Sea Breeze 03 While It Lasts (33 page)

“Got it,” Cage replied
,
standing up and taking my hand.

“You want me to put my shirt back on?” Cage asked

I considered all the females between here and the car and nodded my head.

He reached over and picked it up pulling it over his head.

“Come on. I’m ready to go see how much you like it,” he grinned wickedly.

“Isn’t my saliva a foreign substance? And won’t it be sore?”

Cage leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Your saliva is fine and as for sore that never stopped us before.”

Cage

Eva fidgeted nervously with her hands on the ride back from her house to get all her things to my apartment. She’d handled her dad like a pro and had no problem packing up all her things.
Now
it was obvious something was bothering her. I didn’t like things to bother her.

“What’s with the fidgeting hands?”

Eva stopped instantly and let out a small laugh, “I didn’t realize I was doing that.”

“Which is what bothers me. Why are you nervous?”

She bit the inside of her cheek which was another nervous habit of hers then cut her eyes over at me, “You sure you want me to answer this?”

I had a brief moment of panic but I reminded myself that she’d just announced to her father that she was in love with me.

“Yeah, I do.” I replied cautiously.

She let out a sigh and shrugged, “I’m worried that this is too soon. What if you get tired of having me around all the time? What if I eat your Wheaties or leave my makeup out in the bathroom or what if I snore?”

Relief washed over me. This I could fix. She wasn’t about to bolt on me.

I pulled into the parking spot under our apartment
,
then cut the engine

and
turned i
n my seat to look at her.
“I don’t eat Wheaties, I hope you leave all your girlie shit laying all over the place so I can see it when you’re not there and know you’re coming back. And you don’t snore. You do this soft purring thing that is so fucking cute I just want to lay awake and listen to you.”

Eva leaned across the console and gave me a soft quick peck. “I love you.”
The goofy grin those words always put on my face couldn’t be helped. “Then

come
up stairs and show me how much you love me. I got all kinds of ideas.”

Eva
reached over and gently pinched my newest piercing. “Can these be involved?” she asked in a husky voice that instantly made me hard.

“Hell, yeah they can.”

             
Getting Eva up to the apartment so I could have my wicked way with her did sound appealing but that wasn’t what I was excited about. I had a surprise waiting on her and I couldn’t wait to get up there and show her. I carried two of her boxes in my arms and set them down beside the door so I could unlock it. I also didn’t want anything in my arms obstructing my view from Eva’s face when she walked into the apartment.

             
I turned the knob slowly and pushed
it
open.

             
“Ladies first,” I said
,
stepping back to let her go inside.

             
Eva gave me a
small
confused
smile and stepped in the room. I followed her in
side
never once taking my eyes off her face. The moment she saw the piano sitting in the middle of the living room with a dozen red roses
l
a
ying
on top of it
,
she froze.  Her jaw dropped then she walked slowly toward the piano. I didn’t breathe. I couldn’t. I needed her to say something. Had I done the wrong thing getting it for her?

             
Eva ran her fingers over the ivory keys then she reached over and picked up the small card I’
d left with the roses. It simply
said,
“I love you.”

             
When her eyes li
fted to meet mine they were shi
ning with unshed tears.
Her fist came up and covered her mouth and she shook her head. A
h,
shit. I’d made her cry. That was not what I wanted to do.

             
“I can’t believe you got me a piano,” she breathed out as she dropped her fist from in front of her mouth.

             
“If you don’t want it we don’t have to keep it. I just thought that since you said—“
             

             
“You’re not taking my piano anywhere,” Eva interrupted me. A smile broke across her face and a small laugh fell from her lips. “You got me a piano,” she said shaking her head like she couldn’t quite comprehend it.

             
“You wanted one,” I replied.

             
Eva se
t the card back down on the piano and walked over to stand in front of me. She placed both her hands on my chest and stared up at my face. “Cage, I am going to want a lot of things but I don’t expect you to supply those things for me. What I want most
is
YOU. And I got YOU. Somehow
,
I snagged the
famous
playboy Cage York and I don’t intend to let
him
go.”

             
Smirking, I reached down and touched her bottom lip with the pad of my thumb. “So, you mean I didn’t have to buy that piano in order to
bribe
you to stay? Well, hell
,
baby. If I’d known that I could have saved myself a whole
lotta
money.”

             
Eva burst int
o laughter and slapped my chest.
“Here I am trying to be sweet and you’re making fun of me.”

             
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you wanted to be sweet. I got an idea, let’s go take a shower and you can let me taste and see just how sweet you are.”

             
“You aren’t
gonna
let me play with my piano first?” she asked
,
looking back longingly at her gift.

             
“I don’t mind tasting you on the piano. That’s good for me too. I bet you’d look awfully sexy spread out on that bench.”

“I talked to Jeremy today. He’s doing great at LSU and I think he met a girl. The majority of our conversation was about how smart she was and how funny she was and how pretty her hair was.” I laughed softly letting the autumn breeze carry my voice.

“He was there when I needed him. You would have been proud of how strong he was when inside I knew he was breaking apart. You always did say he was the tough one.”

I smiled thinking of the time they’d both gotten
their wisdom teeth removed
and Josh had been in bed for days in pain while Jeremy had gone on to football practice the very next day.

“The last time I was here I was a mess. You’d just shattered my world. I couldn’t imagine how I would take the next breath without you much less how I would live a lifetime alone. I didn’t understand your letter then. I didn’t think you understood the impact of what had happened.
How you could tell me that life would go on and I needed to move on. It was unfathomable to me. You were my world, Josh. From the time I was a little girl until I was eighteen. Every memory I have growing up
has you
in it.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a letter I’d stayed up late last night writing. I couldn’t sleep because I knew I was coming back here today. I had so many thin
gs to say and I wanted to say them
right.
             

“I wrote you a letter this
time,
” I explained.

Opening the stiff paper I’d torn from my n
otebook,
I realized there were no tear
stains on this letter. My tears were all dried up now. I’d found my peace.

Dear Josh,

     
Thank you for giving me the most amazing memories. My life growing up was so full because you were in it. Having your love and loving you was always just right. It made sense. You were my home. When I was with you I knew everything would be okay.

You dried my tears for me when I was sad. You held my hand when we buried my mother. You made me laugh when the world seemed like it was falling apart. You were every special memory a girl could have. That first kiss will forever be emb
ed
ded in my brain. It was as funny as it was sweet.

Our life together molded me into the woman I’ve become. I understand what it feels like to be loved and cherished because I had that with you. I never doubted my worth because you taught me I was worthy.

             
When you said that one day I would heal I didn’t believe that was possible. Life couldn’t go one without my best friend. There was no room for another guy in my heart.
It turns out
you were right. You always were. I found him. He is incredible. He is nothing at all like I would have planned. He doesn’t fi
t into a perfect package. He managed to wiggle into my heart and take over before I knew what was happening. I found that happiness you told me would come along. I’m going to go live that life. I’m sure it will be a wilder ride than I ever imagined and I can’t wait to live it. He’s my home now.  I’ll always love you. I’ll never forget you. But this is my goodbye. I wasn’t ready before to let you go
.
N
ow, I can move on. Your
memory will live on in my heart always.

Love,

Your Eva Blue

                                               THE END

I have to start by thanking Keith, my husband, who tolerated the dirty house, lack of clean clothes, and my mood swings, while I wrote this book (and all my other books).

My three precious kiddos who ate a lot of corn dogs, pizza, and Frosted Flakes because I was locked away writing. I promise, I cooked them many good hot meals once I finished.

Tammara
Webber, Elizabeth Reyes and Liz Reinhardt, my critique partners. Somehow, I convinced these ladies to become my critique partners. Now, I get to read their books before anyone else! I’d throw in an “I’m just kidding”
but,
well... I’m not. I love their work. It’s a major perk. They all helped me so much with
While It Lasts
. Their ideas, suggestions, and encouragement made the writing process so much easier. They’re amazing and I don’t know how I ever finished a book without them.

My FP girls.
I’m choosing not to share what FP stands for because my mother may read this and it will give her heart failure. Kidding... maybe. You girls make me laugh, listen to me vent, and always manage to give me some eye candy to make my day brighter. You are truly my posse. What happens in New York City, stays in New York City... eh girls?

Stephanie Mooney who is the best cover artist ever. She is brilliant and I shout it to the
roof tops
on a regular basis.

Stephanie T. Lott who is the best editor a writer could ask for. Thanks to me her time was limited and she made it work. She seriously rocks.

Abbi
Glines can be found hanging out with rock stars, taking out her yacht on weekends for a party cruise, sky diving, or surfing in Maui. Okay maybe she needs to keep her imagination focused on her writing only. In the real world,
Abbi
can be found hauling kids (several who seem to show up that don’t belong to her) to all their social events, hiding under the covers with her MacBook in hopes her husband won’t catch her watching Buffy on Netflix again, and sneaking off to Barnes and Noble to spend hours lost in the yummy goodness of books.
If you want to find her then check Twitter first, because she has a severe addiction to tweeting @
abbiglines
.
She also blogs regularly but rarely about anything life changing. She also really enjoys talking about herself in third person.
www.abbiglines.com

Representation:

All questions regarding subsidiary rights for any of my books, inquiries regarding foreign translation and film rights should be directed to
Jane
Dystel
of
Dystel
&
Goderich
.