by May Bridges
“It wasn’t official.”
“Right,” Rachel makes a big deal of rolling her eyes at me. “Because you never DTR.”
“DTR?” Adam asked.
“Define the relationship. Something Alex is known for failing to do, ever.”
“Sounds like you might have commitment issues,” Adam said in jest. Joking or not, he wasn’t too far off the mark.
“Well, we haven’t DTR’d, as you put it,” Cade added, “but we are committed.” He looked directly into my shocked face.
Committed? I was very sure that when he’d said to me, while I was hanging from a hook in his sex room, “So you just want to be one of the girls that I fuck,” he was admitting to still having sex with other women.
“We have committed to seeing some things through together,” he finished.
And that cleared that up. He didn’t mean that we were committed and not seeing other people, though I wasn’t, he meant that we’re committed to seeing through my issues together.
I felt my heart clinch in my chest while looking up at Cade, because I knew that the commitment he was speaking of had only been made on his side. I was still going at it alone, meeting with Robert’s client, and finding Becker. I was just too selfish to tell Cade. Selfish, because I still wanted what he gave me, the way he pushed me to feel, the way he challenged me to be better than the ugliness inside me.
“It’s good to know Alex has actually been hanging out with someone when she tells me she can’t go out. I was starting to think she was turning me down to spend weekends inside with her cat,” Rachel said.
“Heart is charming. Don’t knock my cat.” I scowled across the black linen-clad table.
“That cat is evil,” Cade said, “and don’t feel bad, Rachel. She has turned me down to hang out with him.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t like me either. I don’t think he likes anyone but Alex,” Rachel said.
“Heart seems to like Sean just fine,” I said, in defense of my fluffy friend.
“Who is Sean?” Adam asked.
“A friend of mine,” Cade explained.
“Wow,” Rachel’s brow shots up. “You’re introducing your cat to his friends. Must be getting serious.”
“Oh hell, knock it off,” I said, putting my glass back on the table harder than needed.
Rachel would die if she knew I was living with him.
I plastered on a smile and the rest of dinner was less stressful than I thought it would be. Cade was a gentleman, and by the time dinner was done, I was glad he’d forced the evening out together.
I was stuffed with gourmet food, and the thought of dancing was almost painful. Cade opened the car door when the valet attendant returned. As I got in, I watched Cade take the long way around his baby, making sure there were no scratches before he got in too.
“Is she okay?” I asked as we pulled away from Pan.
“I’m not one of those weird guys that thinks his car is a girl, you know. No need to call it ‘she’. It’s just my car, and I love it.” Cade looked straight ahead for a moment before adding, “And yes it’s fine.”
I smiled at him knowing it was too dark for him to see.
“So, do you dance?” I asked.
“I think you’ve seen my hips move enough to answer that yourself. What do you think?”
“I think you sound cocky, Mr. Brannon.”
“Cocky? Great choice of words, Doll. I’m confident. What about you. You dance?”
I wanted to say something smooth like he did, but nothing in particular came to mind. “Yeah, like most women I can manage to bend over and shake my ass.”
“You’re not bending over in that dress in public,” Cade said with an edge to his voice.
“Oh, yeah. Why not? Would it make you jealous if another man caught a glimpse,” I teased.
“They would catch more than a glimpse, as short as that thing is, and I don’t know if jealous is the sentiment I was thinking of. It wouldn’t be good for his health if I caught him staring.” The warmth his words sent through me promised an early end to the evening if he kept it up. Cade’s possessive side was a surprising turn-on.
We pulled up to the club valet and I could see the anxiety in Cade.
“Sweet ride, dude,” a younger guy said to Cade, reaching out for his keys.
“No,” Cade said, pulling back his keys and shoving them back in his pocket.
“Cade, come on. It’ll be fine.” I came around to his side. “Give the kid your keys.”
“Oh yeah dude, I’m totally cool. I’ll be good to her. Won’t ride her too hard,” the valet boy said, winking at Cade and laughing.
“Oh fuck no. Get in. I’ll park and we can walk over.” Cade moved to get back in the car.
“Cade.” I grabbed his arm. “I’m not walking in these shoes when the door is ten feet away. I’m sure this kid isn’t stupid enough to mess up your car, are you?” I asked turning to the valet.
“Nah, totally co—”
“All I needed was a no,” I interjected before the kid made it worse. “Please, Cade.”
Cade shifted his weight from leg to leg and I could see his internal struggle. It looked painful, but Cade handed his keys to the kid. Before walking away, Cade leaned in and spoke in the valet’s ear. I couldn’t hear him, but the valet’s face lost color and his eyes blew wide.
“What did you say to that kid?” I asked as we made our way inside.
Cade laced our fingers together. “Made sure he knows how much I love the things I own.”
The club was packed with bodies, swaying and moving to the pulsing music. Laser lights from the dance floor moved around the dark interior and reflected off the many glass surfaces, flashes of green and purple. The energy thrummed into me as soon as I got through the door.
We made our way to a long L-shaped bar. Glass shelves lit from below glowed behind it, showing off the liquor selection. To my left I saw a familiar face. I turned to look but it was dark and the man I thought I saw was nowhere to be seen.
A man in a black button-down and purple tie came to get our drink order, distracting me from my search. I cringed when Rachel ordered us shots. I was willing, that was never the problem, but I remembered the episode last time I tried to drink in front of Cade. I glanced over my shoulder in his direction when the bartender set down a shot in front of me. Cade nodded, and winked at me. I was even more surprised when he ordered a beer for Adam and one for himself. He also ordered me a White Russian and told the bartender to get Rachel another drink too.
When the four of us had our drinks, we weaved our way through bodies to the large glass wall on the far side of the club and found a table. I slid into the deep purled microfiber booth first, wanting to be by the window, and Cade slid in next to me.
The view was stunning, and it was far enough away from the dance floor to manage a conversation. The club was high above and looked out over the lights of Dallas. It felt so separate up there; like hanging over the chaos that exists in the streets below, unaffected by it all. I couldn’t see individual people and the drama that weighed them down, only the city as a beautiful whole, lit up under a clear fall sky.
Cade draped his arm over me and pulled me into his side.
“You two look cozy,” Rachel commented. “Will you watch our drinks while we dance for a song or two?”
I nodded back to her. They each took another long pull off their drinks and abandoned them on the table to go into the sweating masses.
“I didn’t think you drank,” I said to Cade.
“I don’t when I work, and since I never know when something might come up, it means I don’t drink almost ever.”
We were pulled close together, speaking almost directly into the other’s ear. The heat from his body was washing over me. Even with the distraction of Cade, the feeling of being watched pulled me out of the moment. I looked around, but saw nothing odd.
“So what if Sean calls or something?” I asked. I let my lips brush against him, innoc
ently, a few times.
“Nothing in the world could pull me away tonight, leaving you without me in public in that little white dress. I’m officially off duty.” Cade raised his glass.
“You know this isn’t my first night at the club, and I own a hundred dresses this short, maybe shorter, right? Are you always going to accompany me out?”
“Maybe, or I’ll buy you longer dresses.” Cade looked like he was actually thinking through the merit of purchasing me all new club dresses.
When Rachel and Adam made it back to the table they looked winded, but glowing. A light sheen of sweat clung to their faces as they smiled at one another.
I stood and took Cade’s hand. “Our turn. I want to see those hips in action.” I pulled him toward the dance floor. I noticed a tall thick figure standing at the edge of the dance floor and he did seem to be watching me. It was too dark to see his face. I tried to push any bad thoughts out of my head, determined to have a good night with Cade. It could be a random guy that thinks I’m hot for all I know.
Cade wrapped his arm around my waist. “Fine, but I swear, if you bend over in that damn dress in front of these people I will put you over my knee in this club and spank you till both cheeks are red.”
“Don’t tempt me, Mr. Brannon.” I winked back at him.
Cade may have been cocky, conceited, confident, whatever he wanted to call it, but damn, he was good. Watching him dance made me think of sex, wanting my hands on him.
I’d never considered myself a particularly jealous person, but as I took a few steps back, some random bleached blonde tried to bounce her way in between us, and my little green monster roared to life. I watched her gyrate around in front of him, a bit stunned at her audacity in cutting in. When she reached her hand toward his side I don’t know what took over, but I wanted to climb on her back like a spider monkey and ride her to the ground. I saw red.
“I don’t think so. Move along,” I said, grabbing her shoulder to escort her out of Cade’s personal space.
She turned to me, hand on hip, glaring. “Is he yours?” she asked, wiggling her head like a bobble-head toy.
I stuttered for a moment, not sure how to answer. Was he mine? “Well, he isn’t yours. If you put your hand on him again I’ll break it.”
“Whatever, bitch,” she said, and turned away.
Cade stepped in and wrapped a hand around both of my wrists, pulling them around his neck. “Whoa, there. And you talk shit about me being jealous.” He smiled. “Sounds like you might be a little possessive too?”
“I’m not jealous. What she did was disrespectful.” I rolled my eyes at him as he mouthed, “yeah, sure,” to me.
Cade got us moving in rhythm with the music again and I made sure not to put enough space between us that someone else might mistake it as an invitation.
“How come you didn’t answer her?” Cade asked.
“Answer what?”
“She asked if I was yours. You didn’t answer.”
“I didn’t know the answer,” I said honestly.
“Really?” Cade asked, looking down at me with a confused expression.
I let the conversation drop. It was too hard to talk on the dance floor anyway. A minute or two of Cade’s hips against mine and she was forgotten.
I turned in the circle of Cade’s arms and pushed my ass against him. Wiggling there for a moment, I made a small move, threatening to bend over in front of him. Cade gripped my hip like a vise in one hand, and his other moved under my jaw. He pulled my head back to his chest, preventing me from leaning forward at all.
“Alex,” I heard him warn.
“What? You don’t like it when I tease you?” I tried to sound innocent.
“I’m pretty sure we’ve already talked about you teasing me once before. You were over my knee if I recall, making promises about never doing it again.”
His deep dark voice, the feel of him pressed against my ass, having to watch him flex and move his hips all night—I was sure I wouldn’t be a tease when we got home.
Leaving the dance floor I looked for the man I’d seen watching me. I didn’t spot him anywhere. After few more drinks and more dancing, things were starting to feel okay. It was a kind of comfort and normal that I didn’t know I could feel with a guy.
That moment of comfort and normal dissolved like sugar in sweet tea as we waited for Cade’s car at the valet. As his Charger pulled up in front of us, a tall dark man with his arm wrapped around the waist of a tiny thing in a halter dress caught my eye. Mike had me pegged me with a hard stare.
Cade followed my line of sight and a single curse left his lips. He snatched his keys from the valet and threw a few bills his way.
“Get in, now.” Cade opened my door and ushered me inside. I could see Mike pulling a phone from his pocket, never taking his eyes off me. Cade ran around the car and slid in, turning over the engine, dropping it into gear and hitting the gas almost simultaneously.
I saw Mike’s Range Rover pull up in front of him as we pulled away.
“Where are we going?” I asked when I noticed Cade turning away from his house.
“I don’t know yet. That depends on if they follow us.” Cade’s voice was steady but low. He was focused on the road ahead of us with frequent glances into his rearview mirror.
“I got a call a few weeks ago from Rob.” Cade spoke without looking at me. “Fuck.” Cade watched his rearview for a prolonged moment.
I turned around in my seat and saw a pair of headlights fast approaching. My heart sped up as Cade sped faster down the highway.
“Rob told me to stay away from you.” Cade glanced my way, looking for my reaction, I assumed. Not that he could see it in the dark.
“He told you to stay away and you are keeping me around anyway?” My heart sank. I hadn’t told Cade about Robert’s warning because I thought it would scare him off. A warning from Robert would scare any sane person off.
Cade knew the whole time.
“I don’t let other people dictate my life. Especially not people like Rob.”
The black SUV pulled alongside Cade’s Charger, keeping pace with us as we raced down the dark highway.
“Do you think he will try and run us off the road?” I clutched the edges of my seat.
“Not with you in the car, Doll. Rob would have his head.”
Cade reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone, handing it to me. “I need you to text Sean.”
I scrolled through his contacts and pulled up a message to Sean. Cade slowed the car.
“Why are we slowing down?” I felt panic rising. Mike might not do much to me if he got us stopped but I doubted Robert had instructed him to be as careful with Cade.
“I don’t want to be that far out of town when I stop.”
“Stop?!”
“Send the text, Doll. Tell him I need the insurance policy and for him to call Rob.”
“Cade—”
“Send it.”
I typed out the text quickly, my fingers shaking on the keys, and hit send. “Cade, I’m starting to freak out. Please tell me what you’re doing.”
“I’m going to stop and talk to Mike.”
“What if he hurts you?” I was almost yelling, the thought of pulling over and chatting seemed absurd.
“That’s what the insurance policy is for. Rob knows, or he will after he talks to Sean, that I will fuck his world up if he tries anything.”
“I don’t understand.” Just then the phone in my lap pinged. It was a reply from Sean.
Done.
Mike had dropped back behind us. Cade put on his blinker and slowly came to a stop on the roadside.
I looked around and saw that we were well past the lights of Dallas. It was dark with only a small patch being lit by Mike’s headlights behind us, and Cade’s in front of us.
Cade reached under his seat. In the soft glow of the dashboard lights I saw him pull out a black handgun. He checked the clip and the sound of it clicking back into place see
med louder than normal in the silence of the car.
Cade turned to me. He ran the tip of his finger over the lines of my face.
“Let me call Robert and sort this out.” I begged. “He will listen to me, and then you don’t have to go out there.”
“I deal with guys like Mike all the time. I’m going to be fine. When I get out, slide over into the driver’s seat. I will be right back.”
“If you’re coming right back why do I have to be in the driver’s seat? It’s in case something happens.” I felt anxious and nauseated. Cade brushed his palm against my cheek and got out with gun in hand, leaving the car running.
I slid into his seat and cracked the window. The cool night air felt good on my clammy skin.
“Mike. Good to see you.” I could hear Cade through the cracked window.
“Rob’s not happy to hear you’re still talking to his girl.”
“Oh, I do more than talk to her.”
Their voices faded as they walked closer to Mike’s car. I wanted to cut the engine to try and hear them better, but knew that wasn’t smart.
I could hear names: mine, Robert’s, Sean’s, Christian’s. I heard Cade laughing and in the mirror I saw him take a few steps toward Mike. It looked like he was almost nose to nose with him. I wanted so badly to hear the words that passed between them.
I clutched to the steering wheel, willing Cade to get back in the car so we could go. Every moment that passed was agonizing tension. Each time I saw Mike raise his hand I worried it’d be with a gun and I’d have to watch Cade crumble to the asphalt, unable to help him.
When he slid into the passenger’s seat beside me the release was so great I felt tears welling in my eyes.
“Rob should be taken care of, for a little while at least.”
I leaned over the center console and Cade pulled me into a quick embrace. “Let’s go home, brave girl.”