“I read the piece you did on Sanctuary. You made us sound pretty good.”
“Because you are,” she told him. “And what you’re doing is a great thing. I’m surprised you even saw it. It was buried pretty deep.”
“Thanks for not ...”
“Selling you out?” She laughed. “I was tempted, you know.”
“Why didn’t you? It would have made a hell of a story.”
“The price was just too high. I wasn’t willing to hurt anyone for the sake of ratings or a promotion. In fact, I chose to walk away. I handed in my resignation the same day I handed in the article.”
Well, that answered one of his questions. “What are you doing now?”
“Figuring things out.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“You already have,” she told him softly. “More than you know.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to that. For the first time, silence stretched awkwardly between them. There were so many things he wanted to say, but they didn’t quite make it past the lump in his throat. He wondered if the silence on her end meant she was having the same problem.
“I really enjoyed talking to you tonight, Nick.”
“Me, too.”
“Take care of yourself, okay?”
“I will. You, too.”
Connection broken, Cage threw his phone across the room in frustration. “Fuck!”
Chapter Forty-Six
Bree
Bree put the phone down and sighed. She’d called Nick, needing to hear his voice. Needing to know if her mind had embellished her memories with time and distance.
They hadn’t.
The last couple of hours of talking to him on the phone were the most at peace she’d felt in months. His voice, soft and rich, still managed to wrap around her heart.
Their conversation also answered another question burning deep in her soul, something she’d wondered a time or a thousand: did he miss her as much as she missed him?
As it turned out, he did.
Oh, he hadn’t come right out and said so in so many words, but she knew. She’d heard it in his voice. Sensed it in meaningful pauses, in the things he hadn’t said but wanted to. She knew because, deep down, she felt exactly the same way.
And it filled her heart with joy.
A lot of things had changed since she’d left Sumneyville—her most of all. Working on the Sanctuary piece, talking to the men and women who’d made the project a reality, prompted her to look in the mirror and reevaluate her own goals. What was she working toward? And for whose purpose—hers or someone else’s?
Her difficult self-assessment revealed several things.
First, even though she loved writing and doing research, she didn’t particularly like her job. She felt like an insignificant cog in someone else’s wheel. As long as she stayed there, nothing would ever change.
Second, Charlie had been partially right. She didn’t have killer instincts, but she discovered a deep-seated sense of right and wrong along with a desire to make a difference. A real difference. Something beyond a momentary blip in a magazine and a rise in rankings.
Third, she wasn’t as much of a city girl as she’d thought. In fact, after a week in the mountains, she could appreciate the peace that came with living there—as long as indoor plumbing, hot water, and electricity were also part of the package.
And finally, she wanted to feel every day like she had when she was with Nick. The sense of connecting with someone who understood. Someone who got her and wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him, for no other reason than it felt right.
In order to do that, however, she had to find herself first. To let go of her past and forge a new future. To establish a solid foundation and figure out who she was before she could offer herself to someone else.
And so, after handing in her piece on Sanctuary along with her resignation, she moved out of her apartment, getting rid of all but a limited number of essentials. Then, she used her savings to buy a used truck camper and hit the road. Toni thought she was crazy, but for the first time in her life, Bree felt like she was finally on the right track.
Over the last months, she’d been slowly working her way east, stopping often along the way. She took pictures, captured impressions, talked to people, and started a blog dedicated to finding hidden gems in small American towns. She focused on what she did best: telling other people’s stories and writing feel-good pieces, no longer seeing it as a negative, but a strong positive.
The blog was still growing, but it had received some national attention, and she even had some sponsors interested.
Her real passion though was in creating a fictional small-town serial that she began self-publishing. She used her experiences and her dozens of journals to create realistic, three-dimensional characters that readers instantly connected with. Like her blog, her following was growing every day.
After months of zigzagging across the US, she was finally where she wanted to be. Almost. She just needed one more thing to make it perfect.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Cage
Cage came in from the cold, appreciating the warmth and the sense of being home. That was what Sanctuary had become. Not just a project, but also the place where he felt like he truly belonged.
How things had changed in the three years since they’d started. There was still a lot of work to do, but it was a great feeling, finding his place and seeing goals realized. And yet he couldn’t help but feel something was missing. Had been, ever since the day Bree had driven away.
Until recently, he’d hoped that wouldn’t be the end of it. That what they’d shared was more than a thing of convenience. That he would hear from her again. Not that he expected her to give up everything and show up on his doorstep, but trading emails would have been nice. Talking on the phone, like they had on Thanksgiving. Something.
Since that call, he hadn’t heard from her. Not once.
He’d appreciated the contact at the time, but now, he wondered if it would have been better if she hadn’t called at all. She’d raised his hopes again, but after several weeks, he had to assume it was a one-time thing. Unless, of course, she got lonely around Christmastime and called again.
If she did, would he answer?
In a heartbeat.
Perhaps that was why he’d felt compelled to do what he had. Two weeks after Thanksgiving, with the newly renovated suites completed and the cold weather putting a pause on outside work, he told Church that he needed some time away to take care of some personal business. Church agreed without question, telling him to take as much time as he needed.
It was the first time he’d been off Sanctuary property for more than a few hours in three years. His trip started with a drive to New York City, where he had started. He walked around the old neighborhood, certain that no one would look at the man he was now and see the skinny, weird kid he’d once been. He’d expected the experience to be painful, but it was cathartic. He’d come a long way, and when he left the city that day, it was with a sense of closure. His past really was well and truly behind him.
After that, he flew out to Coronado and spent a few days there. He ran into old Navy buddies, several now instructors, and caught up over a few beers. Some had heard about Sanctuary, some hadn’t, but all thought it was a great idea.
On a whim—or so he told himself—he looked up Antonia while he was out there. He wasn’t sure what to expect when he called her. He didn’t even know if Bree had mentioned him. Apparently, she had because Antonia agreed to meet him for coffee.
She was a lot like Bree in appearance and attitude, right down to the remnants of a Brooklyn accent. Antonia didn’t tell him where Bree was, but she did confirm that she and Bree kept in touch on a regular basis.
“Is she okay?” he asked. That was really the only thing that mattered.
“Yeah, she is. And, Nick? Don’t give up hope, okay?”
He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, b
ut he’d returned to Sanctuary, feeling a little better than when he’d left. If and when Bree decided to reach out again, he’d be there.
He found the others sitting together in the dining room, having what looked like an animated discussion. Conversation quieted when they spotted him.
“Hey, he’s back!” Doc called out in greeting.
“And he’s got a tan,” Heff pointed out.
“Did you have a good trip?” Sam asked, her eyes bright and twinkling.
It felt good to be home. To be among friends again. It helped ease some of the ache in his chest. “Yeah, I did. Glad to be back though. Anything interesting happen while I was away?”
The men’s faces went curiously blank.
“Nothing much,” Smoke answered.
“Yeah, you know, same old, same old.” That was from Mad Dog.
“The new guys arrive okay?”
“Yep. They’re all settled in. Good group, too. You can meet them tomorrow.”
Unlike the men, the women looked like they were struggling to keep a secret. The sense that he was missing something grew stronger when no one would make direct eye contact. No one, except Kate, who seemed even happier than usual. Cage chalked it up to marital bliss or the impending holidays. Or maybe Heff finally found his balls and set a date with Sandy.
“Right, well, I’m beat. I just stopped in to let you know I’m back. I’ll see you tomorrow, and you can catch me up.”
“No hurry,” Church said. “Take as much time as you need.”
What the hell? Do they think I’ve gone off the deep end? “I’m good.”
Cage left and started the hike back to his trailer, anxious to sleep in his own bed. The cold air felt good, more seasonably appropriate for the impending Christmas holiday.
Lights from within his trailer glowed out from the darkness. Cage didn’t think too much of it at first. He’d asked Doc to stop by and run the water occasionally to keep the pipes from freezing while he was away. But when he got closer, he swore he had seen a shadow pass behind one of the curtained windows.
He slowed his approach and listened intently. Church, Smoke, Heff, Mad Dog, and Doc had been in the dining room with their significant others. Who was in his place?
He circled the trailer and found several tracks, both human and canine. Perhaps Justin had been out, walking the dogs, and swung by just to check on things.
And then a dog barked. From inside his fucking trailer.
“What do you hear, boy?”
He stilled. He knew that voice. Recognized it instantly. Bree.
Cage opened the door and stepped into the bright warmth, certain his eyes were playing tricks on him when they landed on the woman inside. Bree was in his trailer. She turned from the counter, away from the coffeemaker that hadn’t been there when he left, her eyes growing wide when she saw him. Her hair was piled on top of her head. Black-rimmed glasses sat on her pert nose, a new but very cute addition. And she was wearing one of his shirts. She looked beautiful. Even more beautiful when her face lit up at the sight of him.
“You’re home.”
A low, menacing growl made him turn his attention away from Bree to the stocky pit bull mix who’d placed himself protectively between them. Cage recognized him as one of Kate’s rescue pups.
“Easy, Brutus,” Bree said. “This is his place, not yours.”
The dog looked at her, then sat down on his haunches, and stared at Cage, tongue hanging out the side.
“He followed me out here a few days ago and hasn’t wanted to leave,” Bree explained from too far away. “Kate said it was okay.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Waiting for you. I thought I’d surprise you.” She shrugged and brought her hands up near her shoulders, palms up and out. “But the surprise was on me. Matt told me that —”
The rest of what Church told her was lost as Cage dropped his duffel and closed the space between them. “You’re here.”
“Yes,” she said softly, turning her gaze up to meet his. “I’m here.”
Unable to wait another moment, he lowered his head and kissed her. The feel of her melting into him, of her arms reaching up around his neck and tangling in his hair were the best things he’d felt in months.
“For how long?” He kept his arms loosely around her.
“Well, I suppose that’s up to you.”
He grinned. “It’s going to be a while then.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Bree
This was it. The moment she’d been waiting for. She’d been all psyched up to see Nick and lay her heart bare when she arrived nearly a week earlier, only to discover that he had decided to take some time off. Where he’d gone, no one had seemed to know, but they’d assured her that he’d return and encouraged her to stay.
At first, she stayed in one of the rooms in the main building. During the day, she sat in the dining room and worked on her blog. It afforded her the opportunity to spend time with Kate, Sam, and Sandy, all of whom had been very warm and welcoming.
That was where Brutus attached himself to her, too. He just started following her around one day and became her companion on daily walks out to Nick’s trailer.
After a while, however, she started spending more time at Nick’s. She felt closer to him out there and managed to get more work done. Eventually, she just started sleeping there, too.
Each day, she grew both more comfortable and more apprehensive, and several times, she nearly chickened out. Then, she got the call from Toni that Nick had actually been out in San Diego, asking about her, and some of her bravery returned. Toni had gushed over him, saying it was the most romantic thing she’d ever seen and that any man who would go to such lengths just to ensure she was okay was worth keeping.
Bree couldn’t say for certain that she was the reason he’d gone out there, but if not, it was a hell of a coincidence, and Bree didn’t put much stock in random coincidences.
“Are you hungry? I was just about to heat up some stew. Kate’s been sending me back with food every day. There’s enough here to last us a week.” A rosy color tinted her cheeks at the implication that they wouldn’t need to go anywhere anytime soon.
He narrowed his eyes. “They knew.”
Her lips quirked. “Yes, of course they knew. Do you seriously think I would’ve been able to sneak in here without them knowing about it? I guess they didn’t give you a heads-up, huh?”
“No, they failed to mention that you were here.” He inhaled deeply and took a step back, looking as if it was difficult for him to do so. “Stew sounds good. I’m going to grab a shower. A cold one. Then, we can talk.”
Her heart soared even if she was a little disappointed. That steel rod against her hip had given her ideas. But he had been right. They should talk. Hopefully, after he heard what she had to say, she’d still be welcome, and the possibility of reunion sex would be back on the table.
She pulled the tub of stew from the refrigerator and heated it up in a pan on the stove. She was pouring it into two bowls when Nick emerged in sweatpants and a clean white men’s T-shirt. The slight blue tint to his skin suggested he hadn’t been kidding about the cold shower. She shivered in empathy as she handed him a bowl.
“Thanks.”
“Thank Kate. My cooking skills don’t extend beyond opening a can or popping something in the microwave.”
They sat down at the small kitchen table. Brutus curled up at her feet, and she knew the time had come.
“So, I guess you’re wondering why I’m here, huh?”
“It has crossed my mind, but mostly, I’m just glad you are.”
His words gave her the courage to continue. “When I look back on my life, I can see pivotal moments,” she began. “Times when everything changed. The night my father went to prison is one of them. Making the decision to leave New York and fly out to California is another. Since then, I set a path and thought I was finally working toward something, but then I came here and reali
zed that I was going the wrong way.”
He listened quietly as she told him about her self-realizations. How she’d been inspired by Sanctuary, particularly Kate, who was willing to fight for her own happiness.
“But why are you here?”
“Because you are,” she told him honestly. “I feel a connection with you I’ve never felt with anyone else. At first, I thought it was because we had similar pasts, and to some degree, I believe that’s true. But it’s more than that, and honestly, that terrified me because, as alike as we are, we also chose vastly different paths for ourselves.”
She paused, searching for the right words. “You were so much further along in your journey than I was. You’d accepted your past and moved forward, turning negatives into positives. You found your peace. Found your purpose. I still had to find mine, and the only way I could do that was to make a fresh start.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
She nodded. “I did. For the first time in my life, I’m happy. I’ve found my passion. I know what I want.”
“What do you want, Bree?”
“You, Nick. I want you. And I’m hoping you feel the same.” She inhaled and held her breath. “Do you?”
He stared at her for a moment, those brilliant green eyes reaching down into her soul. Then, his lips curled up into a sexy smile that ignited a burn deep in her core. “Is that a trick question?”
Her heart leaped and then began to pound furiously. “Does that mean we can give it a try? See where it goes?”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Cage
“Come here.” He patted his leg in invitation, thrilled when she wasted no time in straddling his lap.
It seemed too good to be true. Months after she’d driven away, the woman who’d been consuming his thoughts, heart, mind, and soul was telling him she wanted to give him—give them—a chance.
He captured her lips with his own, pouring everything that had been building up since the last time he’d kissed her into it. The best part? She was right there with him. Her hands tangled in his hair, and her full breasts pressed against his chest as her soft weight splayed over his now-rock-hard dick.
Nick UnCaged: Sanctuary, Book Four Page 22