Hard Edge by Tess Oliver Page A

class sweet-talker. No wonder every girl in town had your name doodled on the margin of their spiral notebook.”
    “That’s not sweet talk, Trinket. That’s straight talk.”
    She waved off my comment. Kenna never took well to compliments. It was one of the many things that made her stand out from other people.
    I raised a brow at her. “ Every girl?”
    “Well, not all of them. But a good portion. Trust me, I had lots of pretend friends, girls who hung out with me just because they thought it would give them a chance to meet you . . . or Grady. The score leaned heavily on your side, but he had his share of admirers too. I don’t know why he never ended up with a steady girlfriend in high school.”
    Another stretch of silence followed. We listened to the music and watched as the city scenery faded and the long stretch of Pacific Ocean rolled into view.
    “Cade, do you think he was happy?” She looked over at me. “Do you think Grady was happy? We talked once a month, and sometimes he sounded sad, like he was lonely or wanting to be doing something different with his life. Or maybe I was just projecting my own misgivings onto him. Not that it makes much difference now.” Her voice broke. “But I hope he was happy.”
    “I know he was feeling kind of alone in Wisconsin. He was dating a woman for awhile—”
    “Heather, the kindergarten teacher. He told me about her, but he broke it off after a few months. He never told me why.”
    “I think Grady and I both set the bar pretty high when it came to finding the one.”
    She smiled. “That’s sweet. Because of your moms?”
    A laugh shot from my mouth. “Have you met my mom? I mean, I love the woman, but holy hell, I couldn’t live the rest of my life with someone like her. And Sally—” I stopped, not needing to say one negative thing about the woman who’d just lost her only son. I looked over at Kenna. She had absolutely no idea. “Let’s just say Grady and I had very similar taste in women. Now, I say we stop for some sandwiches. We can take them down to the beach, and I’ll give you that surf lesson I promised.”

Chapter 13
    Caden
    The inside of the beach house was hot and stuffy. I opened the front window. The ocean breeze ushered in, cooling the place instantly. It had only been ten days since I stood in the kitchen listening to my mom tell me that Grady was gone. I’d left in such a hurry, I hadn’t thought to check that everything was turned off. The bathroom light was still on, and I’d left towels on the floor. I’d been in such a fog, I couldn’t even remember leaving the place or getting into my truck.
    I switched off the bathroom light and picked up the towels, while Kenna put the milk and eggs into the refrigerator. She was reading a business card as I returned to the kitchen. It took me a second to recognize Mindy’s card, but before I could start with any kind of explanation, Kenna dropped it onto the counter.
    “Paris, huh? Nice.” She glanced down at the card again. “And who is Mindy Eaton? Does she live in France?”
    “She’s there on a modeling shoot. She’s a swimsuit model.”
    “Figures.” She glanced around to make sure everything cold made it into the fridge. “I guess I’ll go put on my tunic and leggings so we can head out to the sand.”
    “Tunic and leggings?”
    She pointed at the card. “If your last guest was a swimsuit model, then I’m pretty sure me and my out of fashion bikini will be a grave disappointment.”
    I walked around to where she was standing in the kitchen and stood only inches from her. It took all of my self-control not to touch her. It was all I had thought about since the kiss. “You have to be kidding? Either that, or you haven’t gotten a good look at yourself in the mirror lately, Trinket.”
    Fuck self-control. I reached up and brushed her hair off her face, pushed her chin up and kissed her lips. She gazed up at me with those brown eyes that made me forget everything