by Amber Burns
“Well, go get some work done.”
She smiled and turned to greet the next customer. He made his way back to Alex’s little office.
“Hey man, congratulations,” Cade said, stretching his hand out.
For the first time in all of the years he had known Alex, a big smile spread across his face. Alex’s hand met Cade’s and Cade pulled him in close.
“Thanks man,” Alex said.
“You’re welcome. You two are perfect and I am genuinely happy for you both.”
“Awesome. I think she was a little worried how you would react. I told her you would be fine. Women… right?”
“Well, I guess I need to hire someone quick. Before you two elope and run away to Europe,” Cade Joked.
He shook Alex’s hand and turned back to check if his next interview was there yet.
“Nah, we are just going to rent a cabin in the mountains a few hours north. We would love to go outside of the country, but we just want to get away from the city for a few days.”
Cade looked back at Alex. He was truly happy for his friends and coworkers. They had found love and a new chapter in their life was beginning. When did he get so sappy? Clearly, when he fell in love himself.
After a terrible interview, his next one went well and he hired her on the spot. The next two were equally wonderful and he decided to hire both as well. Two more tattoo artists and one more body modification artist. They were going to need to expand, because there weren’t enough rooms for all of them. Cade had the money now since his business was going so well. He would have to start looking at property so they could move as soon as possible.
While he was distracted flipping through properties, the bell over his door rang and a to go cup of coffee was placed in front of him. Looking up, he was surprised to see those beautiful blues looking at him.
“Hey,” Cade gushed through a smile.
“Hey, brought you coffee.”
Cindy looked around the lobby of his shop and Cade moved to join her. Feeling a sense of pride as she looked around at his creation, he wanted to take her on a tour. She followed him down the hall and he showed her the rooms they had set up for customers and their offices in the back. Cadence was sitting in a chair beside Alex, looking at their schedule when he walked in with Cindy.
“Hey guys. I want you to meet someone.”
They looked up and Cadence’s mouth dropped as she recognized Cindy from the news. Not saying anything, she quickly closed her mouth and smiled, standing to shake Cindy’s hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Cindy said with a smile.
Alex said as he stayed in his seat. “Hello.”
Alex was not one for small talk most days. Cade was glad he at least said something more than a grunt.
“It is nice to meet you both. I love the shop. Your hair is awesome.” She looked at Cadence and cocked her head to the side, taking in the array of colors that covered her head.
“Thanks.” Cadence absently touched her hair and then looked at Alex.
“Want a piercing?” Cade said jokingly but Cindy’s eyes lit up at the idea.
“Actually, yes.”
He was surprised but he would do anything she asked. He took a moment to stumble for the next works.
“Well, uh… we could make that happen.”
He looked to Cadence, who shrugged her shoulders up and pointed at the schedule. Seeing the look on Cade’s face, she put the schedule down.
“You know what goldilocks,” Cadence mocked. “Let’s do this.”
Cade rolled his eyes at her abrupt nature, but he knew how she could be. Cindy had a polite and nervous smile, and Cade knew he would have to say something about that exchange later. As it turns out, he didn’t have to say anything. When they had finished, Cadence and Cindy were hooked arm in arm and laughing. Their stark difference in appearance stopping Cade in his tracks. Despite this, they seemed like the best of friends. He searched for her piercing, but didn’t see anything visible. She pulled up her shirt and revealed a freshly pierced belly button. The skin was raised and pink around the new barbell that ran through the skin on the top half of her navel.
“Do you like it?” Cade inquired.
She nodded and then hugged Cadence. He didn’t even know that Cadence allowed anyone to do that, but she hugged Cindy back. When Cindy wasn’t looking, Cadence mouthed that she liked her to Cade and gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
“Now… do you like it?” Cindy played with the piercing while staring at Cade.
They were standing in the lobby and she had moved close. Her breath tickling his ear as she purred into it. Feeling himself melt, he nodded and he pulled her in close. He pressed himself against her, hoping she could feel just how much he liked it. When he looked at her eyes they were liquid pools, filled with lust. Taking advantage of teasing her for earlier, he leaned in and kissed her slowly but also passionately, making his intentions clear. Lightly, he cupped one of her breast in his hand and just barely brushed his thumb over the top of her now raised nipple. Moaning into his mouth, he smiled and pulled away from her. Dazed from the moment, she stood there and looked at him longingly.
“I am going to take you on a proper date after you break yourself away from this dinner with your family and Todd.”
He spat the name out as if he had tasted something sour. He did not like the man and he was not liking the idea of her having dinner with him at her parents but he wouldn’t interfere, yet. He trusted her and her judgment on the matter. Seeing the jealousy in his eyes, she just shook her head and laughed.
“I can’t wait.”
With that, she left and he suddenly realized how much his teasing her had affected him. His pants were uncomfortable and he had to shift himself to try and hide it.
12
Saturday came too quickly and Cindy went out of her way to dress as unappealing as possible. She hoped that Cade would hold up his end of the deal and not interfere. If she was ever going to hopefully make her family see reason, she needed him to not show up at their door cursing the “saint” Todd; the pompous idiot. She couldn’t believe she ever went out with him in the first place. They didn’t last long, but it was long enough for her mother to catch wind of it and soon she tried planning a wedding that would never happen.
While she would have preferred comfy sweats and a t-shirt, she still wore a simple, but modest dress to appease her mother. Todd was at her door ten minutes till seven. Rolling her eyes, she looked at the huge bouquet of roses he brought her again. Trying not to vomit, she took them from him and sat them next to the now drooped and dying ones from a few days back. She relished in the fact that he noticed the old ones hadn’t been tended too. It made her feel a little bad, but he had it coming. He knew she was with Cade, but he insisted on entertaining this horrid idea of her parents. With everything they had done for her after her kidnapping, she would give them this. After, she would make sure they knew she was an adult, learning to defend herself, and that Todd was never going to happen.
“You look, beautiful.” His face was scrunched up as he analyzed her modest dress and he hesitated before adding beautiful.
Despite her efforts, she felt his eyes were still all over her body. It made her sick and ready to run back into her condo and cancel the whole thing.
“Thanks,” she managed to respond.
She saw him staring at her as if he wanted her to praise him on his looks. He was wearing an expensive fitted suit and he had put gel or a styling product in his short hair to make it stand up in the front. While he may have been going for something attractive, it made her want to giggle. Pulling up to her parent’s estate, she held back a groan as she saw her parents elegantly dressed for the occasion. Now her mother would surely have a fit over her outfit. Surprisingly, she didn’t. As a matter of fact, her parents were overly nice during the whole affair.
“Hello sweetie,” her mother cooed as she wrapped her in a tight hug that was awkward from lack of practice.
Her
shoulders shrugged up and she shot her brows up in question at her mother’s behavior. Once inside, Cindy saw a decanter in the middle of the table, half empty. They each took their seat around the dinner table and she felt her phone buzz in her lap. Looking down, the screen lit up with Cade’s number.
Hey beautiful. I can still rescue you?
Smiling she swiped the screen to respond.
I am good for now. Mom is drunk. Wish you were here.
I love you.
That was the second time he had told her he loved her. Her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. She rested her finger over the text box to respond and hesitated. She knew she was in love with this man, so why was she sitting at this awful dinner with her family and that sneering, good for nothing Todd? Her mother was fussing over his suit and flirting with him, while her indifferent father picked at the meal on his plate. Feeling disgusted by her mother’s display, she looked back at her phone and quickly swiped the three words back to Cade. After this was all over, she would need to spend some time with him, because his little fondling at the shop the other day had left her frustrated for days.
“Cindy, hello, Cindy, what on earth are you fiddling with?” Her mother was glaring at her.
“The food looks good. Did you hire a new cook?”
Her mother’s eyebrows shot up and a drunken blush rested on her cheeks. It was a comical face really, that made Cindy cough as she tried to take a sip of her wine. Her mother ignored her and turned back to Todd, that smile returning to her face.
“I hear you are considering your very own practice in the city?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. If he realized her flirtation, he didn’t let on.
“Yes. I believe we need a good family practice, and I could use a break from the strain of the emergency room.”
He feigned exhaustion. As if he had to change a patient’s lines, suction them, and clean their bedpans, turn them to make sure they didn’t develop bed sores, and so much more that ran through her head. Her never ending list of things she had to monitor and do was exhausting. Sure, she knew some excellent doctors, who did far more than their peers, but Todd was not one of them.
“Isn’t that lovely Cindy?” Her mother waited for her to respond.
“Oh yes, truly,” she mocked.
When they had finally finished their dinner, Cindy’s father retired to his study and her mother continued to probe Todd on the latest news and gossip. Listening to him talk to her mother, she couldn’t believe just how full of himself he was. Every answer ended with something about him. Suddenly, her mother stood up, stretched and placed a hand on Todd’s shoulder.
“Well, thank you Todd for gracing us with your splendid company. I do hope that you will be returning again soon.”
She leaned down to kissed him on the cheek for far too long. Swallowing to avoid gagging, Cindy stood to leave as well. Picking up the now empty decanter, her mother walked to the liquor cabinet and sat it inside, while also grabbing out another bottle and glass. She left them alone in the dining room.
“Well, that was delicious. Let’s get going shall we?” Todd suggested.
They escorted themselves out of the estate and back to his little sports car. Her mother was looking down from a window, not at her, but at Todd as they slid into their seats. He had already jumped into his and started the engine.
Such a gentleman she thought as she opened her door and sat down.
As they headed back towards the city, she felt relieved that the night would be over soon and she would make sure that Todd understood there was nothing between them. When he turned away from her condo, she felt a sudden nervous jolt shoot through her.
“Um, Todd, my condo is back that way?”
“I know, but I am taking you back to my place. I thought we could have a nightcap before you head home.”
“Todd, I really just want to go home and go to bed.”
Ignoring her, he continued down the street. When the car stopped at a red light, she felt herself kick into survival mode and she bolted out the door of his still car. She heard him calling out to her, but she ignored him and started hiking back towards her condo. His car rumbled and he turned back to chase her up the street.
“Come on Cindy. Just get in the car,” he begged.
“No Todd. I will not be forced to spend another moment with you. You’re a slimy bastard.”
“And you’re a stupid bitch. I can take care of you, that street rat cannot.”
His eyes were narrowed and she turned at him. Anger was rippling through her as she stomped across the street to his driver’s side window. A smile spread across his face as he thought she was actually going to rejoin him in his sick fantasy. Instead, she balled her hand into a fist and slammed it right into his nose. Pain radiated up into her wrist and she was certain she had just broken her thumb or one of the metacarpals in her hand. As the blood seeped from his nose and he held himself in pain, she felt great. It took him a few minutes to shake himself from the pain, and a line of cars had formed behind him, honking despite the time of night.
Not able to decipher the curse words that he mumbled under his breath, she stormed off before one of the cars decided to fly around him and possibly hit her too. On the sidewalk, she held her hand to her chest, pain throbbing up and down her arm. Using her left hand to call Cade, she tried to steady her voice. She didn’t need to send him into full panic.
“Hello?” His voice sounded wide awake, despite the hour.
“Hey, you’re still awake?”
“Of course, I was waiting to hear about the dinner.”
“Could you come pick me up?”
“Where are you?” She heard his voice change pitch and knew that she had alarmed him.
“Um, Franklin Avenue.”
“On my way, stay put and please be careful. Keep your phone in your hand,” he ordered.
She heard him slam a door and within seconds she heard his bike scream to life. She hung up and kept her phone out just in case. It felt like forever before she heard him coming down the street, when in fact it had only been minutes. He pulled up and jumped off his bike, almost dropping it to the ground.
“Come on, let’s get you home,” he urged.
“Um, actually, the emergency room would be best.”
He stopped and turned to her, anger flashing behind those penetrating green eyes. He started looking her over, checking for any physical signs that she was hurt.
“What did he do? Did he hurt you? I will kill him.”
She snorted and chuckled, but the shaking hurt her hand. His eyes rested on her face and he looked confused.
“I am sorry. It’s just. I hurt myself. I sort of punched him in the nose. Pretty sure it is broken like something in my hand.”
Anger quickly fading from those beautiful green eyes, she saw both humor and concern flood into them.
“You punched him in the nose?” Before she could answer, he kissed her and smiled. “That’s fantastic! I wish I had seen it, but let’s go get that hand taken care of.”
He walked with his arm around her to the bike and they sped off toward the hospital.
***
At first Cade was furious. He was ready to rip that smug face off of Todd’s little cocky head, but when Cindy told him she had punched him in the nose, he had to refrain from doubling over in laughter. While he would have preferred being the one to have landed the punch, mostly because he knows how to not break his bones, he was happy to see her standing up for herself. When they pulled up to her work, he wrapped his arm around her and they walked in.
It was busy at this hour, but her coworkers stopped to stare at her walk through the doors with this tattoo covered man. Feeling their eyes burn into him with accusations, he thought to himself, great, they think I hurt her.
“What did you do sugar?” A woman with gold rimmed glasses stormed towards them.
“Hey Annie, it’s not as bad as it looks.”
Before she could say anything, Annie put her index
finger in Cade’s chest and looked him square in the eyes.
“If you had anything to do with this, I will wipe the floor with your handsome face.”
Cade chucked, he liked this woman.
“Annie, I broke my hand punching Todd in the face after I was forced to have dinner with him at my parents. Which is ridiculous that I was forced to do so, but if you only knew my parents.”
Annie stopped, her face shifting from angry mother hen to something else. Cade wasn’t sure, and then the woman bent forward and a loud rattling came from her. He didn’t realize the woman, who had clearly smoked her entire life, was in stitches. She bent back up, her face covered in a grin from ear to ear.