Wedding Vows: I Thee Wed: Back to Mr & Mrs / Reunited: Marriage in a Million / Marrying Her Billionaire Boss

“We should…go,” she breathed in the space between their lips, not wanting to go at all, not wanting to do anything but keep on kissing him.

“Yeah.”

But neither of them moved.

“I want you,” he whispered. “I’ve always wanted you. From the first time I saw you, there’s never been anyone but you, Mellie.”

“Cade—”

He put a finger to her lips, shushing her protest. “I’ve never wanted another woman and I never will.”

“We should go,” she repeated, but everything within her rebelled against the thought. Of leaving what was happening right now unfinished. “We should go…” and then, the need for him conquered her doubts, and she took his hand. “To my bedroom,” she whispered, ignoring the warning bells rung by common sense, heeding only the need that tightened and curled inside her gut, a call that knew exactly how Cade would answer.

“Oh God, Melanie,” he said, his voice nearly cracking. He scooped her up, cradling her to his chest, his lips drifting across hers in a soft, sweet caress. Melanie wrapped her arms around his neck, craving more of this, craving him, needing him to fill that empty space inside her.

“I want you, too, Cade,” she said.

He pulled back to look at her, his eyes filled with the gentle kindness that was quintessential Cade.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “First door on the right,” she whispered as he headed down the hall, her hands going to his bow tie. She tugged it loose, then worked her way down the tiny black buttons of his shirt, anxious to feel his skin beneath her palms, the sure strength of Cade against her body.

He deposited her gently on the bed, then kicked off his shoes. They landed with a clunk, matched by the twin sound of her heels following. Electricity filled the air, charging the space between them. His mouth on hers was hungry yet still tender, his hands warm and tight on her hips. He lowered himself beside her, their bodies carving together as easily as two puzzle pieces.

She worked his shirt out of his waistband, flicking the last two buttons out of their fasteners, then tugging it down and off his arms. She paused a moment, allowing herself the agonizing pleasure of running her hands along his chest, feeling the planes and muscles she had memorized over the years. He was familiar, and yet new, after all this time apart, and she marveled at the warm hardness beneath her palm.

Their mouths met, a ravenous kiss that tasted lips, tongue, every inch of each other. Cade tugged her dress up and over her body, then paused, his gaze softening as it swept over her body. “I’ve had this dream many times over the last year.”

“Oh, yeah?” She grinned, teasing him. “And how did it end?”

He leaned down, trailing kisses along her neck, between her breasts, skirting the lacy edge of her bra. “Let me show you,” he said, his voice nearly a growl.

An instant later, Cade was fulfilling her with the knowledge of a man who had had twenty years of learning his wife’s body. He touched all the right places, stroked at just the right pace and sent every one of her nerve endings into another stratosphere.

She ran her hands down his bare back, urging him to quench a thirst that had suddenly become unbearable. He kissed her neck, her breasts, everything he could reach, while her palms explored his firm, amazing body.

It was familiar, yet as new as the first time. Their crescendo built quickly, fueled by the year apart, and before she knew it, she was crying out Cade’s name in concert with him. When the sensations finally ebbed, Cade rolled to the side and pulled Melanie into his arms. She couldn’t remember feeling warmer, or more secure.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Those same three words lingered on the tip of her tongue, but as she came back to reality, Melanie held them inside and pretended she hadn’t heard Cade. She couldn’t say them back. Because in the morning, all of this would go back to what it had been. Once before, Melanie had lain in Cade’s arms, sure that everything would change, then been shattered when it didn’t. She couldn’t bear to go through that again.

Instead she raised herself onto one arm and glanced at her bedside clock. “We’re going to be late.”

The magical spell between them dissipated.

“You’re right.” Cade released his hold on her and rolled away, clearly hurt.

And broke the spell.

He slipped on his clothes while she did the same, neither of them speaking. When she was done, Melanie fixed her hair in her dresser mirror. In the reflection, she saw Cade wrestling with his bow tie, cursing under his breath. “Let me do that,” she said, crossing to him.

His dark gaze riveted on hers, making her fingers jumble her first attempt at the tiny silk neckpiece. She dipped her gaze and concentrated on the tie, finally getting it back into proper order. “You’re all set.”

“Thanks.” Cade reached up and brushed a tendril of hair away from her face, weaving that magic around them once again. For a long moment, neither of them said anything.

Melanie tore her gaze away from his. “We have to go.”

Cade nodded, disappointment clear in his features. Together, they headed out of the room, the bed linens as tangled as her emotions.

Melanie grabbed her clutch purse from the bench by the door, then walked with Cade out to his car. He opened the passenger’s side door—something he had never failed to do in nineteen years of marriage—then waited until she was seated before shutting it and coming around the other side.

“I’ve missed that,” she said when he got in the car.

“What?”

“Someone opening the door for me.”

Cade only murmured an agreement before he started his Volvo.

Melanie slid a glance his way. The second the statement left her, she’d expected that he would say something about how she could have him opening her door every day, if only she’d take him back. But he hadn’t.

Had that moment in her bedroom been a final fling between them? His “I love you” more of a goodbye than a return to the old days? And if it was, why did that thought send a little shiver of disappointment through her?

During the two-hour ride to the hotel hosting the Westvale High reunion, Cade kept the conversation impersonal, sticking mainly to the subject of buying Ben’s building and her plans for the expansion.

He’d clearly been paying attention—to her thoughts, her business ideas. “Thank you,” Melanie said.

Cade flicked a glance her way before returning his attention to the road. “For what?”

“For listening.”

“I’m making up for lost ground,” Cade said.

“With Emmie, and with you. And while we’re on the topic, I’ve been meaning to thank you. For letting me work at the shop this week. I really enjoyed it.”

She chuckled. “I’m sure those cappuccino skills will come in handy when you go back to Fitzsimmons, Matthews and Lloyd.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to get a machine for the break room.” He cast his gaze toward the road before them for a moment, then back at her. “I needed that opportunity to do something else. I’ve worked for my father for nearly twenty years and never had as much fun there as I did in your coffee shop.” He reached for her hand, gave it a short, tight squeeze. “You’ve accomplished so much with your coffee shop. I’m really proud of you, Mellie.”

Something softened inside her, giving room for hope to expand its reach. “I appreciate that,” she said softly. “I enjoyed having you there, too, this week. Except for Ben, I haven’t really had anyone to talk to about the business.”

He glanced at her again. “You miss your grandparents, don’t you?”

Tears sprung to her eyes, and she nodded, surprised that he had read that in her.

“They’d be proud. Really proud, honey.”

Melanie whisked away the tears that dropped from her lashes. “You’re going to make me ruin my makeup.”

“You’ll still be beautiful,” Cade said, his words seeming a hundred times more intimate in the darkness. “You do a great job with that shop, Mel. You have just the right mix of location and atmosphere to make it work.”

She sat back against her seat and studied him. “I never expected you to say that.”

“The truth isn’t so hard to say.” He grinned.

As Melanie watched the world pass by in a muddled blur of inky night and spots of light, she had to wonder whether that was so.

When they walked into the gaily decorated ballroom at the hotel that was hosting Westvale High’s reunion, several people hurried over to Melanie and Cade, calling their names. Even after so many years apart, Cade recognized several of the faces, but was still damned glad the reunion committee had stuck name tags on everyone’s chests.

“Paul Klein!” Melanie exclaimed, striding forward, Dave at her side to greet their old friend. At six foot six, he still towered over Melanie, even if his long curly hair had become a buzz-cut. “How have you been?”

“Great, great,” he said, giving Melanie a warm hug, before turning to shake Cade’s hand. “It’s been a long time since those double dates in Cade’s Mustang, huh?”

“You guys are finally here!” Jeannie enveloped them in a double hug, then pulled back to indicate a trio of class officers behind her. There was a flurry of introductions, of catching up. Somehow, Cade lost track of Melanie, separated by the flood of people.

Then, he caught sight of her, standing to the side, chatting with a brunette whose face rang a familiar bell; Cade didn’t remember her name. He wasn’t aware of anything really, except for Melanie. In that deep crimson dress, with her hair loose around her shoulders, Melanie managed to pull off both sexy and elegant, the fabric skimming down her curves, making him wish it was his hands running along those feminine lines again.

Their lovemaking had been as intense as it had been in those early days when passion overrode every thought, and yet this time, it had the added depth of years of connection. Cade had thought—hell, prayed—that in the afterglow, Melanie might have been tempted to try again. But her silence when he’d said he loved her spoke more than anything else she’d said in these last few days.

Melanie was right. One kiss, or even a hundred kisses, wasn’t enough to rescue their marriage. Making love to his wife had only been a temporary mask for their problems.

On the way over here, he’d intended to play by her rules. To keep it cool and impersonal, but the longer she stayed in his sight, the more impossible it became, especially as his mind replayed the moments in her bedroom, the sweet ecstasy of having his wife in his arms again.

Still, if he rushed her, or he pushed too hard, he knew he could end up driving her away. His fists clenched at his sides, keeping him from reaching for her, drawing her back into his arms. Then she smiled at him, and something within Cade tightened.

Maybe it was the starry lights strung overhead, the way the disco ball above had been adapted to sweep a sparkling of light across the floor. The soft music, the band crooning a ballad from the eighties…

It was as if they had stepped back in time. Cade slipped through the crowd, weaving in and out among the people until he reached his wife. He slipped his hand into hers. Comfort infused him.

“Cade,” she said, her voice a warning.

“For just one night,” he whispered, not wanting to let go of the veil of intimacy temporarily surrounding them, “let’s pretend nothing has gone wrong. Let’s just be Cade and Melanie.”

She cocked her head. “Wasn’t that the plan, so that no one knows what’s going on?”

“I don’t care what other people think. I want us to forget those papers on my desk, to forget it all, and go back to the beginning.”

“But…” Her voice trailed off, as if she were about to reject the idea as easily as she had his whispered confession of love earlier.

“In the morning, we go back to business as usual,” Cade said, wishing that wouldn’t happen, praying that tonight had turned the tide between him and Melanie. “For tonight, Mellie, just tonight, be my wife. One more time.”

She hesitated, then her green gaze met his, and she nodded, her gaze dropping to the ring on her finger. “One night. Like Cinderella.”

The band segued from a fast-paced song to a slow and easy ballad. Cade may be surrounded by people whose names he’d long forgotten, but he recognized the familiar notes. The Whitney Houston hit whispered its magical melody, flashing his mind back to late nights in his Mustang, parked wherever they could grab a little privacy, the windows fogged from the steam of young love, while the radio played those same melodic strains. “They’re playing our song.”

“You remembered,” she said, clearly surprised and touched that he recognized it.

He nodded, his gaze locked with hers, searching, still searching, for those lost threads of his marriage. “Dance with me, Mel.”

“But I see Bill Hendrickson over there.” Melanie pointed to where the punch bowl and appetizers had been laid out. Bill stood beside the cheese platter, chatting with two other men. He sent a wave Cade’s way. “Didn’t you want to talk to him?”

“Later. Right now, all I want is to dance with you.” Cade reached out, waiting until she’d put her other hand in his, then, together, they made their way to the dance floor. As it had in the days before work and nighttime feedings and dirty dishes had taken over their days, the music made the world around them drop away. He swept her against his body, one arm around her waist. Their pulses merged, heartbeats synchronizing with their every step.

She tipped her head up, her eyes dark and unreadable, her lips inches from his. Want brewed inside him, a different and deeper want than what he’d felt earlier tonight. It was as if, at this moment, with Melanie in his arms and the music of their past playing in the background, his life had finally come full circle.

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