Sea Breeze 03 While It Lasts (10 page)

             
Throwing the sheets into the washing machine I scowled at the cotton
bed clothes
as if it were their fault.  Stupid redhead had to come
.
She’d
change
d
his sheets for him and b
ought
him more towels and
washcloth
s because I’d neglected to give him sufficient supplies. Great job Eva.

Cage

             
“What the hell did you do to Eva?” I asked as I climbed into the passenger seat of Low’s Volvo. I’d been hoping to smooth things over with Eva before I left today but she’d been prickly so I’d kept my distance. No reason to ruffle her feathers in front of Low.

             
“So you noticed that too? I thought I was just being paranoid. I’ve got no idea what I did to set her off but I got the distinct impression that she did not like me bringing you clean sheets and making up your bed for you,” Low shot me a warning glare. “You haven’t
done
anything with her,
have you Cage? She’s engaged.”

             
I let my head fall back on the headrest and sighed.  I almost felt like I was betraying Eva if I told Low the truth.  But hell I had to tell someone. Low was the best friend I had and she was a female. Maybe she could help me figure this out.

             
“She isn’t exactly engaged,” I began.

             
“YES she is. I saw the diamond on her left hand.”

             
“Yeah, I know that but
the guy who put that ring on her finger was killed in Baghdad eighteen months ago.”

             
Low’s sharp intake
of breath was followed by an,
“
Ohmygod
.”

             
“The guy I thought she was engaged
to turned out to be her fiancé’
s twin. They’re just good friends.”

             
“But she still
wears the ring,” Low whispered. “H
ow incredibly sad. When did she tell you this?
”
             
I wondered if she ever would tell me this. Last night
,
even though it
had
sent her running
,
that had been one
helluva
kiss.
Even
before the kiss we’d talked and she’d laughed. Not
just smiled but she’d
laughed.

             
“She didn’t. Jeremy did.”

             
“Jeremy? He’s her fiancé’
s twin?”

             
“Yeah.”

             
“Th
at just
breaks my heart, Cage.”

             
The ache that throbbed in my chest when I let myself think about Eva’s pain returned.  “She isn’t the bitch she appears to be. She’s really a lot of fun if you can get pa
s
t her walls of steel.”

             
Low cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “Do I take
it
this
means
you got past those steel walls?”

             
“A little. I made her smile and laugh. Jeremy said she hadn’t smiled since the day before Josh’s death.”

             
Low reached over and patted my knee. “If she’s smart enough to let you in, the real you, not the one you share with the females whose panties you just want to get in, then she’s a smart woman.”

             
“It
ain’t
about her panties.” I replied
,
reaching down to squeeze her hand.

             
“
No, Cage with you
,
it is about her panties at least a little bit. But I think that maybe this time you want more.”
             
Did I want more? Was it just because she was so damn hard to get? Or did I really want more?

             
“Yeah, you’re right. The panties are always on my priority list.”

             
Low shook her head and laughed. “I’ve missed you this week. Live Bay isn’t the same without you there with us. I even think Preston may have shed a tear when you weren’t there to sing Kid Rock’s part of
Picture
when they played it over the speakers while the band was on break.”

             
“
Did he
sing
Sheryl Crow and Kid’s parts all by himself?
” I asked.

“Yes
,
unfortunately he did. Standing on the table with some random stranger’s brush in his hands as his microphone.”

“
Bet that was funny as shit,” I replied.

“Or nightmare-
worthy. Depends on how you look at it.”

             
             
             
             
~*~

             
The on
e-
hour trip with Marcus was easier
this time
. He wasn’t pissed off the entire
trip
. Probably because Low was so damn happy
I hadn’t been fired yet.  After
he dropped me off
,
I thought of stopping by the house and talking to Eva. Her dad’s truck was still gone. She probably wouldn’t be real thrilled about me showing up at her door at nine o’clock at night.
Might just need to wait until she came to me.

             
Before I could get to the far end of the house
,
I heard the gravel crunch in the drive
way
as a car pulled in. Turning around
,
I checked to make sure it was W
ilson
. I didn’t want just anyone showing up with Eva alone in the house.

             
The passenger side to Jeremy’s truck swung open and Eva jumped out.

             
“
Cageisback
!” she slurred happily. Her hand was gripping the side of the door to steady herself.

             
“Eva!
Dammit
,
I told you to wait on me. You’re
gonna
fall down on the gravel and get hurt.” Jeremy ran around the front of the truck and quickly wrapped his arm around Eva’s waist.

             
“She’s drunk?” I asked in amazement as I walked back toward the driveway still not sure I was seeing what it looked like.

             
“Hammered is more like it.
She went out to the damn honky-
tonk with
Becca
Lynn. I got a call from
Nelly
, the
owner, about an hour ago. Sh
e said I needed to come get Eva.
Becca
Lynn was pas
sed out on the top of the bar. Sh
e’d already called
Becca’s
daddy.”

             
“
Itwasfun
,” Eva said with a sloppy grin and stepped out of Jeremy’s arms and into my chest. I wrapped my arms around he
r quickly to keep her from
face-
planting
on the gravel.

             
“Yeah
,
looks like you had
yourself a good ‘ole time,” I replied as she slipped her arms up my chest and clasp
ed
her hands
tightly
behind my
neck
.

             
“
Youshouldcometoo
.”

             
Nodding, I lifted my gaze from her adorably drunk expression to look at Jeremy. He was standing behind her waiting on her next move.

             
“We need to get her to bed. Her daddy
ain’t
coming home till tomorrow
. He’s still got a bunch of people up at his hunting camp.”

             
“Should she be left alone in the house like this?” I aske
d as she leaned heavily on me.

             
“Probably not,” Jeremy rubbed his hand through his hair and glanced back at his truck.  He had other plans. I could tell he was trying real hard to figure out the right thing to do.

             
“I
gotta
get some stuff packed up tonight and head out early in the morning to check on an apartment I’m looking at moving into with my cousin in the fall. You think you could watch her?”

             
So Jeremy was getting ready to move on with
his
life. Had he told Eva yet? Was that why she was completely wasted?

             
“I got her. You go on. We’ll be fine.”

             
The indecision on his face as he studied the back of Eva’s head
had me thinking he m
ight
en
d up staying to watch her after
all. I understood that kind of protective streak. I had it with Low. Eva
rested
her head
against my chest.

             
“You good with that
,
Eva?”
Jeremy asked.

             
“
Mmmmmmhmmmm
,” she replied then began sniffing my shirt.

             
Jeremy shook his head then looked back up at me. “She’s dealing with life. It’s m
oving on without Josh and she’s
just now realizing it. Be good to her.”

             
“Of course,” I replied and dropped a kiss to the top of her
cigarette
scented
hair. Not something I ever expected to smell on Eva Brooks.

             
Jeremy studied me a moment then with a quick nod he turned and headed back to his truck.  I waited until he was pulling out of the drive before moving Eva.

             
“I need to get you to your bed, sweetheart. Do you want me to pick you up or do you want to walk? Or do you need to puke?”

             
Eva giggled against my chest and tilted her head back to smile sleepily at me. “
Takemetoyourbed
,” she slurred.

             
“Now that’s a bad idea
,
beautiful. You see,
when you’re sober my bed is the
last
place you
wanna
be.”

             
She shook her head and st
anding
on her
tip toes
pressed a tequila tasting kiss to my mouth.

             
“I
wanna
sleep in your bed
puhlease
.” She managed not to run her words together this time.

             
How was I supposed to tell her no when she was all sweet and playful? She was drunk off her ass but she was a nice drunk. 

             
“Just sleep?” I asked

             
“
J
ussleep
.”

             
I bent down and slipped my arm under her knees then cradled her against my chest and carried her to the barn. This was probably not my most intelligent moment but I wasn’
t about to give up what could be my only chance at sleeping all night with Eva Brooks in my arms.

Eva

             
“Don’t you go to sleep
yet.
You need to drink this water and take the
a
spirin
first.” Cage’s voice was even sexy when he was being all bossy.

             
I giggled and stared up at him as he stood hovering over me. His bed was nice and soft and I really jus
t wanted to close my eyes. H
ow was a girl supposed to turn down orders from a guy that looked like that?
I stuck my arm up in the air, “P
ull me up,” I told him. Cage grinned and reached for my hand that w
as
unfortunately numb so I didn’t get the complete enjoyment from his touch.

             
Once he had me sitting up on the edge of the bed he squatted down in front of me until we were eye level. The glas
s of water he’d ru
n up to the house to get was in one hand and the white chalky pills I hated were in the other.