The whole thing needed more investigation.
He gave her a silent wave and then walked out into the dark night, hearing but ignoring the conversations of his motorcycle “brothers.”
All he could really hear was the sound of her breathing, escalated and rapid, as her lips had been against his.
He intended to hear that again as soon as possible.
* * *
Carrie didn’t see Cage that night. She went home and sat in a chair in her living room to think over what had happened and didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep there until she woke up the next morning to a loud knock on the door.
She sat up abruptly, wiping the sleep from her eyes and trying to remember what she’d been dreaming about.
She’d been thinking of her childhood and then had a bunch of nightmares after that. Something about the Aces trying to take her bar away. Willow begging her for help.
She rubbed her eyes, her head aching. Wake up, Carrie. That’s not going to happen. You won’t let it. You’re stronger than that.
Harvey’s gross, predatory grin popped into her mind, and she grimaced. Stronger than him, too.
She’d been worried about him harassing her almost every time they came into the club, but last night, she hadn’t had to. Cage had seen to that.
In the process, he’d broken her heart.
Groggy, she swung open the door without thinking and saw exactly the man she’d been thinking of standing on her porch.
Cage was still wearing his motorcycle leathers, the jacket with the patch, and dark jeans that fit in a way that made her mouth water.
But he was an outlaw now. He’d broken all his promises.
“What do you want?” she croaked out, wishing she’d left the door closed. She tried to shut it, but he caught it quickly with one huge, calloused hand and pried it open.
“What? I’m not allowed to come say hello to an old friend?” he asked, pushing his way into her house as she backed up.
She put her arms around her waist and looked around, embarrassed. “I wasn’t able to tidy up,” she said, pinning him with a slightly accusatory glare. “I didn’t know you were back.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Now you do,” he said lightly, walking into the living room and plopping himself on her couch, making it look suddenly smaller. The woman in her was glad he was there. The friend in her wanted to kick his ass.
“Are you going to explain yourself?” she asked, glaring down at him. “You’ve been gone ten years, and all that time, I assumed you were actually doing something with your life. That you were happy.”
In the early morning light, his serious blue eyes were shining like a deep ocean under moonlight. “Happy? How?”
She shrugged, feeling a blush moving up her shoulders. “I don’t know. A wife, kids? The army, then a steady job?”
“You got my letters,” he said, narrowing his eyes as he sat up. “And as for a wife, how could you say that?” His eyes twinkled as a smirk lifted one corner of his perfect mouth. “When I was twelve, I asked you to be my old lady.”
She gritted her teeth together. How dare he treat this so lightly? She hadn’t had a lot of hopes in her life, but he was one of those things she had hoped for. That he’d gotten out of this town for good, rather than taking after his dad and all of the other men who were ruining this town and making it necessary for people like her and Willow to try and step in and clean up their messes.
She walked to the door, heart pounding, and swung it open, gesturing for him to go out. “I told you I didn’t want you to be in the Aces,” she said. “No member of the Aces will ever be in my home.”
He finally dropped the light, humorous tone. His tight jaw ticked and his lip curled. “So things don’t work out exactly how you want and you think throwing a tantrum is the way to deal with it?”
She slammed the door, knowing he wasn’t going to leave until he damn well felt like it.
But wasn’t this how it had always been? He came and went as he wanted to, moving in and out of her life like storm clouds, unloading as he pleased.
She was done with that. “You don’t know anything about what I wanted or how things have worked out,” she said. “You haven’t been around to see. And now you’re going to walk back in, knowing damn well it isn’t what I wanted, and you’re going to kiss me in front of your damn MC and act like I’m some kind of property?” She shook her head and pointed a finger at him. “I’m nobody’s property, and you know damn well I’m not going to be anyone’s old lady.”
Though if there had ever been a man who tempted her to make an exception, it was Cage.