“Yes.” He beamed, clearly pleased with the attention, as he slid his hand across the table towards her.
“Ooh. It’s beautiful,” she purred, tracing her finger over it and simultaneously kicking my shin again. I could now see his finger clearly, and she was right. He was our man. I picked up my phone, and on the pretence of sending a text, snapped a photo of his hand. How I was going to get one of his face without him noticing, I had no idea.
While I’d been trying to subtly take a photo, Winter’s finger was tracing along Petr’s knuckles. Both mine and his attention were laser focused on her movements, his with pleasure, and mine…all I knew was I wanted to break every fucking knuckle on his hand.
“What did you do here?” she asked softly, indicating the missing fingertip.
I glanced up at his face just in time to see a hard, dangerous glint flash in his eye, his whole body tensing.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” She withdrew her hand from his meekly, staring down at the table.
“It’s okay, my darling. You have no need to apologise. It was a…gardening accident.” He reached out and squeezed her hand, his thumb caressing hers, and she raised her eyes to meet his, brimming with faux sympathy.
I needed to break something. Preferably his face.
“You poor man. I’m so sorry. You know what, though? It makes you memorable.” She actually winked at him. “I’ll certainly remember the handsome man who so kindly took time out of his workday to answer my questions.”
He preened, pleased with her “handsome” compliment, leaning closer to her, and I clenched my jaw harder. “It’s always a pleasure to spend time with a beautiful woman such as yourself.” He studied her more closely. “You look very familiar. Have we met before?”
She gave a light laugh that I could tell was forced, waving a dismissive hand in the air. “I always get people asking that. I’ve been mistaken for a Hollywood actress and a singer before. I guess I just have one of those faces.”
“That must be it.” Thankfully, he didn’t pry any further. If he’d realised she looked like her mother, we would have been in serious trouble. Why hadn’t I thought of that possibility? She could be in real danger. Shit.
“Well, my brother and I must be going now.” She glanced at me, and her eyes widened as she took me in. “Um, thank you so much for your time, Petr. Could I trouble you for a quick selfie with me before I leave? I’d love to post it on my social media and make my friends jealous that I got to spend my Sunday morning with you.” She winked. A-fucking-gain.
“Of course, my darling.” They both stood, and I had to watch as he put his huge beefy arm around her, and she snapped a series of selfies, giggling and pouting while he lapped up all the attention. Then she kissed his cheek, swiped her hoodie from her seat, and strolled off with a wave, her ass swaying in her tight jeans.
I stormed out after her. “What—”
“Don’t. Say. A. Word,” she hissed through clenched teeth, pulling her hoodie on as she walked. “He might be watching.” Then, she added, “Barry,” and I fucking snapped.
“Get in the fucking car, and not another word out of your mouth.” I slammed the car into reverse and peeled out of the car park, spinning the wheels. Fuck. I needed to pull over somewhere to calm down.
A turn-off appeared to the left, and I threw the car into it, skidding around the corner. Winter fell into the door, unprepared.
“What the fuck, Caiden!” she shouted.
“I’m trying not to crash!” I roared at her, and she cowered back in her seat. Good.
There was an entrance to a field up ahead, and I slowed the car, pulling into the gap and bringing us to a stop. I released my death grip on the steering wheel, turned off the engine, and jumped out, slamming the door violently behind me.
TWENTY-FOUR
What should I do? And what exactly was his problem? I watched through the windscreen as he stood in the field, clenching and unclenching his fists. He ran a hand through his hair, and for a moment he looked so frustrated, so lost, I was up and out of the car before I knew what I was doing.
“Cade?”
“Don’t. I can’t.” He refused to look at me.
“Caiden.” I stepped right in front of him. “What’s going on? Talk to me, please?”
“I don’t fucking know, Winter.” His eyes met mine. “I wanted to kill him and punish you, with the way you were all over each other. Then I was angry because I thought you might be in danger. I just…I don’t know, alright!” He ended his sentence on an angry growl.
I stepped even closer and wound my arms around his waist. He stiffened but didn’t push me away.
“You realise I was acting back there, right? It literally made my skin crawl to touch him, thinking that he could be involved in whatever this is.”
He moved one of his hands around my back, gathering a handful of my hair and bringing his other hand up underneath my jaw to lift my chin, cupping my throat.