Sea Breeze 03 While It Lasts (6 page)

             
I headed down to the lake staying just out
of the light from the bon
fire so no one saw me going down there. I didn’t want people making a big deal out of the fact Eva Brooks was going to the lake to skinny dip because I wasn’t. Not even close.

             
Turning the corner around the old oak tree, I stopped and slowly peeked around the corner. Splashing and giggling was growing louder from the water only a few feet away. Was Cage out there with
Becca
Lynn?

             
“You coming
,
Cage?”
Becca
Lynn’s voice
was close and I back
ed
up further into the shadows.

             
I worked hard to focus my eyes in the dark. Cage stepped out of the darkness. He reached up and threw his jeans over a low branch
.
T
he moonlight hit the backside of his body and I covered my mouth to keep from making a sound. Because DEAR GOD! His butt was unbelievable. The muscles in his back moved as he walked toward the water. He had
muscles
in his
back
!

             
“I’ll come in if you come out and get me,” he drawled. His completely naked front
side faced the lake for
Becca
and anyone else who cared to
look
. He wasn’t ashamed at all. He knew they were l
ooking and he didn’t care. T
hen
again,
when your body looked like that you wouldn’t mind who saw it.

             
Becca
Lynn walked toward him, t
he water droplets rolled
down her bare chest
and stomach. I refused to let my
gaze
drop
any lower. Cage’s hands slipped around her bare waist and he lowered his mouth to hers. That was all I could handle. My chest had a strange new ache and my stomach felt sick. I just wanted to go back home. I’d clear things up with Cage York another time.

Cage

             
To
night had been a bust.
I didn’t fuck drunk
en
innocents who I couldn’t walk away from the next morning. As good as
Becca
Lynn had felt all nice and wet, I hadn’t been able to go through with it. Her vomiting had helped make this decision much easier because at one point
I’d been
real close to forgetting how annoying
it could be to have a pesky female who wouldn’t go away
.

             
I stepped out of my jeans and pulled back the covers
so I could crawl in my bed
. The sheets weren’t bad. I
had
expected cheap sheets since this was a barn but they were nice. Soft. I closed my eyes and let myself imagine Eva putting the sheets on the bed
for me
.  Her hands would be soft or maybe she’d have
calluses. She did all the house
work and she cooked. Wait. I hadn’t seen a mom yet.  Eva had been the only woman I’d seen in that house. Had her mom died?
Or just skipped out on her?
Her dad loved her. That was obvious.

             
My phone r
ang
and I reached for it. Low’s number once again lit up the screen.

             
“
Hey
,
my favorite girl,” I said by
way of a greeting.

             
“Hey, how are things?” Low replied. I could hear the smile in her voice.

             
“Hot and the
c
ows are scari
er than I imagined but my tiny
bed has some really nice sheets.”

             
“What about the girl?”

             
Leave it to Low
not
to
beat around the bush. “
I’m pretty sure she hates me now more than she did when she first met me
.”

             
“Why? What have you done to her?”

             
“I haven’t done a damn thing to her. I did threaten her fiancé and rough him up a bit. Nothing serious. But the douche was talking about another girl’s tits in front of Eva. It was disrespectful.”

             
Low was silent a minute. I knew she was processing this and trying to figure out how to fix my problem.

             
“So, she’s engaged?” was her response.

             
“Yeah, she is and the guy isn’t a good match for her. I like him but they just don’t fit, you know?”

             
“Hmmm… I guess. But they’re engaged, Cage. That makes her off limits. “

             
I could hear the concern in her voice. “I wasn’t goi
ng to go there anyway, Low. She’
s off limits for many reasons. For starters
,
her dad would fire me on the spot and I’d lose my scholarship.”

             
“Okay. Well, I miss you.  I’m going to be there bright and early Sunday morning to get you. Marcus is going to give us time alone for the first part of the day. Then I’ll drop you at your apartment and let you catch up with everyone. Marcus will have to drive you back that evenin
g though because we’re keeping
Larissa this weekend and I’ll have been away from her most of that day. Besides, as much as Marcus loves
Larissa,
he’
ll need a break from her.”

             
“Thanks, Low. I look forward to seeing you.  Only four more days to go before my reprieve from hell.”

             
She laughed and we said our goodbyes.

             
             
             
             
~*~

             
Two days later. No sign of
Becca
Lynn and very few glimpses of Eva. The heat was getting worse and Jeremy wasn’t around to help anymore. He was back at his farm working and I was left to figure the rest out on my own.

             
A cold thermos of water magically stayed full and a
n
icy cold towel appeared a couple times a day. They alw
ays showed up on the tailgate of
the farm truck I used during the day. My back was always turned or I’d gone off to piss. Was she watching me from inside? How did she know when my back was turned?
D
amned if the idea of her watching me from inside didn’t make me
smile
. 

             
I pulled my sweat-
soaked shirt over my head and threw it in the back of the truck. Squirting some of the cold water over my chest and down my back, I tried to keep the smirk off my face. If she was watching I was giving her a
helluva
show. I grabbed the ice towel and headed for the shade.  I had to go fix the fence in a few places that W
ilson
had pointed out but I needed to cool down a bit first.

             
Leaning against the tree
,
I took another swig of water and wrapped the ice towel around my neck. The breeze was nicer when t
he scorching sun wasn’t bearing
down on you.

             
“What did you do to
Becca
Lynn?”

             
Snapping my head up from it
s resting place against the tree
,
I took in the first real sight of Eva I’d had since the night at the lake. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing a short white cot
ton sundress and a pair of flip-
flops. She was also trying rea
l
l
y
hard to look stern. She wasn’t upset
with me. She was just being nos
y. I liked that.

             
“Good morning to you too Eva,” I replied
,
unable to keep from smiling.

             
She tilted her head to one side and continued to force that frown. I’d seen the real thing. This was not the real “angry Eva” face. “
Becca
Lynn hasn’t come around in two days. That isn’t normal. Especially since she was so hot after you. So, what did you do to her?”

             
“I believe it’s what I didn’t do to her.” I took a slow swig of my water but I didn’t ta
ke my eyes off her as she let my
words sink in.

             
Shifting her feet she put her hands on her hips. “What does that mean?”

             
“It means exactly what it sounds like. I didn’t
do her
. I’m guessing that’s the problem.”
             
Eva’s fake scowl disappeared and she was frowning. “But I saw you both
naked at the
…” she trailed off and her eyes grew wider. Two pink splotches covered her cheeks. Eva Brooks had come back to
the lake the other night. S
he’d seen me naked. Yeah, I was going to have to spend a lot of fucking time in the shower now. The image of her sneaking around to see me naked was just hot.

“Did Eva Brooks come back to the lake and get
an eyeful
?” I teased.

I was sure she’d spin around and run off but she didn’t.

“I didn’t mean to see anything. I was coming back to talk to you about… I was just…” she couldn’t say it.  I needed her to finish that thought. She was coming to talk to me? Why?

“I was pretty sure you were ready to run me over with your truck that night.

Why would you have come back to talk to me?”

             
Eva twisted her hands nervously. I’d never seen her act nervous before.
“It’s about Jeremy and me,” she began. I waited hoping she was going to s
hed some light on their screwed-
up relationship.

             
A movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Grabbing Eva’s shoulders
,
I shoved her behind me and faced down the big ass cows standing a few feet away from us.
They were out of the fence
.
How the
fuck
had they got out of the fence?

             
“What are you doing?” Eva squealed slapping at my back as I pinned her against the tree with my b
ody
. I wasn’t much of a barrier between her and the cows but at the moment this was the best idea I had.

             
“Stop hitting me!” I demanded. “And tell me how the
hell I get these big ass mother
fuckers back in the gate.”

             
Eva stopped slapping me only to sh
ove me hard. “Oh for crying out-
loud, Cage. They aren’t going to charge us.” She pushed her way out from behind me and shot me an amused smirk. “They aren’t bulls.”

             
Who the fuck cared if they were bulls are not? They were freaking huge.

             
Eva walked toward them without
an ounce of
fear and began hollering at them to go on. She stomped her feet causing them to back up and then
they slowly began to
move toward the fence that had been left open. She glanced back
at me
over her shoulder
and rolled her eyes
, “They’re ferocious beasts aren’t they?”

             
I was torn between feeling like an idiot and laughing at how damn cute
she looked herding cattle.

             
Once she had the last one back in the fence she closed it and put the lock in place. “Might help if you lock them up next time,” she chirped in a playful tone.

             
“You’re enjoying this just a little too much,” I replied.

             
She
shrugged her shoulders
and
crossed her arms in front of her chest
. “I
gotta
admit your
gallantry
at attempting to save me from the big bad mean cows was noble in a moronic sort of way.”

             
“Moronic, huh?” I liked seeing her playful and amused. So far
,
all I’d seen was the uptight version of Eva Brooks.