by K Harris
“Why would I have anything against you claiming your inheritance and moving back to your hometown? You make me sound like a bully.”
“Right, I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly.” Maybe the move back was more of an inconvenience for me than him. Here I thought he may be affected by this move but obviously not.
“Congratulations on your upcoming accomplishments, I know you will do great.”
“Thanks.”
“How do Torrent and DT feel about you moving?”
“My dad is the one who talked me into claiming it and doing what I have been dreaming about. Torrent does not know the full details as of yet. He only thinks that I am considering it.”
“I’m sure he just wants you to be happy so he will be straight either way.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. He is enjoying this big brother thing. Even though he already had two younger siblings, I was like that missing link. He saved just enough for me.”
“Don’t I know it,” he said more to himself than to me.
“Wait, he didn’t confront you or anything did he?”
“It was the big brotherly thing to do.”
“Y’all didn’t get into it or anything did you? This won’t make your partnership strained, will it?”
“Nah, we came to an understanding. No hard feelings on either part, trust me.”
From that point, we didn’t talk about anything else. The silence was actually welcoming because of the thoughts in my head. What was it about Cage that drew me in like a bee to honey? Would I forever be a fool in love where he is concerned? How did you get over the one person your entire body, soul, and spirit calls out for? When the feelings are not returned, it should be a done deal but obviously, with me, that wasn’t the case.
Roughly two hours and one-stop for gas later, we finally arrived at the meeting spot. The guys made arrangements to meet her uncle and mother at a remote location outside of Gadsden Alabama. This way the trip was cut down the middle for both parties. Not only did it make the drive better for both, but there were also no witnesses as we made the exchange. There were no traffic cameras where we met being right outside of city limits. The story they could tell anyone who cared to ask, Jalissa found a way to escape from her captors and was taken in by some strangers who wanted to remain nameless. When she showed up on their doorstep battered and bruised, they discreetly sought medical attention after cleaning her up. The lack of information that they provide will upset the authorities of course and the nosey people at the hospital but with no proof of anything else, they could suck one. If they had done their job, maybe they would have been the ones to rescue her.
The tearful reunion and simmering anger that they didn’t bother suppressing were overshadowed by relief. Though it was apparent that she had gone through a great ordeal, the fact that she was reunited with them period was reason enough for a small celebration. Whereas Cage stood firm and gave the uncle a brief explanation of her whereabouts, I waited almost awkwardly near the van. Even though I didn’t think I did anything worthy of her gratitude, the mother made it a point to hug and thank me. When they reaffirmed their vow of silence, we hit the highway going in two different directions.
An hour into the drive, I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew we were pulling up to the compound. That was not a part of the plan and at that moment, I should have insisted on driving. This was the last place that I needed to be. Dammit to hell, I had to fall asleep. Wondering would it be too much trouble to ask him to take me to the motel outside of town. He had been driving for quite some time so there was no doubt in my mind that he was tired. Then again, thinking back – he probably wasn’t thinking about me as much as I thought about him. Besides the awkward moment of earlier, there has been no sign that he was interested in me.
‘I could do this, no problem.’ I said to myself.
Chapter 8
Dez
“This is unexpected,” Wood announced when we walked into the common area. Other members turned at his acknowledgment and a look of wonderment took over their facial features.
“Don’t make this more awkward than it is, please,” I grumbled.
“Awkward? No, you two arriving together after a mission isn’t a cause for pause at all.” Black joked.
“Ha, you are so funny.”
“Just teasing you sweetheart, how long are you here for this time?” He asked.
“I gotta get back tomorrow for sure.”
“Girl, you are like popcorn with all of this quick pop in and out.” Reno joked.
“I’m sorry. I have homework and an online assignment that I need to make up as soon as I get home.”
“College girl problems, I hear you.”
“Fill them in on your decision and put these old dudes out of their miseries.” Cage suggested.
“Well, I was given ownership of the diner, whatever that is left of it. With the meager funds that I have, I plan to renovate it and build on the land next to it. The plan is to build a bakery on the new lot and keep the diner in its original spot.”
“Shit, that’s all I need to hear; you are moving back home.” Black said.
“About damn time,” Wood said.
“I missed you too, Wood.” He only gave me a quick head nod that I interpreted as back at you.
“Wood, the only one that you missed,” Wolf questioned.
“You know better. What’s up big head?” I gave him a hug just as I did everyone else that was in attendance.
“Did I hear something about you moving back?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Actually, Black I need to talk business with you before I can accurately answer that.”
“Name it and I got you,” he curtly stated.
“I haven’t even asked you anything yet.” I frowned.
“Whatever you need Dez, I gotcha sweetheart. That place looks like ground zero of a war zone or natural disaster. Who else were you thinking about hiring to fix that place up?” He raised a brow in a daring fashion.
“Guilty, I was going to sit down and talk to you about it.”
“All I need is for you to get me a list of must-haves and I will create a blueprint to look over.”
“I have something better, would a sketch of the design that I want work?” I asked hopefully.
“You already have a sketch?”
“While I’m not an artist, this will give you a general idea of what I want.” I said before I pulled my sketch pad from my messenger bag. Flipping a few pages, I arrived at the one I wanted to show Black. When I looked up there were several pairs of eyes waiting to catch a glimpse.
“This is good work; you would do good as an interior designer or you could always sketch for my company if you ever get tired of the food industry.”
“I will stick to designing cakes and baking goods.”
“Now, you were saying something about the land next to the diner.”
“Yeah, I haven’t been able to locate who owns the property or who I need to speak with in order to obtain it.”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head over that, let uncle Black take care of that for you.”
“Are you serious? That would be great!” I was beyond elated. That took a huge chunk of stress off my shoulders. Finding the owners of that property has been a bitch. The realtor that lived a town over, I didn’t too much care for. We were classmates and the bitch wore that name proudly.
“Cage,” I heard someone whine his name like a cat in heat. It took all that I am to hold down the vomit that wanted to spew everywhere.
“So, what timeframe are you shooting for?” Black interrupted my internal display of hatred towards Candie’s nasty ass.
“Tomorrow,” Wood smirked. That successfully snapped me out of the trance.
“Uh, that isn’t going to happen.” I laughed.
“Why not?” Several deep voices inquired.
“Hell, I don’t know but isn’t that kind of short notice to
get your workers ready.” I asked.
“You are family sweetheart, you come first. Why haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“I don’t want you to put off other projects for me, that is also a business and I would never demand any special privileges or accept them. We still haven’t discussed figures anyway.”
“I feel you and I appreciate your logical business thinking. The remaining projects that we have are almost finished. The fall and winter months are the slowest because no one wants to delay labor just in case of inclement weather.”
“My dad was telling me something about that, so this will help your company as well.”
“Yes, it will, this way I won’t have to lay any of my guys off or constantly search for odd jobs for them to sustain their households.”
“Great, it’s a win-win situation. After these, then pencil me in to get started.” I spoke with glee for my vision was at the beginning stages. “Now how much?”
“You pay for the materials and labor for my workers, we will be square.”
“Basically, the entire structure is screwed so a teardown is necessary. If not, I would rather start off from scratch. So, this is what I propose. The cost of complete removal of waste and clean up, leaving only the foundation – I suppose. Then brand new structure, whatever you pay your crew and a twenty percent markup.”
“Have you already been consulting with another contractor? This sounds like something that has been rehearsed,” Black stated like he was appalled.
“Never did I ever think of having anyone do this for me, only you. But I did my research because I wanted to be sure I had the appropriate funds before beginning. This is going into action without a loan from the bank, thankfully. If I can help it, I won’t be consulting with them on anything else. To find out that I didn’t even owe them anything was all the good news that I needed.” When I said that statement aloud, I had to stop for a moment to collect my thoughts. If what Cage said was, in fact, true about William almost losing the diner, then how is there a zero balance at the bank. Who paid off the debt?
A quick turn in the last direction that I saw Cage, had me staring at an empty spot. Neither he nor Candie stood there anymore. The worst assumptions instantly jumped into the forefront of my mind saddened me. Did he only bring me back here to talk business with Black and the fellas? Was his libido talking to him and he needed a top off? Too many scenarios and so little answers. It was becoming physically draining to try and keep up with my emotions pertaining to Cage.
“In his office,” Wood confidently stated. Swinging around to face him, he met me with one of his rare smirks.
“And where did Candie’s ass go?” Black asked like he could give a fuck.
“She stormed out a while ago,” Wolf added his two cents.
“Messy ass bikers,” I grumbled and walked in the direction of his office. The bark of laughter that followed me caused me to smile inwardly. We have come a long way from the awkward moments and small talk of the past.
“Come in,” I heard him clearly through the thick door. “What’s up?”
“Nothing, I just wanted to let you know that I was gonna call Syd and stay the night with her.”
“Why would you do that? Your room is still the same as you left it, clothes and all.”
“You mean your guest room; do you think that’s wise?”
“We just shared a bed in the wee hours of the morning,” he recalled how we woke up this morning. “I think sharing an apartment will be the least of your worries.”
“Speak for yourself,” I shook my head to clear the lust fog. This man was going to be the death of me if I didn’t get my shit together where he is concerned.
“I didn’t catch that,” he smoothly lied. Leaning back in the huge office chair, the look he gave me let me know he heard exactly what I said and knew what I meant. “Your flight is set for bright and early in the morning. That would be a lot of unnecessary driving to come to pick you up from Syd’s when I can just walk through the apartment. In order to get you to the airport to catch your flight on time, we need to leave here no later than six.” When he put it like that, I didn’t want to inconvenience Syd with that amount of trouble. She will have just closed the bar and gotten into bed. The closest airport was in Nashville.
“I see your point, but you don’t have to be so smug about it.”
“Smug, me? Never,” he grinned. Shit, I think my womb just quivered. It was rare to catch Cage in any other mood besides indifferent.
“Anyway, I wonder how Jalissa is fairing. Even being back with her family, the whole ordeal had to be awfully scary and no doubt it’s going to be difficult to overcome.”
“I spoke with her uncle on the private line and there was some eternal damage. Unfortunately, her reproductive organs were severely damaged by some bacteria that set up and caused an infection. She was still in surgery when I spoke with him, but he just wanted to thank us again for what we did. Sadly, I hate that we couldn’t do more.”
“That is so sad but what you all did was more than the police ever tried to do. You saved that girl's life, that is a huge accomplishment.”
“I know but if we had gotten there sooner, maybe.” He shrugged.
“How about if people weren’t so sick as to kidnap her, to begin with? Cage there are too many variables in playing the what-if game, you made it when you did and that is more than enough.”
“Silence.”
“While we are on the subject of rescue, shouldn’t you be resting? You had no sleep leading up to the rescue, none during the drive to Mississippi, and I’m sure you didn’t sleep when we laid down.” I fought off the warm fuzzy feeling of waking up with him earlier. “Then you plan to drive me to Nashville, you need to rest.”
“Are you offering to help me get some sleep?” Cage asked and it truly stole the breath from my body. “Breathe Dez, I was kidding.”
“Still sensitive Cage,” I rolled my eyes at his failed joke. It damn sure hit its mark if he meant it as a jab. A sad joke that definitely didn’t gain a laugh in return. Taking the stairs to his apartment, I was startled when I turned around and he was standing behind me.
“Your big ass should wear a bell unless you are on a mission.” I shot at him for scaring me.
“What fun would that be?” He asked as he closed the door behind him.
“Silence.” Damn treacherous body. As I tried to remain angry with his mere presence, all I really wanted to do was climb his big ass like a tree. “Do you have anything to drink?” I asked gripping my parched throat.
“Thirsty,” he dumbly questioned. Instead of answering, I chose to clear my throat uncomfortably. “Anything that you need is in the fridge. If you want something stronger, you already know where to find it.”
“Water is fine,” I said hurriedly before grabbing it from the fridge and walked towards the bedroom. “Goodnight,” I threw over my shoulder not giving a damn if he returned the greeting or not.
All I knew was that I needed to put some space between me and him. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to make a fool out of myself. Throwing myself at him did not sound like the best plan but dammit to hell if my panties weren’t moist. Why did he choose now to have a sense of humor, however small it seemed? It felt like he was actually flirting with me a little bit but then again that may have been my obsession with him. Damn, even to my own mind that sounded very stalkerish. Pining over a man that didn’t want me, who the hell does that shit?
~
An hour later and I still couldn’t drift off to sleep. Knowing that he was so close but still being too far caused conflicting emotions to consume me. On the one hand, I wanted him to want me and on the other, I wanted to hate his gotdamn guts. My trusty nightstand man was tucked away in my apartment while I was a million miles away with the man, I craved like lungs needed oxygen. Just as I dozed off, I had a small vision of being fucked into submission by the confusing man. ‘And men complain about women being complex,’ I surmised.
&nbs
p; After a quick shower to rinse away the day, I practically sprinted back to this bedroom praying that sleep would follow. That never happened and sexual frustration was going to drive me berserk. It would be asinine to approach him when I’m working so hard to get over him. Shit, even I didn’t believe that thought. What have I honestly done to get over Cage besides ignore the pain that he caused? Hell, I wasn’t even dating. From what I guessed; it was just going to take some time. What I did know, constantly holding out hope that things would change had to stop.
No matter how much I actually denied that fact, there was a small part of me that wanted to believe that Cage felt something for me other than lust. Even if it were true, the way he hurt me should have been enough to not want anything from him. In due season, maybe a friendship wouldn’t be such a bad thing but anything more, needed to be erased from my brain cells and scrubbed from my heart. Too many people quote ‘in order to get over one man, is to get under a new one.’ How the hell was I supposed to do that without projecting those leftover feelings onto the next person?
For example, fine ass Ethan flirts like I’m the best thing invented since sliced bread, at least that is what DT said. In another lifetime, I would give him a test drive to see if he can eat the box like he often claims. That tall lean body full of tatts, his slicked-back hair, and gorgeous green eyes would win fuckable points from probably every woman that comes in contact with him. He oozed sexuality and made women thankful to gain his attention. For some dumb reason, every time I tried to fantasize about him as anything other than a friend a vision of Cage would fuck it all up.
Right now, all I wanted was sleep so my stress level needed to be lowered substantially. Tucking my tale and seeking Cage out to seduce him was not going to happen. The only other option was to rub myself into a tired mess in hopes that sleep claims me. With one hand between my thighs, the other had a tight grip on my aching breast. Attempting to let my mind wander to no man’s land, I came to an abrupt stop at a shirtless Cage. Imaginary Cage licked his lips in encouragement, and I didn’t disappoint him in going to work bringing me closer to release.