said, and she finally looked up at me. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sniffing. “You’ve been so amazing to give me this job and I messed up. I’m so, so sorry.”
This was awful. I got to my feet immediately and went over to pull her into my arms before I even knew what I was doing.
“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay, Cade.”
Tucking her into my arms was so easy. Her body fit into mine as if we’d done this dozens of times. Hundreds. I wrapped her in my arms and leaned down to hold her.
Her body was stiff from shock for a moment, but after trembling for a few seconds, her arms circled me, her fingers lightly brushing my back.
Cadence’s hair still smelled like coconut and vanilla and I couldn’t help pulling it into my lungs.
She breathed deeply and sank just a little bit closer.
“You called me Cade,” she said, her voice muffled in my shirt.
“I did,” I breathed. “I don’t know why. It’s not a good nickname.”
She laughed softly but didn’t let go. Slowly, she fluttered her fingers on my back and I knew that I should let her go, that this hug was going on far longer than was appropriate, but I didn’t want to let her go.
Holding Cadence was incredible. My skin buzzed everywhere that she touched, and the heat from her body seeped through the fabric between us and I had to stop myself from stroking her hair.
That was definitely not allowed.
Cadence froze again and then nearly pushed me back, stumbling into her chair.
“Wait. What was that?” she asked, pointing to me with one hand and bracing herself on the back of the chair with the other. “Eloise, what was that.”
I opened my mouth and closed it, mentally screaming every single profanity I’d ever heard until I allowed myself to speak.
“A hug. It was a hug, Cadence.”
She shook her head. “No. Hugs aren’t like that. I mean, casual hugs aren’t like that.”
No, they weren’t. I’d hugged her in a way I shouldn’t have.
Now it was my turn to apologize. “I’m sorry.”