He stripped down to his underwear and picked up a set of dumbbells, ready to do arm curls until his dick went down or his arms fell off…whichever came first.

* * * *

Olivia went downstairs in the morning in her favorite sundress. It was cornflower blue, the skirt perfect for twirling, and it had pockets. She wore it whenever she needed cheering up, and it almost never failed to lift her spirits. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite doing the trick this morning.

She’d heard Cade go downstairs half an hour ago, the wooden stairs in the old house creaking and groaning under his feet. He’d done extensive renovations to make the hundred-year-old dwelling fit for modern living, but the stairs creaked, and the walls weren’t quite plumb. Cade said that was how he liked it.

Olivia liked it too. She just wished she could employ a bit more stealth on a morning like this. She clung to the faint hope that he was in the basement working out, or had maybe run to the store, and she’d have a little more time to settle before the inevitable questions began.

But of course, the minute she cleared the stairs and turned into the living room, he materialized out of the dining room like a wraith in jeans. And nothing else.

She blinked twice, but the vision didn’t change. Jeans and no shirt, his bare feet poking out from under the frayed hems.

“Good morning.”

“Morning,” she parroted back automatically. She felt like her mouth was moving without conscious direction from her brain, which was still frozen at the sight of Cade wearing nothing but jeans.

Which was weird, because it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen him shirtless before. Hell, she’d seen him naked before. So why was the sight of his bare chest making her short circuit?

“Sleep okay?”

“Yes, fine.”

Not that it wasn’t an impressive chest. He mostly managed construction projects now instead of working on them, but the years he’d spent swinging a hammer were evident. Thick muscle was covered by golden-brown skin, the smooth landscape of it interrupted only by a sexy smattering of hair over his breastbone. It continued down, nearly disappearing over his abdomen, only to pick back up on the south side of his belly button, trailing down to disappear into the waistband of his jeans.

Unbuttoned. His jeans were zipped but unbuttoned, and riding low enough for her to glimpse the deep vee of muscle just under his hipbones and, dear God, that was a hell of a view first thing in the morning. Who needed coffee when Cade’s abs could make her feel like this?