Built to Last by Jean Page Read Free Book Online Page A

to my house to babysit.” Del laughed, “Then I guess you are safe from sex tonight as well. I put the numbers for the restaurant and the movie theater on the refrigerator if you can’t reach me on my cell phone. Otherwise, we should be back by midnight. Feel free to dig through the blu-rays. You may have to go down to Sam’s ‘man cave’ to find something over a G rating. I can’t tell you the last time I watched a movie that didn’t involve cartoon dinosaurs, talking cars, or magical creatures.”
    “You gave her the numbers?” Sam asked as they joined him in the living room.
    “Yes dear. She has both our cell numbers as well.”
    “We will be at the restaurant and the movie starts at nine thirty,” he reiterated.
    “I’ve got it all Sam. The boys won’t even know you’re gone. Trust me.”
    “I do trust you Noelle. We’ve just never left the boys like this before. Oh, if Jason wakes up he wants a glass of water and his dinosaur. It’s the purple one. If Tyler gets up his is the yellow one.”
    “Honey, she’ll be fine. The boys are sleeping. Now let’s go enjoy ourselves okay?” Del pushed her husband toward the door. “We’ll see you in a little while. Thanks again Elle.”
    “No problem. Have fun.” Noelle called as the couple climbed into their car. She closed the door and looked around the house a bit. She picked up a few stray toys and put them away. She made her way back to the living room. She began picking through the discs near to the TV. Her sister had been right, mostly kid movies. She heard Cade pull up into the driveway and met him at the door to keep him from ringing the bell.
    “Hello there,” she smiled and gave him a quick hug.
    “Hi,” he replied feeling like an awkward teenager all over again. He’s body leapt to life the moment she touched him. I thought we might be able to enjoy this,” he said offering her a bottle of wine.
    “Wine and popcorn... see, better than the movie theater already.”
    Cade chuckled and hung up his coat on the coat rack. “Did you have anything in mind to watch?”
    “Del suggested we head downstairs to dig through Sam’s collection. I don’t think he’ll mind us using the flat screen in there. His ‘man cave’ has a great sound system and I grabbed the baby monitor for the boys,” she added waving the little speaker box in her hand.
    “I also picked out a couple from my own stash just in case.” Cade pulled them from his coat’s inner pocket and followed Noelle down to the basement.
    Sam’s ‘man cave’ was everything a sports fan would want. He had a huge flat screen TV that took up most of the end wall with surround sound, several recliners, and a large couch all with cup holders. There was a large coffee table to hold snacks, and on the far end, stood a bar that was fully stocked with all of her brother-in-law’s favorites. A pool table stood between the bar and the couch with enough room to move around the table and shoot. The decor of the room was split between sports memorabilia and hunting trophies. Cade looked right at home in such a place and Noelle wondered if he had his own in the house where he lived. She watched him move around the room and check out everything while she looked through the movies that lined one section of the wall.
    “What are you in the mood for, Action, Western, or Sci-fi?” She turned to look at him and found him watching her. She blushed and turned back to the movies.
    “What no chic flicks?” he teased.
    “I’m sure we could find one or two of those here someplace, if that’s really your thing.” She couldn’t help but tease him back.
    Cade moved to stand next to her and perused the movie titles for himself. Both of the movies he’d brought were here on the shelves. How about this one?” He grabbed the box and handed it to her.
    “Why don’t you get it set up and I’ll get a couple of glasses for the wine and see what snacks Sam has on hand.” She moved back to the bar area and