Chapter 22
Jules
I barely make it inside the cabin before frantic knocking comes at the door.
I consider ignoring it, but when it gets louder and more insistent, I sigh and move over to it.
Expecting Oak on the other side, I’m instead surprised by the sight of Cash.
I try not to let my disappointment show, but Cash clearly picks up on it.
“He’s being a big ole dumbass,” Cash offers. “Don’t let it get to you.”
“I’m fine,” I lie. “Did you need something?”
He studies my face, tracing it, and I’m not sure what he sees there.
I’m probably pale still, my body confused with the abrupt shift from arousal to fear.
I’m still shaking from my release, small aftershocks tracing through my body every now and then.
Coupled with the fear from that comment, I’ve never felt more frazzled.
“Will you come into town with me?” Cash asks suddenly.
I frown. “Into town?”
“Steele. Small town. Cute. There’s an ice cream shop with really good flavors.” He tilts his head. “Get dressed and grab Genie. We can go get some.”
Surprise fills me. “Are you . . . asking me out on a date?”
“Sure,” he shrugs. “Gonna take my two best girls for ice cream.”
Warmth fills my chest, chasing away the fear, and . . . yeah. I clearly don’t want it to be just business.
“What will Oak think of that?” I ask. “Or Sawyer?”
“It was Saw’s idea,” he admits, his eyes crinkling. “If he could drive, he’d have taken you himself. And Oak, well fuck what he thinks. I’m grown. I can make my own decisions.”
I hesitate. It would be a terrible idea to fuel the fire and fall for this man. Hell, it would be foolish to think of any of them like that. I can’t stay here. Every few months, I have to move, have to keep going. Even if this is the middle of nowhere . . .
The middle of nowhere . . .
Maybe . . . it could be a little safer here? Maybe that comment doesn’t know exactly where I am? Maybe it was all smoke. There’s no way my calls with Albie have been traced and we leave no evidence about where we are on anything.
Carefully, I nod. “I’ll get dressed. Give me five minutes.”
The bright smile that lights up his face chases away the final fear-induced adrenaline, but it doesn’t disappear completely. It sits in my chest, like a stone weighing on my heart. At any moment, it could crush it.
Cash’s truck is as black as his clothing.
Black paint, black leather seats, black rims. The only color is from the red stitching in the seats, and a small red bat on the headrests.
We’d put Genie’s baby seat in the back, a feat that had taken Cash ten minutes to achieve before I came in and fixed it properly.
He’d watched me so he would know how to do it next time.
That detail is what truly sold me on the man.
The city of Steele is as small and cute as he promised, made up of a few main streets and small shops with everything from coffee to saddles. The ice cream shop, called Cowboy Creamery, is just past the bank, waiting for us to find it.
“They make all their own ice cream flavors,” Cash explains as he pulls through the streets. “We supply the milk for them, so clearly, they’re top notch.”
He grins at me after the boast and it makes me smile. There’s just something about a man who takes pride in what he does. It doesn’t matter what it is. If he collected stamps and wanted to show them off to me, I’d sit there and listen to him explain each and every one.
He parks the large truck in one of the diagonal spots and turns to me.
“Wait there,” he instructs before he hops out and runs around to open my door. Once he helps me out, he reaches into the back for Genie and unstraps her.
That’s how I find myself inside a small ice cream shop, a cone of the best Rocky Road I’ve ever tasted in my hands, with a goth cowboy in the most charming town I’ve ever seen. Genie happily makes a mess of the bubblegum cup I got her, turning her face blue. Cash watches her with a grin.
“You’re gonna turn into a Smurf, girl,” he teases her. Genie only giggles and reaches for his pierced eyebrow again, trying to catch the metal. He jerks back and shakes his finger at her. “Oh no, you don’t, missy. I’m onto you.”
Watching him with her, joking, teasing, and generally being a chaotic goblin, does something to me. I was in trouble before. I’m in trouble now, but Cash doesn’t seem to mind.
It kind of seems like he’s in trouble with me.
When he looks up and meets my eyes, it takes everything in me to look away. This is too comfortable, and that’s more dangerous than anything else I’ve done. Especially with the threat of that comment earlier. I have to be on guard, ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
And why the fuck does that thought hurt so fucking badly?
Cash presses his ice cream to his nose and gasps in surprise. Genie giggles so hard, she nearly knocks her ice cream on the ground.
Fuck. What have I done?