Free Me (Caged Hearts Book 1) (7 page)

Chapter 17

Exhaustion hit Kait like a brick wall as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep away her sorrow. She was tired of Jasper plaguing her every waking thought. At least when she closed her eyes and slept she’d be able to get some respite from him.

Anna’s words were still ringing in her ears. Was second fiddle to his career ever going to be enough for Kait? Maybe she needed to count her losses and just walk away from him now. Checking her voicemail as she walked, she noticed with a heavy heart that she’d still not heard from Jasper. Clearly walking away from what they had was proving much easier for him.

Holding back tears, Kait pushed open the door to her floor and began walking towards her apartment. The hallways were blissfully empty. She turned a corner, and her door came in to view but there was something waiting outside it. Kait froze as she clocked the large bouquet of flowers bound together in a purple bow. They were propped up outside her door.

With her heart beating excitedly in her chest Kait headed to her door, scooped up the flowers and let herself inside. The heady floral scent engulfed her senses as she pushed her way in to her apartment and flicked on the lights. The bouquet was made up of roses, lilies, and carnations; it was beautiful. Kait was so busy admiring it that she also didn’t notice the white card placed in the center. Reaching for it, she walked over to the kitchenette area and turned on the faucet. The flowers might have been out in the corridor for quite some time and would be in desperate need of water.

Carefully she placed the flowers in the sink and searched for a vase. She rarely had fresh flowers in her apartment, but eventually she found a glass vase which had once belonged to her grandmother. She filled it with clear, cool water and then took a moment to drop the flowers inside, taking care to fan them out to give the flora their full, beautiful effect.

Then she looked down at the white card. She opened the small envelope and slid out a thick white piece of card on which a note had been handwritten.

I’ve not stopped thinking about you all day. Meet me tomorrow night?

J

Xxx

Kait re-read the note at least a dozen times. It was from Jasper. She suddenly felt giddy with excitement. So he had been thinking about her just as much as she’d been thinking about him. Her face ached from smiling so much as she fingered the card and admired her flowers. He wanted to see her again. He wanted to see her the following night. This had to mean something; this had to mean that he wanted them to become serious.

Reaching for her phone, Kait considered calling Anna and gushing to her about the bouquet, but her friend was probably still driving home as she lived further out of town than Kait did. Thoughtfully biting her lip, Kait called up Jasper’s contact details. She quickly typed out a message and pressed send before she had chance to rethink it.

Thanks so much for the flowers they are beautiful.

Tomorrow night sounds good.

Kait xx

She was careful to only put two kisses at the end of her message as opposed to his three. After all, she didn’t want to appear too keen. Only seconds later, her phone chirped as Jasper’s response came in.

Can’t wait

Xxx

Kait beamed at the message, wanting to fully commit it to memory. He did like her. He did feel that something wonderful was developing between them. Suddenly Kait was no longer exhausted, she was wide awake and filled with giddy excitement over seeing Jasper again in less than twenty four hours.

Chapter 18

Kait had squeezed in to her favourite navy dress and curled her hair so that it fell in angelic waves down her back. She smelt of her favourite vanilla perfume and her lips were stained a deep red courtesy of her newly purchased lipstick. She was determined that her evening with Jasper would be perfect. They were going out for dinner which was a proper, certified date.

“I’m thrilled!” Anna squealed down the phone when Kait called to update her. “Seems like you’ve found a decent guy after all.”

“Yeah,” Kait agreed dreamily.

At the restaurant, she immediately clocked Jasper standing outside waiting for her. He was wearing dark denim jeans, a white shirt, and a dark suit jacket. He looked suave and handsome, and just the sight of him made her heart start to palpitate with excitement.

“You look stunning,” Jasper commented as she approached him, his eyes widening to take in the full spectacle of her carefully put together outfit.

“Thank you,” Kait blushed and looked down at her peep toe shoes. “You look very handsome.”

Not only did Jasper look handsome, but he smelt amazing. Standing beside him, Kait could smell the pleasant musk of his cologne. It was more pungent than normal. Clearly he’d made an extra special effort for their evening together.

The restaurant they’d chosen for their date was in the center of town and already busy. Jasper had called ahead to book a table. As they were shown inside, Kait did wonder if he’d had to drop his name to secure such a coveted reservation.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” The waiter inquired politely.

“A glass of white wine please,” the request instantly rolled off Kait’s tongue. She needed the wine to steady her mounting nerves.

“Just water for me.” Jasper said with a tight smile.

“Just water?” Kait’s shoulders sunk in disappointment. She didn’t like the thought of drinking alone.

“I don’t drink any alcohol when I’m training.” Jasper swiftly explained.

“Oh.” Kait was surprised by how militant he needed to be in so many aspects of his life. Not only was his training regime strict, but it also bled in to other areas of his life, like his diet. Suddenly it wasn’t just the two of them on the date. Jasper’s career was there looming in the background, reminding Kait that she could never make it to the top of his list of priorities because the position had already been filled.

“Everything looks good,” Jasper announced as he scanned the ornate menu. Kait glanced at the various, highly priced dishes but couldn’t concentrate. There was so much she wanted to say to him that maintaining a polite pretence over dinner suddenly seemed ludicrous.

“I was surprised by the flowers,” Kait admitted.

Jasper placed his menu down and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Surprised in a good way?”

“Just…surprised. I thought perhaps I wouldn’t hear from you again. You have a tendency to be hot one minute and cold the next.”

She noticed a vein tick in Jasper’s strong jaw. Had she annoyed him with her comment? She was just trying to be honest, to clear the air between them.

“I’m sorry, I get pre-occupied with training as it can be so intense. It’s certainly not a reflection on how I feel about you.”

Kait smiled with relief.

“Have you got another fight coming up?” Kait enquired politely.

“A huge one,” Jasper grumbled, his expression darkening. The waiter returned to take their order before Kait could press him for more details.

Chapter 19

By the time dessert arrived, all tension between the couple was gone. Kait had boldly ordered the chocolate gateaux, comfortable that Jasper wouldn’t judge her for such a choice. Around him, like the time she had ordered the pizza, she could just be herself not an extension of who she thought he’d want her to be.

“That looks good,” Jasper declared enviously as he eyed her dessert. He’d opted to finish his meal with just a green tea. Another element of his hyper controlled diet.

“It tastes even better,” Kait told him flirtatiously as she slowly raised the fork to her mouth and slowly bit down on the chocolate sponge and cream. She watched Jasper lick his lips, and she hoped he was lusting after her rather than the gateaux.

“You know,” Kait looked down at her plate and then across at Jasper. Perhaps it was the wine or maybe she was just intoxicated on his company, but she suddenly felt confident and sexy. “I’d love to cover your body in chocolate and lick it off.” She told him with a seductive smile. Never in her life had Kait uttered such words to a man. Nor had she ever even thought them. But with Jasper, it was like she had a one track mind. She found him utterly irresistible and when she was around him, all she wanted to do was get him in to bed.

A smile pulled on Jasper’s lips, and he raised a hand to herald the waiter.

“Can we have the bill please?” He asked politely, though his tone was pitched with urgency. Kait grinned as she finished off her dessert, her body already tingling with anticipation.

Chapter 20

Back at her apartment, he ravaged her. She’d barely opened the door when his hands were all over her body, pulling down the zipper on her blue dress. She elegantly stepped out of it, and Jasper raised her up and pressed her against the nearest wall. They were kissing, and Kait was losing herself in the moment. She was drowning in their passion; it was wondrous and she wanted it to never end.

Soon he was free of his own clothes, his strong, athletic body exposed for her viewing pleasure. She loved how it felt to be supported by his powerful arms as his soft lips gently kissed and caressed her.

Despite being trained to fight, Jasper was an amazing lover. He intuitively knew how to make Kait cry out in pleasure. He always applied just enough pressure, and his main goal was to ensure that she was equally as pleasured as he was. All of this resulted in the best sex of Kait’s life.

She trembled against the wall as he entered her. Closing her eyes, she let out frequent, pleasured gasps. He felt amazing. She clawed at his bare back, begging him to go deeper, to never let her go. Jasper panted and obliged.

Throwing her head back, Kait climaxed, as did he. As he released his tight grip on her, she lowered to the carpeted floor, her legs trembling. She felt wonderful and alive.

They made love several more times both on the sofa and also the bed. Outside the dark skies were turning grey when they eventually unfurled from one another and fell asleep. Satisfied and exhausted, Kait slept deeply. She did not dream. Her mind was merely empty and at peace.

Chapter 21

The sharp screech of a phone ringing pulled Kait out of her fog of sleep. Wincing, she sat up and gazed around, feeling in a daze. A quick glance at her clock told her it was half past nine in the morning. She had successfully slept through her alarm and was now late for work.

“Dammit,” she sprang from the bed, suddenly alert, and wide awake. She reached for her phone and saw with a feeling of dread that the incoming call was from her boss. No doubt she was going to be in a lot of trouble for not being in work on time.

Taking a deep breath, she answered and began grovelling. She coughed and pretended to have been suddenly struck down by the flu virus which had been sweeping through the office doing its annual rounds.

“I just woke up and,” coughs, “felt wretched. I was so doped up on cough syrup I must have managed to sleep through my alarm. I’m so,” cough, “sorry.”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line.

“Well, there has been a lot of sickness going around,” her boss said firmly. “Take the rest of the week to recover. We need you in top shape for the handling of the Denver accounts next week.”

“Yes, yes,” cough, “of course.”

With a satisfied smile, Kait hung up. She had successfully wormed her way out of being berated at work and managed to get herself the rest of the week off. That meant more free time with Jasper. More time curled up beside him listening to the steady beat of his heart.

Jasper.

Kait had been so panicked when she was rudely awoken by her phone that she’d briefly forgotten he was there. She glanced back at her bed, smiling widely. She’d offer to make him breakfast, and then they could snuggle up on the sofa and watch television shows all day. It would be perfect.

But Jasper wasn’t there. Her bed was empty. The sheets still smelt of his cologne, but he was gone. Kait’s smile fell away, and her face blanked. He couldn’t have crept out on her again. Surely not. Once she could live with, but twice? How hard was it to wake her up and kiss her goodbye? The way he kept creeping out made her feel like a one night stand instead of a girlfriend. And she was his girlfriend, wasn’t she?

Dread seeped up Kait’s spine as she realized that Jasper had yet to label her as is girlfriend. He’d yet to label her as anything. When they met up, hormones took over, and they just ended up in bed together.

“Dammit,” Kait bunched her hands in to frustrated fists. She stormed out of the bedroom and checked the rest of the apartment. She threw open the door to the small bathroom and glanced around the living room, but Jasper was gone.

On the verge of tears, Kait dropped on to the sofa clutching her phone and checked his Twitter account. He’d already been tweeting since early that morning which caused a solitary tear to fall down her cheek.

Up and at it ready for #fightnightFriday @J_Duboix

Many of his followers had commented back voicing their excitement for Friday night. It must be the huge fight Jasper had briefly mentioned to her over dinner. Wiping away her tears, Kait turned on the television and put down her phone. She was tired of being made to feel worthless each time Jasper crept out when it was still dark outside. She couldn’t keep running back to him each time he did something nice.

But he had sent her flowers. She glanced at the floral display gathered in the vase from the corner of her eye. That had to mean something, didn’t it? And they’d gone out for dinner. Dinner is a date; Kait knew that much. Maybe he hadn’t woken her up because she was sleeping so soundly. Perhaps she was taking offence when really he’d just been being considerate.

Nibbling at her fingernails, Kait prayed she wasn’t turning in to a woman who failed to see a man’s flaws. She wanted to believe that Jasper genuinely cared about her. The flowers and the dinner date told her as much, but the disappearing act before dawn contradicted those actions.

Kait tried to focus on the television. The more she thought about Jasper, the more confused she became. Maybe she just needed to confront him over where they stood. If she was officially his girlfriend, it would be easier to deal with his seemingly flaky behaviour.

Reaching again for her phone, Kait looked up the address of the gym where Jasper trained. Anna was right; it wasn’t far from her work offices. But Kait couldn’t be seen near work when she was supposed to be off sick. Unless she said she’d just popped out for some cold medicine which she could pick up prior to seeing Jasper.

She expected him to be at the gym every day that week in preparation for his big fight on the Friday. All she had to do was go there and confront him. Ask him what they were to one another, and he’d have to give her an answer. If it wasn’t the one she wanted, she’d just have to let go and accept that they weren’t meant to be.