Dirty Girl (Dirty Girl Duet #1)

by Meghan March

  No wonder Cav stays so ripped. He works his ass off for it. My eyes lock on his ass, clearly outlined by the board shorts he’s wearing as he hauls himself stroke after stroke through the pool.

  I’ve also firmly pushed away reality to focus on the pretend world we’re living in. Except for the fact that I’m kicking myself I didn’t ask for a continuance on the motion I was drafting for my prisoners’ rights case. I know the judge will probably waive the late filing because of the type of case, but I can’t bet on it. I know better. I should be better.

  One thing I haven’t missed since I walked out? The law firm. And yet I don’t have a clue what I want to do with my life, although living in paradise seems to be a rising option on my list. If only it could stay like this forever.

  But it can’t. Life will intrude sooner rather than later.

  Cav lifts himself out over the side of the pool, water streaming off his body, muscles flexing and rippling. It’s like watching one of his movies up close. He truly does look like he belongs on the big screen. Three years ago, it was obvious he was capable of so much more . . .

  “I can’t believe I left my keys in that cab! I’m so pissed at myself.”

  I was standing outside my building near Columbia at midnight. The doorman was MIA, the super wasn’t answering his phone, and the streets were deserted. But it was fine. I mean, I was a New Yorker. I was tough. I wasn’t scared. But I also didn’t want to call my brother and ride uptown to get a spare key.

  “Hey, sexy. Lookin’ good.” A man walked by, checking me out. He slowed a half dozen feet away. “You up for a party tonight?”

  I looked down at my clothes. My leather jacket was short and so was my skirt, but the black tights and tall, flat black boots did more than keep my legs warm in the cool night air—they kept me from looking like a hooker.

  “I’m waiting for my boyfriend,” I told him. “He’s right around the corner.”

  The man eyed me for another beat, mumbled something that sounded like “lying bitch,” and resumed his swagger down the street.

  I pulled out my phone and hovered over Creighton’s number, but I didn’t want to be the little sister needing assistance. I was working on proving myself as independent, and this definitely wasn’t going to help my case.

  My thumb scrolled up a few more numbers to hover over Cav’s. He said he lived right around the corner, and something told me he was a night owl like me.

  Fuck it. I tapped on his name, thinking a call would probably do me more good than a text.

  He answered on the first ring. “What’s going on?”

  The sound of shouting in the background made me pause before I responded. “Uh, is now a bad time?”

  “Hold on one sec.” He must have moved away from the source of the noise, because it died after a few moments. “Sorry, there’s a fight on in the bar, and people are gettin’ rowdy. What can I do for you, baby girl?”

  Heat bloomed in my belly and a smile stretched across my face. I loved when he called me that. I’d never understood pet names, but for some reason his made me feel special.

  “Are you anywhere near my place?”

  “What’s wrong?” His tone shifted into high alert.

  “I left my keys in a cab on the way home from Tracey’s apartment, and it’s gone and my doorman is gone and the super is gone and some guy tried to pick me up like I was a hooker. I’m trying not to freak out, but I’m kinda freaking out. I don’t want to call my brother. He might still be in China.”

  “Whoa, calm down, baby. I’m literally across the street—” He paused for a beat. “And I can see you from where I’m standing. You’re safe. I’ll be there in a second. Don’t hang up until you see me.”

  He can see me? He had to be at Lennon’s, the shitty bar that my crowd avoided most nights because there were too many rough-looking regulars who didn’t take kindly to students trying to invade their space.

  I scanned the street and within moments, Cav appeared beneath a streetlight. Relief swept over me. “I see you.”

  “Good. Hang up.”

  I did as he ordered and waited for him to get closer.

  “Well, that was convenient,” I said with a smile on my face. My moment of panic disappeared as soon as I knew he was near.

  Cav shrugged, his canvas jacket unzipped and revealing a black thermal. His jeans were ripped, and his black boots were scuffed. I thought of this as the Cav Uniform because he’d worn something similar every time we’d gone out.

  And by every time, I meant the five different “dates” we’d had. An amazing Polish restaurant I hadn’t known existed, hot dogs in the park while we walked and talked for hours, playing checkers at a hole-in-the-wall coffee house, and twice watching old movies at a ratty theater where we shared popcorn . . . and a little more. Except he still hadn’t rounded third base. Recounting all this in my head made me stop worrying about getting into my apartment and start worrying about whether I was defective on the female front.

  “You know I don’t live far,” he replied.

  Yes, I knew this. He’d told me a couple of times, but had been vague on the address and had never invited me over. Actually, he didn’t accept any invites into my apartment either, only walking me to my door and disappearing into the night. Yep, I was defective.

  “Locked yourself out, eh?” He jerked his chin toward the building.

  I rocked back on my heels, my hands in the pockets of my jacket. “I’m an idiot. I was in such a hurry to get out of that cab because the cabbie was skeeving me out—and now my keys are just chilling on the seat.” I pulled a hand out of my pocket and pointed at it. “These pockets suck. I lose stuff all the time. Basically, I suck, and it’s been a sucky night.”

  “Where’s the guy who talked to you?” Cav’s head was turning, searching the dark streets.

  “Long gone, hopefully.”

  Looking back to me, he frowned. “You can’t do shit like this, Greer. You’re not invincible. You need to stay off these streets after dark.”

  I narrowly kept from stomping my foot like a toddler since he was scolding me like one. “I know this. I didn’t lock myself out on purpose. I don’t know where everyone is who’s supposed to be able to help.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be out late by yourself.”

  I held up a hand. “Whoa, whoa. I’m twenty-three years old and can do whatever the hell I want. I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “No, but you need a fucking keeper.” Cav crowded me into the front of the building. “What if I were looking to get a piece of your fine ass? No one could stop me right now. There’s no one around who’s gonna save you from me.”

  I shoved at his chest. “Why the hell aren’t you looking to get a piece of my fine ass? I’ve been wondering when you’re finally going to make a move.”

  His dark scowl faltered with the hint of a smile. “Fuck, you’re a sassy thing. Who says I’m not?” The smile faded. “And even if I am, you shouldn’t let me. I’m not good enough for you, Greer. You shouldn’t let a guy like me get so damn close. It ain’t right.”

  This time, I was the one scowling. “You don’t get to decide that for me. Only I get to decide that.”

  “Because you’re twenty-three years old and can do whatever the hell you want,” he finished for me.

  “Exactly.”

  A low growl rumbled in his chest, like he wasn’t sure what to do with me. He pushed away from the wall and stared up at the building.

  “Let’s get you inside before daylight, okay?”

  “Good. Let’s.”

  “You got a fire escape around the side?”

  I jerked a thumb toward the left side of the building. “The one over here comes pretty close to my window.”

  “Good. Then that’s how we’re getting in.”

  “My windows are locked.”

  Cav’s grin flashed. “Not a problem.”

  He pulled me around the side of the building and stopped under the fire escape. With a singl
e leap, he grabbed the bottom rung and pulled it down. Glancing at me, he said, “You’re coming up too.”

  I looked down at my black boots, glad I’d picked the no-heel pair. “Why?”

  “Because I’m guessing you’ve got one of those fancy alarms that’s hooked to your windows, and as soon as I get the fucker open, it’s going to start beeping. If you don’t put in the code, the cops will be here to arrest me for a B&E.”

  Shit. I didn’t even think about that. I nodded. “Okay.”

  “You’re not scared of heights, are you?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m good. I just don’t like climbing fire escapes in a skirt.”

  “Anyone looks up it, they’re gonna answer to me. You go first, and I’ll be right below you. You won’t fall because I got you, baby girl.”

  Any lingering fear I had about climbing the fire escape fell away with his reassurance.

  “Okay, let’s do this.”

  Ladder after ladder, we climbed to the ninth floor, and I was glad I wasn’t living on the seventeenth like I’d originally planned. I stopped at the ninth floor landing when we reached it and leaned over the edge to peer inside my window. My apartment was all locked up nice and tight, without me in it.

  Cav pulled me away from the edge of the fire escape. “This is my part. Make sure you hold on. I’m not about to lose you now.”

  He wasn’t even out of breath, and I was huffing and puffing. Apparently Cav didn’t skip as many workouts as I did, which explained how damn ripped he was.

  “I’m not going to fall off.” And he wasn’t going to lose me. Shit, he hadn’t even had me. Maybe tonight . . . He had to come into the apartment to go back down through the elevator . . .

  Quickly, I tried to get my head in seductress mode, which was quite a challenge while the cold night air blew up my skirt. Besides, did I even know how to seduce this guy?

  I watched as Cav reached into his pocket and pulled out something, but in the darkness, I couldn’t make out what it was. He leaned over the railing of the fire escape to the ledge of my window.

  “Shit. Need to get a little closer.”

  Cav lay down on the fire escape and pulled his body halfway out to the window. He was suspended without support over ninety feet off the ground, and the thought flipped my stomach over into knots. Before I had a chance to ask him what the hell he was doing, he was already shoving the window up and jumping inside my living room.

  The beeping of the alarm system came from behind him, just like he’d said it would.

  “Come on, baby. I’ll help you inside. Come under the railing, and I’ll grab you and haul you in.”

  I ducked down, not wanting to have to explain to the cops why I was breaking into my own place, or how the hell Cav had done it. Seriously, how had he? A lock-pick set?

  He reached out from the window and wrapped both hands around my waist. “Trust me?”

  I answered honestly. “Yes.”

  “Bad idea,” he murmured before he lifted me off the fire escape, over the gap below and into my place.

  “Why would you say—”

  “Alarm, Greer. Now.”

  I glared at him and headed for the panel near my door. When I punched in my code, the beeping stopped.

  I wanted answers now. I wasn’t even thinking about seduction. But it was all coming together in my head in some disjointed puzzle. Cav was keeping his distance on purpose, and I had no idea why.

  I turned back to demand those answers because, fuck it, I was done with this nonsense, but he was speaking quietly into his phone near the window.

  When he hung up, he shoved it in his pocket. “I gotta go. You need to track down your keys or get your locks changed. Both would be smarter. Don’t know who might’ve had access to them, and you shouldn’t be taking chances.”

  All this information was processing in my brain, but one piece stuck out. “You have to go? Why?”

  “Something came up. I was supposed to be meeting someone at the bar, and they didn’t show until now. Wondering where I am.”

  Claws of jealousy surged within me. “Are you seriously leaving me to go on a date?” I wanted to take the words back as soon as I spoke them, because I didn’t really want to hear him say yes.

  Cav’s deep chuckle filled my ears. “Jealous, baby? Because Rocco ain’t exactly got your curves.”

  Rocco? A guy? My cheeks heated with embarrassment.

  “Oh.”

  Cav strode across the room to where I stood dumbly near the alarm panel. Pressing his palms to the wall, he trapped me in his arms. “The fact that you think you could ever have competition shocks the hell out of me.”

  Grabbing hold of my lady balls, I asked the question that was really on my mind. “Then why haven’t you made a move? A real move? What’s your problem?”

  He dropped one hand from the wall and fingered a lock of my hair. “Because I don’t get to have you, and you should know better than to want me to.”

  I pushed a hand against his chest, over his heart, and the thud-thud of it traveled through my palm.

  “That’s such bullshit, and you know it. You want me. I want you. This is inevitable.”

  His eyes slid shut and his jaw tensed. “Fuck, I wish it were that simple.”

  “Why isn’t it?”

  He stepped away, putting distance between us. “I gotta go. He’s waiting for me.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” I said as he moved toward the door. “And that’s bullshit.”

  His head jerked toward me. “Greer, some shit ain’t ever gonna make sense to you, and you shouldn’t even know people like me. I shouldn’t see you again.”

  My jaw tensed as a crack formed in my heart. This wasn’t where I expected tonight to lead. “What? Are you serious? Just like that? I don’t understand.”

  Cav unlocked my dead bolts before yanking the door open. “Good night, Greer.”

  And then he was gone.

  “You okay?”

  I watch Greer as she stares at me as if she’s not actually seeing me. I wonder if she’s lost in memories of the past, like the ones that have bombarded me so many times since I showed up at her door.

  She shakes her head as if to clear a fog and blinks. “Sorry . . . I was just thinking about things.”

  “I’ve been doing quite a bit of that myself.” I lower myself to take a seat across the short table from her.

  Her eyes widen as if with surprise. “You have?”

  I pause as I reach for the glass in front of my plate. “Of course. Then and now. Can’t get you off my mind.”

  Greer’s cheeks, already pink from the sun, flush a brighter red.

  “Does that surprise you?”

  A small nod.

  “It shouldn’t. You’re an unforgettable woman.”

  As soon as I say it, her lips flatten into a tight line, and I know her well enough now to gauge her thoughts. Whether Greer will voice the question or not, she wants to know why I could possibly leave her if she’s so unforgettable.

  I wait for her to ask, but she doesn’t. She reaches for serving utensils in the lobster salad instead, her mood dimmed.

  I’ll have to address it eventually. Because with every reminder, I push her further away, even though I can tell she desperately wants to trust me again. But she won’t until I can break through. If I could, I would do it with an explanation. But things aren’t that simple, and I’m not ready to give up this little bubble we’ve created by letting reality intrude. I have to find another way.

  “What do you want to do today?” I ask, waiting for her to finish piling lobster on her plate before I dig in and serve myself.

  “I’m game for anything. I’d love to see more of this place.”

  “Underwater or on the water?”

  Snorkeling and diving are huge draws on this particular island, and we haven’t discussed trying either. But there’s a boat docked out front, and Juan already offered to take us.

  The temporary cloud t
hat fell over Greer fades away with her excitement. “Both? You really want to?”

  “Absolutely.”

  We finish our lunch and carry the dishes inside before I track down Juan. He’s raking the sand yard and tossing fallen coconuts over the wall.

  “Hey, man. I’ve got a question for you.”

  He stops immediately and straightens. “Yes, sir?”

  “Snorkeling and a sunset cruise. You think you could make that happen for us this afternoon?”

  Juan gives me a decisive nod. “Of course. I fueled the boat yesterday after I went for supplies in San Pedro. I have the perfect place for you both.”

  “That’s great. Greer will love it.”

  “Okay. Leave in an hour? I’ll get the gear.”

  “Thank you, sir.” I hold out my hand for him to shake.

  When he does, he says, “My phone has been ringing a lot. I don’t answer it anymore, but the messages are getting . . . unhappy.”

  My jaw clenches because I can only imagine just how unhappy those messages are becoming.

  “No need to listen to them. There’s nothing you or I want to hear.”

  “Okay. If you say so.”

  “Thank you.”

  I head back to the house, already putting it out of my mind.

  “It’s a manatee!” My voice sounds like a little kid tearing into a favorite gift at Christmas as I point at the large gray shape in the water.

  Juan slows and shuts off the engine. “You want to go swim with it?”

  Cav’s already anticipating my response. “Up to you, baby.”

  I grab my mask and snorkel. We’ve been in and out of the water a half dozen times already, and I’m beginning to tire. But it’s a manatee, so hell yeah, I want to get in the water and swim with it.

  We’ve already seen nurse sharks, rays, sea turtles, an octopus, and loads of fish, but a manatee? Just seeing the big gray sea cow reminds me of my class adopting one in kindergarten. Didn’t everyone’s class do that?

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Cav says as I slip the mask over my head for the seventh time today.