Kade rolled off the bed and stood up, telling himself that it didn’t really matter. He’d always had Travis and his friends while he was recovering. The rehab was over and his life was moving on. He had Mia back in the family fold again after having gone missing for two years, and he had a favor to do for Max—a favor that he was determined to see through to the very end. Kade knew that Max would be haunted by not knowing if Asha was his lost sibling or not, so he’d agreed to go find Asha Paritala and discover the truth. It wasn’t like he had much else to do since his days as a quarterback were over, and the distraction had been a good one, something he’d desperately needed.
I needed something to take my mind off the fact that I’ll never play football again. Kade was dealing with that reality, rationalizing every single day to accept it. So what if he missed his football career as much as he would miss the air that he breathed if it were suddenly taken away? It wasn’t as if he could have played football forever. He just wished he hadn’t had to end a career he’d loved so abruptly and so damn soon. He’d only been thirty years old, and still would have had a lot of good years ahead of him. And he’d been a good quarterback. Damn good. Football had been a very big part of his life for so long that he felt like he was just drifting now, as though he wasn’t quite sure what he should be doing. He owned Harrison Corporation along with Travis, but his twin had run Harrison so smoothly when Kade was playing football, that he now felt unneeded in his own company. Travis liked control, and Kade really had no reason not to give it to him. His brother spent most of his time in the Harrison offices, but it was by choice, a diversion for Travis. They had competent upper management, and Travis didn’t need to spend every waking moment in the office, but it was his brother’s way of controlling his life, burying the pain of his past in work.
Kade knew he was really no different than Travis, football always being his escape, even when he was a kid. Winning a college football scholarship to play in Michigan had been one of the best things that had ever happened to him at the age of eighteen, taking him far away from the craziness of his life in Tampa. He’d come back to Florida to play as a pro because they’d made the best offer, but he’d spent half of his time on the road and the other half practicing. He’d purchased a beautiful home in Tampa years ago, but he’d rarely spent any time there until he’d had his accident. Amy had lived her own life in a luxury condo that Kade had paid for, refusing to take up residence with him unless he married her. Now, he was pretty sure that she was thanking her lucky stars that he hadn’t been ready for marriage.
Walking to the mini-bar, Kade reached into the small fridge and pulled out a beer. Screwing off the top, he took a large swig and thumbed through the room service menu. He was starving, and he managed to order up about half the menu items before he finished placing his order.
Restless, he took a quick shower and changed into a worn pair of jeans and an orange buttoned-down shirt with dancing rabbits of various colors decorating the material. Kade smiled, knowing Travis would hate his new shirt and Mia would tease him to death about it, but he didn’t care. He’d started out wearing gaudy shirts when he was an adolescent to amuse Mia. Living in their family madness, Kade would have done just about anything to make his little sister smile, since there had been very little to smile about when they were kids. Now, he wore the shirts because he actually liked them. They had become a part of him over the years, a small thing that seemed to lighten some of the shadows inside him. The guys on the team had ribbed him endlessly, but if there was one thing that Kade wasn’t insecure about, it was his manhood. He basically told them all to kiss his ass and wore whatever he wanted to make himself happy. After a while, his teammates had seen his attire as a source of entertainment, every one of them waiting to see what he’d wear next so they could give him hell about it. Really, Amy had been the only one who truly hated them, and she’d refused to be seen with him unless he was dressed in what she considered “normal clothes.”
Kade was just reaching for another beer when there was a knock on his door. Chucking the beer top in the trash, he took a long slug of his drink, fumbled with the bolt on the door and swung it open.
He froze, every muscle in his body seizing up all at once. He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, drowning in the chocolate-dark, wide eyes staring back at him from the doorway. Kade was stunned, his heart rate accelerating until it was pounding in his ears, the air leaving his lungs in a heavy whoosh, feeling like he’d taken a hard kick to the gut after a particularly rough quarterback sack.
Definitely not his food arriving from room service!
Kade had no doubt that the woman in front of him was Asha Paritala, but she wasn’t at all what he’d expected. She was dressed in a tie-dye shirt, the orange almost matching the shade he was wearing. Teal and green intermingled with the tangerine color of her top, making her look like an exotic flower. Long, flowing blue-black hair fell below her shoulders and down her back—straight, beautiful, and making him itch to reach out and touch it to see if it was as silky as it appeared. Her creamy skin was such a contrast to her dark hair and eyes that she looked like an exotic wet dream.
He had an instant hard-on as the scent of jasmine surrounded him, making him hard enough to cut through steel. She moved cautiously into the room when he held the door wider.
“Asha?” he croaked, his mouth still dry, his adrenaline beginning to course through his body. She was average height for a woman, but he dwarfed her. Still, she looked fragile, like the slightest breeze would blow her away. Obviously, her looks were deceptive. After all, she’d led him on a merry chase for the last two months.
“What do you want?” she asked impatiently, her eyes flashing dark fire.
Kade closed the door. You! I want you underneath me, on top of me, or any other way you want it. Aloud, he answered, “My name is Kade Harrison. I’ve been looking for you. Didn’t you get my messages?”
Ignoring his question, she answered, “You stole my things. You’re a thief.” Her tone was hostile, but her expression still showed her apprehension.
“I’m not a thief. I was desperate and trying to get you to talk to me. And I wouldn’t have left my contact information if I was trying to rip you off,” Kade answered defensively. Honestly, he was still desperate, only now it was a whole different kind of desperation. His libido, which had been running low while he was recovering from his accident, had finally awakened with a vengeance and taken complete control of his body.