Sea Breeze 03 While It Lasts (8 page)

             
Well, shit.

             
“She still wears the ring,” I said
,
trying to wrap my head around this.

             
“Yeah, she does. They grew up together. We all did. He was my twin. But he and Eva were inseparable. They were so alike.”

             
I didn’t have a response for this. What could I say? I was sorry? That seemed too shallow. The guy had lost his brother. Eva had lost her fiancé. Sorry wasn’t exactly deep enough.

             
“Do me a favor and don’t tell her I told you. She isn’t over it. As you can see she still wears the ring and d
on’t
get
me started on that badass J
eep she has and won’t drive
.” H
e stopped and the concern in his eyes was clear. He didn’t want Eva upset.

             
“I won’t tell her I know,” I assured him.

             
“Thanks, man.” H
e started to turn and walk away when he stopped and looked back at me. “Remember this the next time she acts like a complete bitch. She hasn’t given you a fair chance but I’ve decided it’s because she’s attracted to you and it scares her. I doubt she ever gives you a break. Just ignore it.”

             
She’d started to give me some sort of break in the barn earlier. Sure as hell wish I’d stayed around to find out what it was now that
I
knew this.
I’d r
u
n because I was real close to kissing her pretty little lips. Her being engaged had been a red flag. Then there was my scholarship I had to think about. But truth be told, if Eva pushed hard enough I’d break.

             
“Hey, Jeremy,” I called out and he stopped again. “She ever
smile
?”

             
I’d been waiting to see her smile. I thought maybe it was just m
e she didn’t smile around. A
fter hearing this, I wondered if she ever smiled anymore.

             
“Haven’t seen her smile since the day before we got the call about Josh.  It was the weekend and I’d decided to surprise everyone by coming home from Vanderbilt. I remember walking in the door to the kitchen and Eva
was
sitting at the table with Momma looking over wedding magazines. Both of them squealed and jumped up to hug me.  We got the call the next morning.”

             
My chest hurt. I wasn’t a real emotional guy. I’d had a s
hit life for the most part. Even so,
the picture he’d just painted of a happy Eva with her life ahead of her then having it snatched away … hurt me.

             
“What’
s her smile like?” I asked

             
Jeremy looked wistful for a moment. Then replied, “Incredible.”

Eva

             
Daddy was gone for the weekend and Cage would be gone tomorrow. Jeremy wouldn’t even be around. I thought about calling
Becca
Lynn but then I wasn’t sure I wanted her around here just yet. Whatever happened with her and Cage hadn’t been something she enjoyed because she hadn’t called me or come by.

             
I wrapped S
aran
wrap around the two turkey and
s
wiss
subs I’d made Cage for dinner.
I hadn’t
cook
ed
anything but Cage would need to eat. I reached under the counter and pulled out a sports bottle. He had to be tired of water. I filled it up with the rest of the lemonade I’d made for Daddy.

             
Unable to resist, I left both items sitting on the counter and went to the mirror in the hallway to check my hair and face. I wasn’t going to think too hard about why I wanted to look attractive for Cage. If I did
think about it the answer would more than likely
bother me.

             
Once I was sure I looked good enough
,
I went back to the kitchen and picked up the plate of food
,
grabbed
a bag of chips and the lemonade
then headed to the barn.

             
The sun was setting and it
w
as later than I normally brought his dinner out. Normally, I managed to get here before he finished working and leave it on the table by his bed. But tonight, I wanted to see him. I wanted him to touch my hand again and make my body tingle.
It had been so long since a single touch had made me feel alive
.
It was exciting.
I missed excitement.

             
I opened the barn door
.
Looking
to the right
I saw
the door
to
his room closed. The only air-conditioner in the barn w
as the small window unit in the
back room. Keeping the door closed was the only way for him to keep the room cold so he always kept it closed. I normally didn’t have to question
whether
he was in there or not because I knew he wasn’t. But I hadn’t seen him come inside so all I had to go on was the fact the truck was parked outside.

             
With a tight gri
p on the plate in my hand,
I made my way to his door. I started to knock and decided to lean forward and listen first. Maybe he was in the shower, or on the phone. I pressed my ear to the warm wood. I could
n’t hear anything. Maybe if I se
t the lemonade down and used my hand to cup my ear to the door I could hear
better
.

             
I bent down and se
t the sports bottle at my feet then used my hand to see if it made hearing through the wood easier.

             
“What’s going on in there? Can’t be a whole lot
. I
t’s too damn small,” Cage’s amused voice startled me and I fumbled with the plate I was holding with one hand.

             
“Whoa
, girl. Don’t drop my dinner,” he laughed
.
Then he
reached out and took the plate from my hands.

             
I’d been caught trying to eaves
drop on him. This could not be more
embarrassing
. Crawling under my bed and not coming out for a week sounded appealing right about now.

             
“Before you kick it over
,
ca
n I have that bottle down there?
” he pointed to the lemonade I had set down so I could
be more
efficient
in my eaves
dropping. I bent back down and picked it up. Maybe I could hand it to him and then run out of here without having to actually make eye contact. I held out the sports bottle but kept my eyes diverted from his. I could feel the amusement on his face. I didn’t have to see it.

             
“Ah, come on now, Eva.
You can’t not look at me.
You had no problem listening in at my door. Who knows what you could have heard if I’d been in there.”

             
He was teas
ing me and he had every right t
o. I couldn’t keep the small bubble of laughter down. Lifting my eyes I met his gaze.
“I can’t believe you caught me,
” I replied honestly.

             
I expected him to crack another joke but his face was no longer amused. He appeared to be studying me closely. A pleased smile formed on his lips and he held up the plate of subs. “There are two subs here. You
gonna
eat with me?”

             
Oh. Wow. Um. No. I started to shake my head when he leaned forward causing me to shiver
from the warmth of his skin.

             
“And why not?” he asked in a husky whisper as the door behind me started to open.

             
“I already ate,” I blurted out.

             
“Then keep me company while I eat,” he replied
,
leaning back away from me now
that
he had the door behind me opened. “Go on in Eva,
it’s
nice and cool.”

             
This was when I should
’ve
politely refuse
d
and go
ne
back to the house.
Except,
I didn’t. I turned and walked into the small room that Cage occupied during the week.

             
Like all the other times I’d been in here to leave his dinner, the bed was a mess. He never made it up. There was also a pile of dirty clothes in the corner. The only neat habit the boy had was that he hung up his bath towel every night on the back of the door. I remembered that I’d only left him one tow
el and one wash
cloth when I’d prepared the room for him.
Was
he having
to use the same wash
cloth? I felt guilty for being such a
judgmental
brat earlier this week. He’d worked hard all week. He deserved a clean
washcloth
and towel
every
night.

             
Cage walked around me since I’d stopped in the middle of the room and went to take a seat on his unmade bed. He began unwrapping the plate of subs like he hadn’t been fed in days. Glancing at the clock on the wall over his bed
I saw
it was after eight. It had been over six hours since I’d brought him out fresh water and a slice of Mrs. Mabel’s lemon pound cake. Another stirring of guilt at how I’d been treating him churned in my stomach.

             
“If that isn’t enough I can go make anoth
er one or two,” I offered as he
took a large bite out of the sub. He grinned as he chewed and then took a long swig of the lemonade.

             
“This is great. Thanks. I was starving. And the lemon cake thing the invisible fairy brought me earlier was
fu
—amazing too.”

             
What?
“Invisible fairy?” I asked confused.

             
Cage looked so sincere. “You know the fairy who magically brings me water and ice rags when my back is turned.”

             
He wanted to be a smart guy, huh. Well fine, two c
ould play
that game.

             
“Oh, that fairy. Yeah, she has an aversion to cocky guys who think they have the world at their fingertips.”

             
Cage set the sub in his hand back down and
narrowed his eyes, “Is that so?
Hmmm… and here I was hoping she was going to finally appe
ar one day and give me a nice div
ersion from work.”

             
“Highly doubtful,” I replied unable to keep from grinning.

             
“Well, day-um. I’ll have to come up with something other than my sexy topless fairy fantasy
the next time I need a break.”

             
Oh dear God
,
did he mean…
?
“You are sick,” I said through my appalled laughter.

             
“Who me? You were the one listening at my door. What was
it you were hoping to hear
,
Eva?
If I’d known you were coming in hopes of a show I could have been
more
prepared.”

Cage

             
Damn if her smile wasn’t fucking gorgeous
.
Not to mention
that laugh made me want to soak it in and keep it for later. Just knowing it was
me
making her smile made everything else seem less important. 

             
“I was just making sure you weren’t in the shower or on the phone,” she explained.

             
Sure. That’s what she’d been doing when I’d stood there in the shadows of the barn and watched her try so hard to hear something through the door. It had taken all my will power not to burst into laughter.

             
“Were you
gonna
come on in if I was in the shower? You’ve already seen my naked
ass
.”