by Sarah Curtis
"Planning what things?"
"My grand gesture," he said, backing her up against the kitchen counter.
"Grand gesture?" He wasn't making any sense.
"I wanted to do something for you, something to prove my intentions toward you are real, that I'm not playing around." His skimmed his finger along the skin, just under her navel exposed by the open zipper of her jeans.
"What did you do?" She asked quietly, her eyes locked on his finger.
"I set up a charity concert for next weekend and all the proceeds will go to Tail Wagners."
Her head jerked up. "What?" A concert given by Gage would bring in huge profits.
"My friend, Jack Cole, owns the Allure hotel. He donated his nightclub, Pulled, for the event, so we don't have to pay for a venue."
"I don't even know what to say. That's just... thank you," she finished lamely.
"I don't want you to thank me. I want you to forgive me."
"Gage..."
His finger trailed up from her navel and stopped at the diamond, heart pendant nestled in her cleavage. He pinched it between his fingers and lifted it from her skin. "Do you always wear this?"
Cassie plucked the pendant from his grasp and held it in her fist, protectively. She had never, not once, taken it off since he had placed it around her neck. Which was probably why she had forgotten she wore it. But he didn't need to know that so refused to answer his question.
He waited a few beats for her answer and when she didn't reply, said, "That's okay, Sunshine, you don't have to talk. Sometimes actions speak louder than words."
He lifted her, setting her on the counter. She was high now, giving him better access. He unhooked the clasp at the front of her bra and moved the cups aside. One of his hands engulfed her right breast while his mouth attached itself to the left, sucking it in, his tongue flicking her nipple.
Lost in sensations she hadn't felt in such a long time, she arched against him, bringing her breasts closer, her legs wrapping around his hips. She couldn't seem to get herself close enough. She was panting, her body on fire. She heard Gage groan and it was her undoing. She arched herself higher against him.
He brought his lips to her ear. "And I must say, I really love your reactions."
He sucked in her lobe, and her head automatically tipped, silently begging him for more. He tightly grasped her hips, sliding her to the edge of the counter before grinding himself against her. His lips were on hers again, devouring her, and she held on to him tight, clutching at his shoulders, digging her fingers in.
And then she heard her aunt shout from the other room. "Damn girl, what did you burn? The whole house stinks."
"No," she whimpered, her body begging for release, but Gage was already on the move. He whipped off his T-shirt and threw it over her head, just as her aunt walked through the kitchen door.
"Well, crap! Did I interrupt something again? I've got to learn better timing."
Cassie giggled, burying her face in Gage's chest.
"Although, seeing you with your shirt off might be worth the interruption."
Cassie heard and felt Gage chuckle. She picked up her head. "Let me get dressed, so I can give you back your shirt, and you can go get a cake."
Gage brought up his hand and lightly caressed the side of her face. "Okay, Sunshine."
Chapter Six
Cassie ran outside when she saw Sam's car pull up in front of the house. Logan and Kyle were in the backseat. Kyle laughed as Logan made some wild hand gestures. Cassie smiled at his antics.
She stopped in front of Sam as she stepped out of the car. "Girl, you would not believe the noise level in that car on the ride over here. I didn't know two little boys could make so much noise."
Cassie laughed. "Just wait, there's going to be about twenty children here in a few minutes."
"Where's the earplugs!"
They got the boys out of the car and into the house. "I set up the party out back," Cassie said, leading Sam through the kitchen. The burnt cake was still in the oven with the oven door open.
Sam raised her brows. "Problems?"
Cassie quickly closed the oven door and gave Sam a sheepish smile. "Burned the cake."
Sam looked down at her watch. "Need me to run to the store and buy a new one?"
Cassie gave her a smile. She really was a great person. "I've got it covered, but thanks."
Cassie led her out back where two long tables were decorated in a Ninja Turtle theme. She even tied green balloons to all the chairs and had Ninja Turtle cutouts hanging on the back wall of the house along with a large happy birthday banner.
"This is great," Sam said, looking around. "I love the Leonardo pinata."
Cassie looked over at the pinata hanging on the back porch. "Yeah, it's filled with good stuff, too."
They heard a car pull up out front. "I'll go get the boys," Sam said, "And you can go greet the guests."
Cassie turned to her and smiled. "Sounds like a plan."
Cassie looked out the kitchen window at the Ninja Turtle masked children running and yelling in the backyard. She spotted Logan, his purple mask hanging about his chin and giggled. Laurie stood off to the side with a group of parents, watching the kids antics as well.
The pizza had recently been delivered, and Sam and Cassie stood at the kitchen counter, dishing it up.
"Honey, I'm home." Sam and Cassie turned at the sound of Gage's voice. He walked into the kitchen carrying a large sheet cake. "I wasn't sure how many kids were coming, so I just got the biggest cake they had." He set the cake on the kitchen table, noticed Sam, gave her a chin lift, and said, "Hey, Sam."
Sam looked startled. "Gage. I didn't know you knew Cassie."
Gage sauntered to Cassie and fisted her hair, creating a ponytail in his hand. "Cass and I go way back." He gave her hair a light tug and her head tipped back a little. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips. "Don't we, Sunshine?"
Sam had a calculating look in her eye. Cassie watched as her eyes darted out the window, then landed back on Gage. "Are you Logan's father?" She looked over at Cassie. "Why didn't you tell me Gage Hunter was Logan's father?"
Cassie lifted a shoulder. "I didn't even realized you knew Gage until I ran into him at Mase's party."
"Ran into him? Are you not together?"
Cassie shook her head. "No."
Gage contradicted her by saying, "We are. We're getting married."
Cassie leaned into him and hissed. "Would you stop telling people that." She turned back to Sam and gave her a smile. "We're not getting married."
Gage used Cassie's hair to tip her head back again. He leaned over, giving her another kiss before saying, "Sunshine, we are."
Cassie yanked her hair out of his fist and took a step away from him. "Honey limpkins," she said, sarcastically, "we are not." Cassie glanced over at Sam. She was staring at them, clearly fascinated.
She ignored Sam's look, ignored Gage, and turned back to the counter. She picked up two plates that had pizza on them and said, "We should probably get these out to the kids," then left the kitchen.
It was while the kids were eating pizza that one of the single moms (Cassie couldn't remember her name) came up to her. And she was beautiful. From her perfectly styled blond hair to her pink painted toes. She wore a skintight, white, V-neck T-shirt that showed a hint of her red bra underneath and painted on jeans. She was even tall, at least six inches taller than Cassie, with long, long legs. Cassie felt like a frump standing next to her.
She leaned in close to Cassie as if to share a secret. "Who is that ridiculously gorgeous spe
cimen of man?" She asked, pointing her pinky finger in the general direction of Gage.
Crap, what did she say? She couldn't announce that he was Logan's father, Logan didn't even know yet! She decided to remain vague. "Um... that's Gage Hunter."
She gave Cassie a startled look. "From Engage?"
Cassie nodded her head. She liked the way this conversation was heading. Maybe if she touted the whole rock star angle, she wouldn't ask what her relationship was to him. Her next question killed that hope.
"Is he your boyfriend?"
Cassie looked over at Gage again. He squatted next to Logan's chair. It looked as if he were explaining something to him, if the hand gestures were any indication. "No."
"So I wouldn't be poaching on anyone's territory if I went over there and talked to him?"
Cassie felt her heartbeat quicken. The thought of this beautiful creature talking with Gage did crazy things to her stomach. She forced herself to say, "Poaching? No, he's free and clear."
She gave Cassie a Hollywood smile. "Great. I'll just go over there then. Wish me luck."
Cassie gave her a slight head dip, not trusting herself to speak. She didn't need any luck. She was the whole package. Any man would be a fool to turn her down. She watched as Gage stood as she approached. When Gage smiled, then laughed at something she said, Cassie turned her head away, not able to watch any longer.
Sam walked up to her side and with a nod of her head at Gage and Single Mom Barbie asked, "What's that all about?"
"What?" Cassie asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Why aren't you over there, stopping that?"
"Why would I do that? I'm not his keeper."
Sam gave her an assessing look. "That's not what your face says."
Cassie gave her a questioning glance. "And what does my face say?"
"That you either A, want to throw up or B, want to scratch her eye's out."
Cassie giggled. "Gage is free to do whatever he wants. We've been over a long time."
"You guys didn't look over earlier. In fact, Gage looked pretty serious."
Cassie gave Gage a glare. "Well, he doesn't look serious now."
"Ah ha, I knew it bothered you. Girl, get over there and do something about that."
Cassie shook her head. "No. It's for the best, really. I don't want to get involved with him again. As you can see, it didn't work out so well the last time."
Sam gave her a sympathetic look but didn't say anything else. Cassie looked back at Gage. He was already looking her way and when he caught her eye, he smiled. Cassie didn't smile back.
At dusk, people started to leave. The kids ran around, chasing each other, working off their sugar high from the cake they consumed. Cassie came out of the house, a plastic garbage bag in her hand, intending to clean up all the trash.
"Why don't you let me do that." Gage reached for the garbage bag. "Sit down, you look exhausted."
Cassie moved the bag out of his reach. "I'm fine."
Gage pinched her chin and tilted her face to better see. "You're not fine. I can tell."
Cassie sighed. "I just have a bit of a headache."
Gage released her chin and grabbed the end of the bag. "Go sit down. I'll clean up the mess."
Cassie didn't want Gage to be nice. Nice Gage, she didn't know what to do with. She tugged on her end of the bag. "I said I'm fine, and I'll take care of it."
"Do you have to argue about every little thing? You have a headache. You look exhausted. Sit down. You don't have to do everything on your own anymore."
Cassie got angry. The last thing she wanted was to get used to having him around, doing things for her, and making her life easier. The last thing she needed was to grow dependent on him. That would just make things worse for her when he left.
She tugged hard and yanked the bag out of his hand. Anger getting the better of her, she said. "Don't you have anything better to do than to harass me? Why don't you go play with your little girlfriend." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.
Gage was silent for a moment, then said, "Is that what this is about? Are you jealous?"
Cassie felt her face grow warm. "Absolutely not, don't be ridiculous. I don't care what you do. In fact, I think it's great. It keeps you from pestering me." Was she protesting too much? By the smile on Gage's face, she was. Crap.
"Sunshine, you have nothing to worry about. We were just talking. She asked me about the band. Telling me she saw us in concert once and how big a fan she is. I have no interest in groupies, Sunshine. In fact, I have no interest in anyone but you."
Cassie wouldn't let any of that sink in. "Like I said, Gage, I don't care. You can do whatever you want."
Gage sighed. She knew she frustrated him. He would give up soon, she wasn't worth this much trouble.
"Whatever I want? Fine." He snatched the bag from her grasp. "What I want is to pick up the trash so you'll sit your ass down."
Cassie gave him a glare, but she walked to a chair and sat her ass down.
Cassie sat on the swing on the front porch, enjoying the warm nighttime air. A soft breeze blew, bringing with it the scent from the honeysuckle vines crawling along the side of the house. Everyone was gone, the house was clean, and Logan was asleep curled around his new guitar that Gage had given him for his birthday. Logan had a blast at his party so as far as she was concerned, today was a success.
Gage stepped out the front door, carrying a beer in each hand. Seriously, she couldn't get rid of him. He sat on the swing next to her and handed her a beer.
"What are you doing here, Gage?" She asked, taking a sip of her beer.
Gage gave a bark of laughter. "Trying to get you to like me. I figure if I hang around you long enough, I'll grow on you."
She gave him a like that will ever happen roll of her eyes. "I meant, what are you doing in Vegas."
He gave her a surprised look. "I live here. I have a house in the Gable Estates. I bought it four years ago. The house has a studio, and the band does all it's recording there. I'm here most of the year." He continued even though she didn't say anything. "We don't do world tours anymore. Everyone has families now and like to stay close to home. We only do short, few week tours, in the US a few times a year."
This was all very surprising to Cassie, but she kept her face passive. She couldn't let these facts have any bearing on her decision to keep him at arms length. Just because he was home most of the time now, didn't mean that she could trust her heart to him again. There were a hundred other reasons to break up with someone. Long distance wasn't the only factor.
But a small voice in the back of her head kept nagging at her. He had forgiven her for not telling him about Logan, shouldn't she forgive him his mistake in leaving her? She wasn't sure what to do anymore. The attraction she felt for him was still strong. Anytime he touched her, her body went up in flames. But was that enough for a relationship? Because she sure as hell wasn't giving him her heart.
Cassie took another sip of her beer then set in down on the wicker side table. She turned her body so she faced Gage. "Listen, it would be petty of me to stay mad at you when you forgave me for not telling you about Logan. Also, I want you to be a part of Logan's life, so you're welcome here anytime. And we can be friends. Maybe even friends with benefits but nothing more. I'm not risking my heart on you again. I just can't. Can you be happy with that arrangement?"
Gage picked up her hand and held it tenderly. "Okay, Sunshine, we'll do it your way, for now. I won't hassle you about getting married, but I have a few conditions."
"And those are?" She asked, trying to extract her hand from his grip, but he held
on tight.
He gave her hand a squeeze. "We're in an exclusive friends with benefits relationship, and I'm going to want a lot of benefits."
Cassie gave her hand another tug, but he still wouldn't let go. She gave him a glare. "That kind of defeats the whole friends with benefits idea, don't you think?"
"It is what it is, Sunshine. I don't like to share."
"So, are you trying to tell me every relationship you've been in has been exclusive?"
Gage paused for a moment. "Let me amend, I don't like to share you. You're mine."
"This is ridiculous."
"You're damn right, it is ridiculous. The whole friends with benefits thing is ridiculous, but I'm willing to give it a go, for you."
"Maybe the whole thing was a bad idea. Maybe we shouldn't even be friends. We can't seem to agree on anything."
"Oh no, we definitely agree on one thing. We both like the idea of the benefits part."
"Yeah well, maybe I'm changing my mind about that, too. You're not looking all that attractive at the moment."
Gage tugged her hand, causing her body to fly forward, colliding with his chest. "What are you doing?"
"Proving you wrong."
He let her hand go and tangled his in her hair. The other skimming down her back, drawing her body even closer to his. He tilted his head and brought his mouth to hers. It wasn't a gentle coaxing of his lips, but a ravenous attack. His lips consumed hers. His tongue did wicked things to the inside of her mouth, pulling a groan from her and causing very specific places to tingle.
His lips traveled along her jaw, stopping at her ear where he whispered, "I have never wanted something as much as I want you right now."
His words and five long years of not having such intimate contact with someone did crazy things to her mind and body. "I want you, too," she whispered back.
Chapter Seven
Gage stood and pulled Cassie to her feet before scooping her into his arms. He went into the house and straight back to her bedroom where he kicked the door shut with his heel and deposited her on the bed. He followed her down, cradled her face in his hands, and stared intensely into her eyes. "I dreamed of this but never thought my dream would become a reality."