Chapter 30
Leah
The black garment bag was hanging off the mantel in the living room while I plotted how it could accidentally catch fire. The grate was closed, and the logs weren’t burning, but that wasn’t a high hurdle. Just a few careless moments, and it would be gone.
Unfortunately, so would the small fortune Cassie had probably spent on it. I’d also have to be cautious not to burn down the ranch, which was possible, since I was new to arson.
Although there was a handy-dandy little fire extinguisher just a few steps away in the kitchen.
But no. It would be wrong. Very, very wrong.
Kade walked in the door and glanced at my face, then the bag.
“You planning on burying me in that bag or something? Because that look is usually reserved for me.”
I jerked my attention to him. “No. That bag isn’t big enough for you. They sent the wrong one. You’re off the hook.”
“Ah, that’s why you’re mad.”
He was staring at me with that flirty smirk of his, like we were in on something together.
“Don’t look at me like that or I’ll cut you up and squeeze you in somehow,” I said, reminding myself that I couldn’t let myself get pulled into his little flirtations. He was unreliable at the best and a real bastard when he was in a mood. I needed to stop joking around with him like this. It made our relationship feel too good.
“So what’s in the bag that you’re so angry at?”
There wasn’t any point in not telling him. It wasn’t like it would be a secret. He’d see it when I wore it. “If you must know, it’s a dress from Cassie.”
“The dreaded bridesmaid dress? Is it a confectioner’s dream come true? All whipped frills and lace? Too many ruffles? Weird neck that chokes you?”
“No. It’s none of those things. I mean, it’s nice enough. It’s just… It’s, it’s— nice .” He kept staring at me, waiting for more details. “We really don’t need to talk about this.”
“Have to. I’m invested now.”
“You’re invested ? In my dress?” I said, raising my eyebrows.
“Yes.” Kade kept eyeing the bag, like he was hoping for x-ray vision.
“If you have to know, it’s just a lot. She knows Greg is coming and so she wanted me to stand out in the most obvious ways.”
“For Greg ? She wants you to lure that asshole back in?”
“Why do you care if Greg is coming?” He was really taking this truce, this fake-friend act, to the limits now. He was even getting more color in his face, as if truly insulted by the notion.
“ I don’t. But I’m stuck here, while he’s off living life, and Cassie wanted me to look my best to stick it to him. The gesture and thought is appreciated, but I think this dress might be a little too much sticking it to him for me. What I care about is everyone on the ranch thinking I’m a hussy.”
He walked over to the bag and unzipped it before I could stop him.
There it was. The Jessica Rabbit dress. Only difference was it was black instead of red.
“It’s pretty,” he said, like a man not used to looking at or caring about fashion. He ran a hand over the slightly shimmering fabric. “And shiny.”
“Oh, it’s shiny, all right. Wait until you see it on. I look like a desperado. I’m trying to figure out how to return it without pissing off the only friend I have left. It’s not like I can spare any at this point. Being a criminal tends to alienate the more upstanding individuals in your circle.” I walked over to the bag, zipping it back up.
“You’re very likeable.”
“I might’ve been, but not anymore. Do you realize what painting I got caught with? It was a historic masterpiece stolen during World War II from a prominent Jewish family. That’s not something you can bounce back from. It sort of sticks with you for life.”
“How did you manage to get your hands on such an old and valuable painting like that?”
I stiffened for a split second before catching myself and falling into calm movements again. “It just fell into my lap.”
It was one of the first times I’d openly discussed the painting with him, and his focus narrowed in. Kade’s antenna went up way too fast and accurately. I felt like I’d just stepped out on a frozen lake on a sunny spring day.
“Come on, you have to give me more than that. It’s not like you can get tried again.”
“I’m sure you’ll understand if I don’t want to discuss it when I’ve got bigger issues coming, like looking like a hussy at this wedding.”
“No one is going to think you’re a hussy.” He brushed a loose hair away from my cheek, tucking it behind my ear.
“What was that?” I asked.
“What?” he asked, shrugging. “You had hair about to go in your eye.”
I wasn’t going to fall for this man, not again. Last time I’d caught feelings for him he’d crushed them under his heel like a dirty cigarette butt.
“You don’t have to lay the act on quite so thick,” I said.
“What act?” There was pure innocence in his eyes.
“The nice act. I can’t take it anymore. I’d rather you just be an asshole. It’s easier.”
“What if I don’t want to be?” he asked, smirking.
“You’ll get the urge again.” I grabbed the tin of cookies that had come with the dress off the mantel. This was a day that definitely called for cookies.
“What do you have?” He tilted his head back, as if the butter in the shortbread cookies was luring him like a candy-crazed bloodhound.
“They’re mine,” I said.
“But what are they?”
“You know what they are. They’re cookies from Cassie, and I’m not sharing,” I said, hugging the tin to my chest.
“You know how I feel about shortbread cookies. You’re really going to eat that entire container yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Give me a cookie.”
“No. The note explicitly said not to share with you.”
“Cassie wrote a note telling you not to share with me?”
“Technically the note said ‘eat the whole tin yourself,’ but that means the same thing.”
I put the lid on the tin, keeping it close.
“We’re supposed to have a truce. This is not truce-like behavior. I told you there would be consequences if you broke the truce.”
“You are not getting my cookies,” I said, backing up.
“Then you suffer the consequences.”
I took off around the couch, but he lunged over it. He grabbed me around the waist, bringing me to the floor with him as he straddled me and started tickling me.
“Stop,” I said in between laughing. “I’ll give you cookies.”
“Nope, now I want more.” His body was flush on top of mine, one cookie still in my grasp. He grabbed my wrist and brought the fisted cookie to his mouth.
His gaze was on my lips. He was going to kiss me and I wanted him to, whether it was sane or not. I needed him to.
His head dipped lower, his mouth feathering over mine as our lips touched. It morphed from something soft and light to a desperate need in less than a second. His hands threaded into my hair as I arched against him.
“Kade?” Elijah called as he walked into the living room.
We jumped apart from where we’d been entangled on the floor on the other side of the couch.
Elijah immediately turned around. “Oh shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t see anything. I promise. Nothing at all.” The door closed a second later.
Kade rolled back and then stiffened when he looked at me. “Are you all right?”
Elijah had seen us kissing. Nothing was all right.
I shook my head, afraid to speak because I knew my voice would crack.
“I’ll go buy you more cookies. I’ll buy you as many cookies as you want. Just don’t cry.” He sounded like he were terrified a tear might hit my cheek.
“I’m not crying,” I said, even though my voice was shaking.
“What’s wrong?” His hand shifted to cup my face. “Why are you upset?”
“What if he talks?” I said.
“Elijah isn’t like that, but I’ll go talk to him and make sure he understands.” Kade’s face lost all its softness.
He got up, pulling me up with him before taking off after Elijah.
How could I have been so foolish? This was my life at stake, prison. And for what? To kiss a man who’d already turned his back on me once? I couldn’t be this foolish.