One

Chapter Twenty-Two

DADDY’S GOT A GUN

CAGE

“They’re going to love you. More so when they recognize you. My parents follow football.” Lake grimaced as she put pressure on the ‘loaner’ leg from Thaddeus.

She had three other legs packed but none that wouldn’t ‘kill’ to wear them with the burns on her leg. Her face didn’t lead me to believe the one from Thad was any better.

“Why don’t you forego the leg and just let me carry you?”

“Yeah, not happening.”

I retrieved our bags from the back of the rental car.

“My mom doesn’t know about my beach mishap, and I’d rather not tell her. She worries enough as is.”

“Sure. I get it. Because it’s going to be real easy to hide when your entire front side looks like you lost a battle with a dragon.”

“You’ve been putting aloe vera on me. I think it’s better.”

“I’m sure the look on your mom’s face will confirm it one way or another. And can I ask why you didn’t tell your parents who I am?”

She stopped at the stairs, looking at them like a mountain. I set the bags down and scooped her up in my arms.

“I had it.”

“Good to hear. In the meantime, I’ve got you.”

“Stop,” she whispered when we reached the door.

I didn’t set her down because there really wasn’t anything I liked more than having her in my arms.

“There’s a part of my past I didn’t tell you.”

“You’re adopted.”

She laughed. “No. At least I don’t think so.

It’s about you. When Jessica came home after your dad died, I wanted to ask her about you.

I wanted to know if you had a girlfriend.

I wanted to know your address, your phone number, just …

something. But I didn’t ask her because she and Luke were trying to leave the past exactly where it belonged.

I stalked you, but I couldn’t come after you.

I dreamed of you tracking me down, but you didn’t, so I accepted you didn’t want me the way I wanted you. ”

“You didn’t know shit, Miss I Live in New York.”

She rubbed my earlobe between her fingers. God, I loved when she played with my hair, feathered her hands over my face, or touched me in any way.

“My point is, if someone would have told me that we’d be here like this, I never would have believed them because you’ve been this completely out-of-reach dream since the day we met.

Today the dream is real, and that’s why I didn’t tell them your name, but I’ve been talking about you for months.

I think until this exact moment I didn’t wholly believe you’d be here. ”

“Oh, sweet baby girl, please tell me you two didn’t elope.” Lake’s mom held open the screen door.

We looked at pictures of her family on her phone when we stayed at the hotel in L.A. She thought I’d feel more comfortable if I could easily put names with faces. Her mom, Felicity, was easy to recognize with her chin-length black and gray hair, and her tall, slender frame.

“No, Mom, we didn’t get married.”

I eased her back on her feet.

“Oh, baby! What happened to you?”

Yeah, her skin was still really red.

“Minor sunburn. I was in L.A. with a low SPF. No biggie. It happens.”

“Are you sure you’re okay—Oh. Good. Lord! You’re Cage Monaghan. Lake, what’s he doing here?” Felicity smacked her hand against her chest. “Tom!?! Get in here. You’re never going to believe this.”

I grinned. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Jones.” I offered my hand.

She just stared at me with a wide-eyed look plastered to her face. “Felicity … please, and … w-what are you doing here?”

Lake took my hand and tugged me past her mom and into the foyer. “He’s with me, Mom, he’s my …” She glanced up at me as if she needed my permission to finish her introduction.

“Boyfriend?” I said to Lake.

She grinned, like my confirmation in front of her mom made her whole day. “Yes.” She continued to smile at me, even though her words were meant for her mom. “Cage Monaghan is my boyfriend. I didn’t tell you at the time, but he flew to Beijing just to kiss me.”

Felicity’s mouth fell agape as she shifted her gaze to me.

With a shrug, I grinned. “True story.”

“What’s the hubbub about? Whoa!” Her dad stopped the moment he saw Lake. “What the hell, baby girl?”

“A little sunburn, Dad. No big deal.”

His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, like he didn’t know if he should believe her. Of course he should not have, but I valued my life so I kept my mouth shut.

After the brief stare-down, which Lake won, her dad moved his attention to me. “Holy crap! You’re Minnesota’s quarterback … Monaghan. What … why are you here?”

Lake rolled her eyes. “Jeez … thanks, parents, for not making the assumption that Cage is my boyfriend. Heaven forbid the girl with the missing leg find herself a real catch.”

Tom pointed a finger at me while he met Lake’s angry face. “This isn’t a joke?”

I held out my hand. “It’s not a joke, Mr. Jones. I’m dating your daughter. I’m Cage, but I gather you already know that. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you.”

Tom shook my hand. A generous grin formed along his face beneath his short gray beard that matched the gray in his hair mixed with a reddish-blond. “Nice to meet you, Cage. Not gonna lie, we’re not Minnesota fans, but I’ve been a fan of yours since you played in college.”

Nodding, I chuckled. “Thanks. And I appreciate your honesty. I doubt there are many Minnesota fans around here.”

“I’m a fan.” Lake hugged my back.

I rested my hand over hers. “Thanks. That means so much coming from such a football enthusiast such as yourself, babe.”

Her parents laughed.

Tom winked at Lake. “If you’re still together when the season starts, please don’t waste good tickets on this one. It would make me sick to see her in the stands, completely bored and clueless. We’ve never been able to get her to watch football.”

“Ugh … really? Can we move on to a subject that doesn’t involve throwing your daughter under the bus? Dad, why don’t you help Cage bring in our bags.”

Before I went back outside, the most incredibly crazy thing happened. Felicity gently grabbed Lake’s ears and kissed her cheek then whispered loud enough for me to hear, “He’s quite the catch, baby girl, but so are you and don’t you ever forget that.”

Lake’s eyes bugged out as her lips parted and our gazes locked. My eyes matched hers, and I had to bite my grin because … Holy shit! Her mom tugged on her ears.

As soon as we brought in the luggage, Lake stared at the stairs to the second floor—another mountain to tackle. I could see it on her face.

“Something wrong, sweets?” Felicity asked.

“Um … I just …”

“You don’t still have trouble with the stairs do you? I thought you said Thad’s legs felt like the real thing, not so much as a hint of a limp, even on the stairs.”

“Yeah … the leg is good. I just got a little bit of the minor burn on my leg so anything rubbing against it is a bit uncomfortable.”

“I got her,” I said, taking the stairs two at a time to set our bags at the top before coming back down.

“This is embarrassing,” she mumbled as I lifted her in my arms.

“Your mom has your room ready, Lake,” her dad said. “Cage can sleep in the blue room.”

Their house. Their rules. I wasn’t going to question one word. That’s how military kids were raised. My spitfire of a girlfriend? She wasn’t as submissive to their rules.

“Pu-lease, Dad. Newsflash, I’m twenty-four. We’ve had sex.”

I closed my eyes, trying to pretend she did not just say that.

“Lake—” Her dad tried to speak.

“It’s true. Deal with it. We’ve had lots of sex in a lot of different places and posit—”

“Lake!” Felicity stifled her laugh.

Tom was to my back, so I couldn’t see him. I just prayed he didn’t own a gun.

“Hold on,” I mumbled through my embarrassment as I carried her upstairs.

“What?” She grinned as I plopped her on the bed in her pink room.

“‘Hey, Mom and Dad, meet Cage. He’s my boyfriend and just so you know … we’ve had sex in a lot of different places and positions?’ That’s what you were getting ready to say, right?”

She eased back, resting her hands on her belly. “Sorry, was some part of what I said inaccurate? Do you want me to list all the times, places, and positions we’ve had sex, because I can. I remember every single one.”

My cock was steel in my pants. Just talking about it left me so fucking hard, even if my brain still couldn’t get past her saying that to her parents. My cock? Nope. All it heard was her say the word sex and its x-ray vision saw her naked and beneath me.

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

I moved toward the window, checking out the view of the less seductive lake as I adjusted myself. “I’m not thinking about anything except you embarrassing me. What are the chances your dad owns a gun?”

“One hundred percent.” She giggled.

“Peachy. I’m not going to have sex with you here. First, you’re still in a lot of pain, even if you don’t want to admit it, and second … I don’t want to disrespect your parents.”

She sat up. “First, you don’t know my pain level, and second, my parents have gone skinny dipping in the lake with Jessica and Luke. My parents show an inappropriate amount of PDA all the time and just wait … if we stay long enough, you’ll hear them.”

I turned, leaning my back against the pink-painted wall. “Hear them?”

She wiggled her eyebrows.

“No.” I shook my head. She had to be making that up just to get a reaction out of me.

“It’s true. They like their music loud and their sex even louder.

If they still do their same routine, I can even lip-sync it for you.

They have to keep it quiet when they have paying guests staying here at the B&B, but when it’s just us kids, they don’t hide it.

I wonder if my dad shoves my mom’s panties in her mouth to keep her quiet or—”

“No!” I shook my head. “No. No. No.” I grimaced. “I don’t want to know this. I just met them. When I see them, I want to see the two beautiful people who made you. I don’t want to actually think of them ‘making you.’ And definitely not with your mom gagged by her own underwear.”