The One and Only: A Single Mom Second Chance Romance (Heart of Hope) Ajme Williams (books for new readers TXT) 📖

This was playing with fire, but I didn’t want to leave him just yet. Cade had been funny and charming all night, he’d listened to me talk about Caitlyn and my school years, and he’d been as attentive a date as one could hope for. And he really did seem earnest about wanting to appreciate me this time, making up for his past mistakes.

And I wanted him, I would be honest in admitting my weakness. He was handsome, had taken care of me and charmed me thoroughly, I thought as I stroked his arm, wrapped around me as we stood by this lake in the moonlight. It was romantic and he was being wonderful. How could I be expected to resist that?

Besides, if a relationship between us wasn’t going to work out—and I didn’t think that it would—then this might very well be my last opportunity to be with him. Shouldn’t I get to take advantage of this opportunity and have one last beautiful night with the only man who’d been able to really turn me on?

“All right,” I said. “I’ll go with you to the lake house. But I’ll follow in my car, I don’t want to leave mine with the valet.”

“Fair enough,” Cade looked like he was elated but was trying his best to hide it. “Let me walk you back to your car. I have to get mine from the valet as well.”

He kept his arm around me as we walked back to our cars, and I found myself leaning into him, letting my head rest on his shoulder, enjoying his warmth. Cade said nothing the whole time as we walked, as if he was simply enjoying our time together as well.

It made my heart warm.

We got to the restaurant’s valet and got our cars. “Oh, here. Your jacket.”

I turned to give it to him, but Cade shook his head and put up his hands. “No, you keep it, wear it on the drive over. We’ll see each other in a short bit anyway, you can give it to me then.”

Because you’ll be taking me out of it, I thought, repressing a shiver of anticipation. This was probably a horrible idea, but I couldn’t resist him. I wanted this last evening with him, a perfect end to a perfect date, to hold close inside my heart when he would go away and I was back to being a single mother running my business.

We got our cars and I followed him to the lake house. I remembered the route well enough, even though it had been ages, but I’d never driven there in a car, just been the passenger in Cade’s, so it was good to have him in the lead in case I forgot a turn.

The lake house loomed up ahead and my heart leapt into my throat. It was a little jarring to be back here, I had to admit, to see the lake house in all its glory once again. It looked like an abandoned mansion in the moonlight, one of those haunted houses in the novels where the ghosts of the people who used to live there still roamed, mourning their lost loves and missed opportunities. Not scary ghosts, but sad ones.

And there were ghosts in this house. Not literal ones, but the ghost of my past, at least. The ghost of what Cade and I had been together. My heart pounded as I parked my car and got out, a flood of memories hitting me.

The first time I’d seen this house, I had been a teenager, my heart full of joy and my head racing with the possibilities of the future. I had been convinced that this was the honeymoon before Cade and I began the rest of our lives together.

Now, I was unsure of everything and half-convinced that this was the last time I would ever see Cade.

From the driveway, I could see just the dock by the lake behind the house, where we had laid together in the summer afternoons, sharing our hopes and dreams. It made my heart sick with a sorrowful longing, which I thought I’d forgotten in this past decade. The sadness I’d felt about wanting someone to share those memories with. Not just anyone, but Cade.

Cade got out of his car and walked over to me. He smiled, following my line of sight. “Would you like to walk down to the dock? I promise I won’t push you in.”

I smiled, but it didn’t ease the tension I felt between us now. Was it a good tension? Or a bad tension? I couldn’t tell. “No, I think we should go inside.”

Cade took my hand, intertwining our fingers, and began to lead me up the walkway. I swallowed hard as I followed. I hadn’t expected him to take my hand and I was torn between letting him keep it and pulling away. I felt like I was playing a dangerous game and I wanted him, so badly, but I also wanted to protect my heart. I felt completely torn.

Cade unlocked the front door and I stepped inside the house.

It looked exactly the same as it had almost ten years ago. It was like stepping back in time—nothing had changed, at least as far as I could see.

I felt my cheeks heat up as I remembered how we’d made love on every surface of this house. We’d made a game of it, as teenagers, having fun and not caring about the mess we’d left in our wake.

Cade headed for the kitchen. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

“No, thank you.” Cade was already swirling around in my head, occupying every part of my mind with memories and possibilities, and I didn’t need the wine confusing me further.

“Perhaps some coffee?”

“No, really, I’m fine. But thank you.”

Cade walked back to me and put his hands on my shoulders. I was still wearing his jacket. I’d smelled him on it