Daring Wes: Cade Brothers Series Read online

  “Hi?” He grabbed her ass and carried her into the house, shutting the door with his foot. “I’ve been gone for five days and all I get is a hi?” He dropped his bag by the door and carried her over to the bed, bringing them down on top of the mattress. “I missed you.” He breathed in her scent and ran his hands down her body.

  “I missed you too, but I didn’t want you to feel bad about being gone. Wanted you to have this.”

  “Don’t ever hold back from telling me how much you miss me. Matter of fact, you can show me.” He grabbed her breast, and she winced. “Did I hurt you?”

  Her cute nose wrinkled. “I’m fine. My boobs are just ridiculously sore this month. Stupid PMS.”

  He dipped his head and barely touched her breast in a light kiss. “Better?”

  She ran her hand up and down his erection. “Only my boobs are sore. No need to go all gentle with the rest of me.” She squeezed his ass.

  He leaned back in mock horror. “I’m shocked. I thought you were a delicate flower.”

  She laughed, and he started pulling off her pants and nibbling down her belly. “I missed these panties.” He tugged them off with his teeth. “And these sexy legs.” He licked her thigh up to the crease, and she ran her hand in his hair, clenching it.

  “Hurry up, Wes. Do you know how long it’s been?”

  He whipped off his shirt. “Five days, six hours, and forty-two minutes.”

  She leaned up on her elbows as he shucked off his pants. “Really?”

  He lifted one shoulder and lay beside her, his gaze focused on her breasts—which apparently were off-limits. “I was bored on the plane and decided to calculate how long it had been since I’d seen you. Now, where were we? Oh yes, I’m not allowed to put my mouth on your breasts. I guess I’ll have to settle for licking other areas.” He quirked his eyebrow and her chest rose.

  “With your magic tongue?”

  “My magic tongue is very”—he kissed her nose, then her lips—“very restless.”

  And that was how they spent the night. Making up for lost time. In bed. Eating. Laughing. And finally falling asleep.

  At ten the next morning, Wes yawned and looked over at Kaylee. She was lying very still, but she wasn’t asleep. She also wasn’t smiling or rolling into him like she normally did when she first woke. “You okay?”

  “I don’t feel well. I think my body is trying to fight off something.”

  He sat up, but kept the covers tucked around her. “Do you want me to call Emily? Tell her you’re not going in tomorrow?”

  She shook her head and clutched her stomach. “No. I think it’ll pass, but I might stay in your bed for the day, if that’s all right?”

  He kissed her forehead. “Stay as long as you like. I’ve got to run into work and make sure the course is okay. I’ll be back in a few hours. Do you want me to get you anything?”

  She mumbled, “No,” and burrowed deeper under the covers.

  Wes showered and dressed. He made toast and coffee for the both of them. When he looked over at Kaylee, she was still buried under the covers. “You should eat something.”

  She moaned.

  He moved to the bed and sat on the edge, resting his hand on her leg. “Kaylee, are you really okay?”

  She peeked out from beneath the covers and gave him a weak smile. “I’m feeling a little better.” She sat up and reached for the T-shirt he’d discarded the night before.

  She eased out of bed and padded over to the table where he’d left the toast. Climbing onto the barstool, she tucked his shirt beneath her bottom, then took a bite of the buttered toast. “This is good. I think I just needed food.”

  Kaylee was adorable with her hair ruffled and wearing his shirt. He’d never get tired of this sight. “I’ll bring you whatever you want. Just give me a call if anything sounds good. You know Bran will hook you up from one of the restaurants.”

  She grinned and waved. “Don’t worry about me. Good luck getting caught up with work. Do they know you’re leaving again tomorrow?”

  He shook his head. “I planned to tell them once I got there.”

  “How will you do it? Run the golf course and be on the pro tour.”

  He grabbed his keys and ran a hand down his face. It had all happened so fast. First he was planning the Tahoe Invitational, expecting to play in it and nothing more, and then he was on the pro tour. “I never thought I’d have to. But it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. I can’t give it up, you know?”

  She swallowed, and for a split second, he saw doubt on her face. And then she smiled. “You shouldn’t.” She picked up another piece of toast but didn’t bite into it, just held it in her hand and studied it as if it were the most interesting thing she’d seen in days.

  Wes walked over and kissed the back of her head. “I’ll be back soon.”

  But once he was outside, he started having second thoughts. He couldn’t fuck things up with Kaylee. So far, she’d been great about everything. And no man in his right mind would pass up the opportunity to play on the pro tour. It had to be good enough for now.

  Wes climbed in his Range Rover and headed for the club.

  * * *

  Levi and Bran had met Wes in the Club Tahoe steakhouse for lunch. “Kaylee’s not feeling well,” Wes said.

  Levi frowned. “What do you mean she’s not feeling well? Did you do something?”

  “Course not.” Wes took a bite of garlic bread. “She’s got an upset stomach or something.” He chewed the bread, his brow furrowing. “Should I be worried? Make her see a doctor?”

  Levi looked to Bran, and Bran shrugged. “You’re asking us?”

  Good point. What did his brothers know?

  Wes didn’t feel right about leaving Kaylee at the house when she wasn’t feeling well. But he’d been gone for two weeks and was about to leave for another week. His brothers would have killed him if he didn’t check in today. He’d been running things remotely, and it was a load on everyone to put up with his absence.

  “Wes,” Levi said, “you’re going to have to make a decision soon. Take this tour thing seriously, or commit to the club. You can’t do both. But just so you know, if you screw things up with Kaylee and in any way cause her to leave us, Emily will bring down the wrath of hell on you.”

  Wes leaned back. “Damn. You had to go there, didn’t you?”

  Levi grinned. “I know how frightened you are of my girlfriend.”

  Wes nodded sagely. “I don’t like to make the velvet hammer angry.”

  Bran chuckled.

  “Exactly,” Levi said. “And Emily loves Kaylee. The club also needs Kaylee for Club Kids. So don’t fuck it up.”

  “Already telling myself that, brother.”

  Chapter 27

  Kaylee could feel Emily staring. “Do I have something on my face?”

  Emily shook her head as she gestured for the workmen to bring the boxes for the new indoor climbing wall into the Club Kids play zone. “No, it’s just you look pale. And…I heard you in the bathroom this morning. Is everything okay?”

  Crap. Kaylee had been feeling nauseated lately, but it was this thing that came and went. Wes had left a couple of days ago and she was feeling better. Every once in a while, though, her stomach cramped and she felt like she was going to be sick. This morning she’d forgotten to eat breakfast, and she did get sick. That must have been when Emily walked into the bathroom. The feeling had passed as soon as she ate a few crackers from the pool bar.

  Kaylee told the men which wall they were to build the structure on, waited until they started setting up, then turned back to Emily. “I’ve had the new assistant working with the kids while I focus on the other projects. Club Kids has thinned out since the tournament, but I can stay home if you think it best. It’s just… I’m not sure what’s wrong. I don’t have a fever, only this occasional nausea.”

  Emily gently grabbed Kaylee’s arm and pulled her aside. “Kaylee, I don’t want to pry. I get the sense you and Wes don’t like ta
lking about your—friendship. But is it possible you’re pregnant?”

  Kaylee stared. That was probably exactly how this looked from the outside. “No. Absolutely not.” She shook her head.

  “Have you checked?”

  Kaylee swallowed. She never thought about pregnancy. Not since her hometown doctor had told her she’d never be able to get pregnant. And Kaylee hadn’t used precautions with Eddy.

  But Eddy couldn’t have kids…

  “Kaylee? Are you okay?”

  “I— Yeah, sorry. I just—it’s not something I considered because I was told I couldn’t have children.” The doctor’s words had seemed so final at the time. But without a haze of depression washing over her, she wondered if the doctor could have been wrong. She’d never gotten a second opinion.

  Emily closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry I brought it up. I didn’t know.”

  “No, it’s fine. But really, I just have a touch of some bug. I need to make sure I eat breakfast. I forgot this morning, and that seemed to make it worse.”

  Emily cocked her head to the side. “You know, my sister just got pregnant. She said if she doesn’t eat before she gets out of bed, she feels ill. Do you think it’s some sort of hormone thing?”

  Kaylee chuckled. “I have no idea, but I’ll see a doctor and have it checked out. Promise.”

  Emily smiled. “Let me know if you need me to cover for you. After working eighty-hour weeks leading up to the Tahoe Invitational, I suddenly have all this time on my hands.”

  “Thank you. I’ll let you know. I’m still new to the area, so I don’t even have a doctor.”

  Emily pulled out her phone. “I’ll send you my doctor contacts as well as my sister’s local OB/GYN. If it’s something that has to do with hormones, you’ll need one.”

  Kaylee thanked Emily and made a few calls later that day to see about scheduling an appointment. Everyone was booked, but Club Tahoe had nice health benefits, even for the local urgent care. She’d swing by before heading home just to make sure whatever bug she had wasn’t contagious, if nothing else.

  * * *

  Kaylee drove home from the urgent care clinic, shaking her head. “They’re wrong. Had to be some mistake.”

  Her phone buzzed on the seat beside her and she jumped. She stopped at a stoplight and glanced at the caller ID.

  Wes. Naturally, he’d call when she was completely freaking out.

  The phone rang again, and she pulled over. “Hello?”

  “What are you wearing?”

  “That’s how you greet me?”

  “You said you only want me for my body. I’m sticking with our script.”

  She laughed. Despite the sudden what the fuck moment she was experiencing, this man could always make her laugh. “I said I didn’t want anything serious.”

  “Exactly. All sex, all the time.”

  “Our non-relationship has caused inflation damage to your ego. We might need to deflate that a bit.”

  “Can I help it if I’m a confident man?”

  Confident? God, the night they had sex on the golf course, he’d joked that he might have gotten her pregnant with his explosive make-up orgasm. He couldn’t have been right. Yet according to the doctor she’d just seen—Wes was right.

  Kaylee was pregnant.

  She swallowed. “Were you calling for a reason, or to bug me while I’m driving?”

  “Are you driving? You shouldn’t answer the phone when you’re on the road.”

  “I was driving. Now I’m on the side of the road waiting for you to tell me why you called twice, making me worry there’s some kind of emergency.”

  “I’ll make it quick, because I don’t like the idea of you on the side of a dark road. Guess who’s earned enough in the last few tournaments to qualify for the rest of the tournaments this season?”

  “Wes Cade, up-and-coming golf star?”

  “That’s right, beautiful. You ready to travel the world with me?”

  Her heart sank. Not again.

  She had a job she loved in Lake Tahoe. New friends. A new life. And now she was supposedly pregnant… She still couldn’t believe that last one. And he was asking her to give it up? He was excited and didn’t know all the facts, but it felt like before.

  The last time Kaylee had built her life around Wes, it had imploded. She couldn’t risk it.

  “First of all, congratulations. You’re an incredible athlete, and you’ve worked hard for this. Second, we’ll have to talk about the other stuff when you get home. When are you coming home?”

  “Sunday, as soon as the tournament is over. But seriously, Kaylee. We joke about things being casual between us, but they aren’t for me, and I don’t think they are for you either. I want more.” He let out a deep sigh. “The last thing I want is to force you to quit your job the way that douche you were engaged to did, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime and I want you with me. Just consider the travel, okay?”

  Consider changing her life for him? This was exactly why she’d not wanted anything serious with Wes. Because she’d be tempted to do whatever it took to be with this man. That was how it had always been. She’d kept things casual between them, but she couldn’t lie to herself and say she didn’t love him. Kaylee had always loved Wes. Too much. That was the problem. She tended to put her needs aside.

  “A cop car is about to pull up.” A lie. She needed an excuse to not answer the question. “I gotta go. Talk to you later?”

  “Sure.” But she heard the hesitation in his tone. He knew her too well.

  What was she going to do?

  Chapter 28

  Through some intricate Tahoe connection, Emily got Kaylee an appointment with her sister’s OB/GYN the next day. Kaylee hadn’t told Emily the reason for her need to see the specialist, only that the urgent care doctor said it was important she go.

  Pregnancy was a big deal. Especially when a person was told they couldn’t get pregnant.

  The physician at the urgent care had to have been mistaken.

  “Well,” the doctor said, folding her hands in her lap, “I’ve told you that the over-the-counter pregnancy test they gave you at the urgent care clinic is highly accurate. After the physical exam and a quick ultrasound, I can confirm your pregnancy.”

  Kaylee’s jaw unhinged.

  “I saw the scar tissue the previous doctor noted. In my opinion, it wouldn’t have been enough to prevent future pregnancies, which is why you’re pregnant now. I’m sorry they gave you such a dire prognosis and left you unprepared. From what I can tell, your pregnancy is progressing just fine. Would you like to hear the baby’s heartbeat?”

  Baby. Baby.

  Kaylee couldn’t speak. Couldn’t form words. She simply nodded.

  The doctor grabbed the ultrasound wand and placed it back on Kaylee’s lower tummy with light pressure. She pressed a button—and Kaylee heard the rhythmic sound of her child’s heartbeat.

  Her and Wes’s child.

  She started crying. “This can’t be.”

  A warm hand gently landed on her shoulder. “It’s real,” the doctor said. She turned toward the screen and made small movements with the wand on Kaylee’s belly. “You’re about ten weeks, according to these measurements.”

  Kaylee sat up abruptly. “Ten weeks!”

  The doctor smiled. “Ten weeks. I’d like you to start taking prenatal vitamins right away. There’s a small list of other things I want you to consider while you’re pregnant—foods to avoid, that sort of thing. There are several pregnancy books out there to help you deal with the changes going on inside your body. But in the meantime, do you have any questions for me?”

  “Yes. What do I do?”

  The doctor laughed. “Take care of yourself. Get plenty of rest. Stay hydrated and eat healthy. Exercise as you normally would, and if exercise isn’t something you typically do, you might consider taking walks at least once a day.”

  The doctor put the ultrasound wand away and gave Kaylee tissues to wipe the gel
off her stomach. “Have you told the father?”

  “No.” Kaylee shook her head in a daze. “I didn’t even know this was a possibility. My periods are irregular, and with the scar tissue…”

  “Understandable. I’m happy to meet with him as well if you want to schedule another time to come in. Otherwise, I’d like to see you in four weeks. You can schedule the appointment at the front desk.”

  The doctor gave Kaylee forms to fill out and left her to get dressed. Kaylee walked out of the exam room and scheduled her next appointment.

  She exited the building, walking blindly to her car, where she sat. And stared out the windshield. One moment, tears streamed down her cheeks and she smiled. The next moment, panic tightened her chest and she was crying for a different reason.

  She breathed in and out slowly, attempting to calm down. Stress wasn’t healthy, and she had a baby growing inside her.

  What the hell was she going to tell Wes?

  Wes’s dreams were coming true. Dreams that not only took him away from Kaylee, but would take him away from their child—if this pregnancy didn’t end in miscarriage like the first.

  God, miscarriage.

  She shook her head. Couldn’t think about that right now. She had to focus on telling Wes. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice and leave him in the dark. He deserved to know, regardless of how he might take it.

  He was a good man. An even better man than when she’d dated him before—and she’d loved him to stupid levels back then. Only what if she told him about the baby and he quit the tour? And gave up the only dream he’d ever wanted?

  * * *

  Kaylee was upstairs when Wes called out her name. He must have used her hide-a-key, the bugger.

  “Up here!” She quickly shoved the pregnancy book her doctor had recommended under the bed and crossed her legs, brushing back her hair.

  She heard him bound up the stairs and cross the hall to the master bedroom. He stood in the doorway.