Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Kate
Guilt crawls up my skin as I stand outside Tin Anchor.
It’s not because I rushed out of Palla on Fifth last night to see Tilly.
I needed her romantic view of what could be between Gage and me. We spent more than an hour talking about how the kiss made me feel.
It was a flashback to college when I raced over to Mariah Larson’s dorm room to tell her that I’d kissed Gage Burke.
I’ll never forget the flicker of disappointment on my friend’s face before she screamed in delight.
Six months later I found out that Mariah wanted him.
Tilly doesn’t want Gage. Last night, it was all about how I felt.
When I was with Tilly at a bar down the street from Premier Pet Care, I confessed that the kiss had curled my toes and sparked something that I haven’t felt in five years.
When I went home, my hand dove into my panties and I got off to the memory of Gage inside of me.
In my imagination, his thrusts were strong and wild. He breathed heavy on my neck, whispering that he loved how good I felt.
This morning, I swore to myself that I’d forget the kiss ever happened.
By noon, I was dreaming about another one.
It’s eight p.m. now and I’m wondering why the hell I’m standing on this sidewalk and not at home, thinking about anything but my ex-fiancé and how incredible it feels to kiss him.
I shouldn’t have touched myself last night. I definitely shouldn’t have done it with images of Gage’s naked body dancing in my mind.
“Katie?”
The deep timbre of Gage’s voice shoots right to my core. I close my eyes to ward off the memory of him growling out my name when I had his cock in my mouth for the first time years ago.
I thought he was inside the bar, but he’s standing behind me.
I swipe a hand over my forehead and turn to face him.
Dammit.
The man can make anything look good, especially a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt and a panty-dropping smile.
I inch my hand over my hip to make sure my lace panties are still in place under my pink dress.
“Gage,” I say his name to give myself a second to find some composure.
“It’s good to see you.” His gaze drops to the front of my wrap dress.
I know my nipples have hardened, even though the temperature is hovering around eighty degrees.
I don’t repeat the sentiment to him because I know he’ll comment about how he can tell that I’m happy to see him.
I need to invest in something other than thin lace bras.
“Can I make you a drink?” He gestures to the door of Tin Anchor. “A dirty martini with two olives?”
I tug on the silver hoop earring in my left ear. “I came to say that the kiss was a mistake.”
His lips twist back into a smile. “No, you didn’t.”
Gage always wore arrogance like a badge. Obviously, that hasn’t changed.
“I did.” I drop my hands to my hips. “We shouldn’t have kissed.”
He takes a measured step closer to me. “We should kiss again.”
We should.
I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from saying that.
“I’ll make you a drink and we’ll talk.” He gestures to the handle on the door. “You didn’t come here because you felt nothing last night.”
“One drink,” I reply because I won’t give any more weight to his words about what I did or didn’t feel.
He moves past me to yank open the door to his bar. “One drink and we’ll go from there.”
Two martinis later and my self-control has disappeared.
I don’t try to hide the fact that I’m staring at Gage’s muscular arms as he prepares a tray of drinks for a female server who can’t take her eyes off of him.
Jealousy charges through me like a herd of wild horses.
I have no claim on the man.
He hasn’t been mine in five years.
He can flirt with anyone, kiss anyone, fuck anyone.
I scowl at the thought of him taking the server to his apartment and devouring her in his bed.
He looks in my direction, his gaze catching mine.
We haven’t had a chance to talk yet. He took over for Zeke when we first arrived and since there’s a baseball game on TV tonight, the bar is packed.
I’ve been nursing my drinks and texting my mom. She still has no idea that Gage has popped back into my life.
I was tempted to confront her and my dad about why they didn’t tell me that Gage reached out after our broken engagement, but it’s water under the bridge at this point.
They did what they thought was best for me at the time. They were trying to help me navigate my grief in the best way they knew how.
Gage approaches me with a white bar towel in his hands. “You have that look on your face.”
I run my fingers over my top lip. “What look?”
“You’re jealous.”
What the hell?
“I haven’t slept with her. I won’t be sleeping with her.”
“With who?” I ask in my best, slightly tipsy but nonchalant voice.
It comes out at a much higher pitch than I intended.
“Callie. She’s Zeke’s sister. She comes in a few times a week to help out.” He rests both of his forearms on the bar and leans closer to me.
I tap a finger to my forehead. “I’ll make a note of that right here.”
A smile floats over his mouth. “Are you drunk?”
A giggle bubbles out of me, which prompts a laugh from him.
His gaze narrows. “Did you eat anything tonight?”
I wiggle two fingers in the air. “I had two chocolate chip cookies before I came here. I keep the package in my desk drawer.”
My hand jumps to cover my mouth. What the actual fuck is wrong with me? Why would I confess that?
His full lips curve up into a sly grin. “You used to hide the package in the bottom drawer of your nightstand.”
“You knew about that?”
“The crumbs in the bed and the chocolate at the corner of your mouth were dead giveaways.” He reaches up to swipe the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “I loved that you thought you could keep a secret from me. You never could, Katie.”
I could. I did.
“Do you still like your pizza with extra pepperoni?” He glances at the door of the bar as a group of people crowd in. “The place across the street makes a good slice. I’ll run and get you a couple.”
I shake my head. “I have leftover pizza at home. I’ll go have that.”
A sudden wave of dizziness hits me as I slide off the bar stool. I reach forward to steady myself, but it’s his hand I catch, not the edge of the bar.
“Sit,” he says, squeezing my hand. “I’ll get Callie to tend bar. I’m taking you home.”
I drop his hand and lower myself back onto the stool.
There’s no harm in him taking me home if I don’t invite him up to my apartment.
I tell myself that as he flashes me a killer smile. I look away, vowing that I’ll never kiss him again even though I know it’s a lie.