Page 13 of Caged
“Gina! I’m taking my break now!” I called to the woman behind the bar as I tugged Skye through the bar and out to the courtyard.
As soon as we were alone, I rounded on her. “By any chance have you been fucking with my ex-boyfriend?”
Her eyes bounced between mine. “How mad will you be if I say yes?”
Skye
“Out with it, Skye. Tell me everything.”
I’d never seen this bossy side of Janie, it was kind of cute. Not that I would tell her that. I wasn’t a total idiot.
“Did you get Jonathan fired, get his truck repossessed, his cat taken away, and his bank account drained?”
My investigator had been busy. It sounded like he’d made good progress.
“I am unable to do any of those things,” I answered carefully. “I’m a researcher.”
Janie took a deep breath. “You’re rich, aren’t you?”
I frowned at her change in subject. “I am comfortably wealthy, yes.”
“Did you hire someone to mess with Jonathan?” she asked.
“Oh. Yes. I did do that.”
There was no sense in lying. Clearly Janie had figured out I was behind her ex-boyfriend’s string of bad luck, and even if I didn’t suck at subterfuge, I didn’t want to lie to her. She was too important to me.
“What else do you have planned?” She seemed more curious than angry right now.
“I require plausible deniability,” I told her, which was exactly what I’d told the firm that I’d hired to dig up dirt on the asshole who’d hurt my woman. As I suspected, there was a lot of it. I’d left it to the firm’s discretion how to handle things, and I had to admit, I was impressed with their thoroughness.
“You said you would ruin him, and you did,” she mused, almost as if she was talking to herself. “I can’t believe you did that.”
I opened my mouth to ask how angry she was, but she grabbed my shoulders, whipped me around, and slammed mybody into the brick wall that was now behind me. Before I processed what was happening, Janie crowded up against me, took my cheeks in her hands, and pressed her lips against mine. Her kiss was rough and claiming and everything in my body thrilled at the sensation.
My arms snaked around her waist, pulling her even closer to me as she ground her body against mine. I relaxed against the wall, happy to let Janie take the lead. Our tongues tangled as we dry humped each other against the wall, every part of me humming with excitement.
A door opened somewhere else in the courtyard, and we pulled apart, breathing heavily.
Janie looked up at me, her face soft.
“I can’t condone what you did,” she said quietly. “But I have to admit it feels good to have someone in my corner for a change.”
Everything inside me breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ll be in your corner forever,” I told her. “I like you Janie, more than I’ve liked anyone before. But I understand that you’re coming out of a bad relationship and haven’t had experience dating women, so we’ll go slow. If you’ll just agree to give me a chance?”
I’d gone after Janie’s ex because I cared about her, not because I wanted to manipulate her into dating me. I wanted to be clear the choice was hers. She’d already been in a relationship where someone had taken away her power.
Janie didn’t hesitate. “I’ll give you a chance, Skye, but I can’t make any promises about the future.”
“Understood. How about we spend some time getting to know each other? I have to go out of town tomorrow for a family thing, but I’ll be back next Thursday. Maybe we could...text?”
“Texting sounds good,” she said, pulling out her phone. “What’s your number?”
After she’d keyed in my number, I decided to be bold. “How about you come to the club with me next Friday after I get back, then we could have dinner somewhere after our scene, if that works for you?”
I couldn’t quite interpret her expression, but I felt a profound sense of relief when she nodded.
