“You asshole,” he muttered. He tugged on the zip-tie and the cut I’d made deepened.
If he freed himself while we were still there, he’d be stupid enough to lunge at me and things would get ugly, so I needed to wrap it up.
I stood up straight. “So, to recap for you: One, I’m armed and dangerous; two, you’re leaving Cara alone from here on out; and three, if you ever start to forget about one or two, you can think about her riding my dick.”
As I said the words, an image flashed through my mind. Cara on top of me. Naked. Writhing in ecstasy. I was being a fucking idiot. The kind who thinks with his dick, even when his dick wants someone way too young and too different and too... Well, I couldn’t come up with anything else in the moment, but I knew my lust, like my lie, was wrong.
Unfortunately, it was also working. Her ex scowled and swore at me, so I doubled down. I clapped him on the shoulder and winked. “While you’re out here all alone, ruminating on the error of your ways, remember, she really,reallyloves riding my dick.”
He screamed bloody murder at me. As I walked away, I pushed the fob button to roll up his window for him. I slid into the driver’s seat of Cara’s car and smiled at her like we’d just finished a picnic lunch together. And like I hadn’t just been thinking about her naked, wishing the lie I was telling her ex was actually true, and relishing rubbing her ex’s nose in it.
“Ready to hit the road?” I asked. I did my best to sound innocent and chaste, and not like I had a hard-on so stiff it hurt.
She glanced back at the Audi, then nodded, thankfully oblivious to everything that had transpired a minute earlier.
I made a U-turn and headed back the way we’d come. I waved at her ex as we drove past his car. He yanked his hands free and grabbed at his door. Cara twisted in her seat to watch him. I glanced in the sideview mirror in time to see him hop out of the car and run into the middle of the road. I hit the gas and sped back toward the highway, the smile never leaving my face.
“Wow.” Cara settled back into her seat. “What did you say to him to get that reaction?”
“I told him a few things he needed to hear.”
“Things I don’t want to know, or things you don’t care to repeat?”
“Both,” I said. “But trust me, you really,reallydon’t want to know.”
CHAPTER 11
NICK
We’d driven for a couple of hours in near silence. I didn’t need constant noise or chatter. In fact, I preferred to have occasional quiet so parts of my brain could wander while I focused on the task at hand, which right now was putting distance between us and the ex. I’d decided to allow Cara to take the lead on when and whether we talked. But after nothing more than a few polite responses about whether she wanted to turn on some music or make a pit stop, my concern was vetoing my rationality. When I saw signs for a scenic overlook, I took it. Half a mile later, I pulled the car to a stop on a deserted, packed-earth parking strip.
“Walk with me?” I asked.
She nodded, but waited for me to get out and come around the passenger side before opening the door. She took my hand when I offered it and stood beside me, then leaned against me. I slid my arms around her, offering her support, both physical and emotional. She turned toward me and burst into tears against my shoulder.
I held her as she clung to me. Her crying was nearly as quiet as our ride had been, punctuated with occasional raspy, shaky breaths. I waited for the worst of it to pass. When I felt her relax, I finally spoke. “Did he scare you?”
“No.” She stayed in place, her head resting on my shoulder.
I fought the urge to pull her tighter, to press every inch of my body against hers. My heart raced as I asked the obvious follow-up question because the possibility made me equal parts pissed off at myself and worried, which didn’t even make sense. “Did I scare you?” I whispered.
“Absolutely not.” She pulled back far enough to look up at me. “I’ve never had a guy zip-tie someone for me before. It was fucking awesome. Frigging awesome. Sorry.”
I threw my head back and laughed. She smiled, but didn’t get the joke.
“You can say “fuck” around me,” I explained. “I was cleaning up my language in case you found the word offensive.”
Now she grinned wider. “Itisoffensive. That’s the point.” She took a step back as she laughed and wiped her eyes.
I’d dropped my arms the second she’d put distance between us, and I already missed holding her. Shit.Thatwas not a good sign.
“Now that I know I don’t have to use grandma-speak around you,” she continued,” let me just say what we’re both thinking: my ex is a world-class fucker.” She shook her head. “That didn’t sound quite right because actually he wasn’t very good...” She shook her head again and this time blushed the tiniest bit.
Damn, that looked adorable.
“What I’m trying to say is thank you for standing up for me,” she said.
“Just doing my job, ma’am.” I motioned to one of the picnic tables set up to enjoy the view and we walked over and sat down. The panorama was a stark desert landscape with scattered islands of massive red rocks jutting up through the barren ground. Beautiful in its own way. And peaceful. And somehow haunted, but maybe that was just me.
