Vivian Cross is not what I expected.
When Cade mentioned Deck's wife, I pictured someone hard. Someone who matched the dangerous men surrounding her. Instead, I'm sitting across from a beautiful Italian woman with kind eyes and a baby bump she keeps touching like she can't quite believe it's real.
"So Cade found you in the woods?" Vivian tucks her feet under her on the sofa, settling in like we're old friends catching up. "That sounds terrifying."
"It was." I wrap my hands around the mug of tea someone pressed into my grip. "I'd been walking for days. I didn't even know where I was anymore."
"I know that feeling." Her voice is soft with memory. "When I came here, I'd already survived two assassination attempts. I was so scared I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't think straight. And then this grumpy mountain man with a god complex decided I was his responsibility."
I glance across the room to where Deck stands talking with Cade. He's intimidating in a way that makes me want to shrink into the cushions, all broad shoulders and sharp eyes and thatscar on his jaw. But when he looks at Vivian, his whole face changes.
"He doesn't seem grumpy now."
"Oh, he still is. Just not with me." Vivian grins. "Give it time. These mountain men, they act like they don't need anyone. Like they're fine alone in their cabins with their trauma and their silence. Then the right woman shows up and suddenly they're bringing you breakfast in bed and growling at anyone who looks at you wrong."
My cheeks heat. "Cade's not... we're not..."
"Honey, I saw the way he walked in here with you. Like he was ready to fight anyone who made you uncomfortable." She pats my knee. "I'm not saying you have to do anything about it. I'm just saying, I recognize that look. Deck had it the first week I was here."
I don't know how to respond to that. The almost kiss in the greenhouse is still burning in my mind, the way Cade leaned toward me, the way my whole body wanted to close that distance. But wanting and being ready are two different things.
"I just got out of a marriage," I hear myself say. "A bad one."
"I know." Vivian's eyes are gentle. "Cade told us enough. Not details, just that you needed protection and a safe place to heal."
"Then you know why I can't..." I trail off, unsure how to finish.
"Why you can't what? Be attracted to someone? Feel safe with a man who actually deserves your trust?" She shakes her head. "You're allowed to heal and feel things at the same time, Natalie. They're not mutually exclusive."
From across the room, Sadie Chen bounces over with the energy of a golden retriever. She's tiny and gorgeous, all black braids and dimples, and she plops down beside Vivian like personal space is a foreign concept.
"Are we talking about Cade? We're totally talking about Cade." She aims her bright smile at me. "I'm Sadie, by the way. Wolfe's girlfriend. The tall scary one who looks like he wants to murder everyone."
I follow her gesture to the man lurking in the corner. He does look like he wants to murder everyone. Except when he glances at Sadie, and then he looks like he'd burn down the world if she asked him to.
"They're all like that," Sadie continues, apparently reading my mind. "Big and growly and emotionally constipated until you crack them open. Then they're basically golden retrievers who can kill people."
"Sadie." Vivian's voice holds a warning, but she's fighting a smile.
"What? It's true! Wolfe didn't speak more than ten words a day before he met me. Now he tells me he loves me every morning. Progress." Sadie turns back to me. "So how long have you been staying with Cade?"
"Four days."
"And has he cooked for you yet?"
"Every meal."
"Shown you his greenhouse?"
"This morning."
Sadie and Vivian exchange a look I can't interpret.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing." Vivian's smile is suspiciously innocent. "Just that Cade doesn't let anyone in his greenhouse. It's his sacred space. Even Deck's only been in there twice."
My stomach does a complicated flip. I think about this morning, Cade's hands gentle on the seedlings, his voice warm as he explained each plant's purpose. The way he looked at me when I said I wanted to help.
