Damn. I wish it weren’t so late, too.
“How was work tonight?” I ask.
“Boring but productive. How was family dinner?”
“Great except Brian and I got into a fight over his lack of ambition and the fact he hasn’t paid me back yet.”
“Want me to have a talk with him?” Cage asks, his tone dead serious.
“What?” I exclaim. “No. He doesn’t even know you. That would be weird.”
“I could beat him up instead,” he suggests.
I laugh because he’s joking. At least, I think he is. “That’s all right. I can handle my brother. Also, Laney sort of dropped I was seeing a new man, and my family got all nosy. Bottom line, it transpired into my mother demanding I invite you over for Thanksgiving dinner. So, there you have it… a formal invitation if you don’t already have plans. I mean… we really haven’t discussed it.”
Cage chuckles over my stammering. “I love that she invited me. I would absolutely come, but, as it stands, I would disappoint a whole lot of folks in North Carolina if I bailed on Thanksgiving this year when I already promised I’d visit.”
Even though I’m a bit disappointed he’s leaving, it also warms me that family is as important to him as it is to me. “Good for you,” I say softly. “You should be with your family during the holidays.”
“I’m going to miss you,” he says, but before I can even express the sentiment back, he continues. “And I just found out I have some traveling coming up they kind of threw on me at the last minute. I have to go to San Francisco from North Carolina for a trade show. The following week, it’s on to a seminar in Vegas.”
“They have seminars on how to sell cars?” I ask, intrigued. Trade show, I understood. Seminar, I did not.
“You’d be surprised at the things salespeople can learn.” He chuckles. “I’ll be back in Pittsburgh for a few days in between those trips. I’m hoping we can spend them together.”
My heart squeezes, both in dismay he’ll be gone, but also with hope because he still wants to see me.
“And I hope you won’t get sick of me calling and texting,” he adds, which causes my belly to flutter.
“As long as I can call and text you as well,” I counter.
“You better,” he says, his tone a little dark. “Or else when I get back, I might have to spank you.”
Of course, our conversation turns sexual. Cage insists on FaceTiming me, where he has me do some dirty things so he can watch. That is a first for me, but Cage promises it wouldn’t be the last while he is traveling.CHAPTER 10CageMy apartment at the Jameson building is small but well-appointed. When Kynan had them built and decorated, he put in nice hardwood floors and crown molding. The appliances are top of the line, and the furniture is plush. He even stocked the kitchen with pots, pans, plates, and utensils. The only thing I had to supply myself was linens and towels.
It’s an amazing perk to working here—I don’t pay rent or utilities—and is perfect for a single guy. On top of that, there’s a communal living area with a huge kitchen if we want to have group meals, which we often do. There’s a massive eighty-inch TV on the wall complete with Xbox and unlimited games, or if we want to watch a movie in style, there’s a small theater. The gym is state of the art. We even have our own soundproofed indoor gun range on the third floor.
Yeah… this place is perfect except for one thing.
It’s a part of my life I haven’t shared with Jaime, and I’m swimming in guilt and regret. The problem is, the deeper I’ve immersed myself in the lie, the more convinced I am there’s no way out of it.
If I tell her the truth now, she’ll dump my ass.
I continue to lie and she eventually learns the truth and still dumps my ass.
While logically, I know I’m probably wrong, my gut is telling me to just ride this out, enjoy my time with her, and brace for the fallout when it occurs. Besides that, a good part of me is still convinced I’m going to tire of this eventually. I know this because Jaime is not something I ever wanted or aspired to have.
I mean… while I have her, it’s something far better than I could have ever imagined, but it wasn’t on my bucket list of things to accomplish in my life.
A relationship.
With an amazing, smart, beautiful, and sexy woman.
Shit, I’m fucked.
As if to prove just how fucked I am, I nab my phone from my kitchen counter and shoot her off a quick text. I had stayed at her place last night, left her not more than two hours ago, yet I’m compelled to check in. How is your day going so far?