Page 2 of The Agreement


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"Well, when you find one, make sure you put him to the test."

"T-test?"

She nods. "Ask him to act out your favorite spicy scenes. And if he makes you 'arrive'" —she makes air quotes— "as hard and as fast as your fave book boyfriend, then you know he’s worth making yours."

"Oh, wow." I gape at her. "I've never thought of that."Why didn’t I think of that?"That’s such a good idea."

"I know, right?" She winks at me. "You should join our knitting club."

"Knitting club?"

"We’re the London offshoot of the Lymington Knitting Club. We meet on most weekends, knit and consume shots, and exchange notes of our fave spicy scenes."

"Meeting to discuss spicy scenes sounds amazing," I breathe. “But I don’t know how to knit.”

“Don’t worry, it’s easy. We’ll teach you. And it is amazing. You’re gonna love it. What’s your phone number?"

"Eh?"

"Your phone number, babe." She glances up as the train pulls into the next station. "That was fast. I swear the distance between the last station and mine always goes by in a flash. Makes me think I should have gotten off at the previous one and walked for exercise"—she laughs—"but I never manage to do it." She turns to me again. "Your phone number?"

I glance down at my phone, then pull up my contact list and hand it over. "Here, fill in your phone number, and I’ll call you."

"Okay." She takes my phone, types her name and phone number, then hands it back to me.

The train comes to a stop, and she jumps. "Ciao, Abby. Don’t forget to call me." She secures her hardback over her shoulder, then heads to the exit.

I pull off my earphones, then deposit them, along with my phone, into my bag. It’s another ten minutes before I get off at my stop, then head out through the ticket barriers. I step out into the cool evening air. It’s only September, but already, the nights are getting shorter. It’s only nine p.m. though, so it’s not too late. I head up the sidewalk, then turn onto my street when there’s a tug on my bag. My purse is torn from my hand, and I see a man running away. And he has my bag.He. Has. My. Bag.I open my mouth to call for help, but nothing comes out. My brain cells seem to short-circuit all at once. I need to say something, do something, but what? OMG. OMG. OMG. I—

"The fuck? Are you okay?" A deep, dark voice, as velvety as Shane East’s, as rough, as filled with dark chocolate and laced with notes of coffee and cream, wraps around me. My limbs tremble, but this time, not from fear.

That’s not Shane East’s voice. Hell, I’ve never met Shane East. But this man? I know him. In fact, his is the only voice I know more intimately than Shane East’s. The voice that’s filled my dreams and fueled lust-filled images in my mind. I draw in a breath and the scent of cardamon and mint, with a dash of musk and everything sinful fills my lungs.

My belly quivers. My pulse booms at my wrists, at my temples, behind my eyeballs.Not him. Surely, not him.I glance up and up. I tilt my head all the way back to meet the blue gaze of the man looming over me. No, not blue. Not completely blue. His one iris is blue, the other gray. Heterochromatic. He has mis-matched eyes, the kind that can see right through you. The kind that can reduce you to a mass of quivering jelly. The kind that have always swept through the hidden parts of me and known just how to make me feel like I'm unmoored, unstrung, unanchored. The gaze that drags me back to my teenaged years.

"Are you okay, Abby?" he snaps.

"You…” I blink. “What are you doing here?"

Cade

"Saving your arse, by the looks of it." I stab a finger in her direction and demand, "Stay."

I take off after the bastard who dared steal her handbag. He stoleherhandbag.Motherfucker. How dare he touch something that's hers? I speed up my pace.How dare he try to cause her harm?Adrenaline laces my blood. All of my senses seem to pop. I narrow my gaze, pump my arms and legs, and begin to catch up with the very foolish person who dared mess with her. I speed up until it seems I’m not even touching the ground. I race up the sidewalk, an inch closer to the guy…closer, I'm almost on him…then throw myself forward and grab him around the waist.

He hits the ground, and I slam into him. There’s a gurgled cry, his hand is flung out, and the bag goes flying from his grasp. I jump up, drag him up and around to face me, then swing at him. My palm connects with his face.C-r-u-n-c-h.The sound of cartilage breaking fills the air. Blood spurts from his broken nose. I throw my fist at him again, this time, connecting with his jaw. He howls, swipes at the arm with which I’m holding him up. I raise my fist and connect with his cheek. He squeals and flails around. I raise my arm again when I hear her voice.

"Stop, please, you’ll kill him." Abby pants as she nears me.

I hesitate, and the motherfucker breaks free. He turns and scrambles off. I take a step forward in his direction, but someone grabs my sleeve.

"Please. Don’t, Cade," she pleads.

She pleads.I turn on her, fists still raised. She flinches. Her gaze widens. Those big green eyes of hers are filled with shock and…fear?

Is she afraid of me? She should be. No good will come of me getting close to her. And yet, here I am.I shake off her grasp.

A wounded look comes over her features. My heart squeezes.Shit, shit, shit.This is why I’ve stayed away from her all of these years. This is why I took the first opportunity I had to put distance between us. Her brother, though? Knight is still my best friend. And he’s not going to like the fact that I’ve inserted myself back in Abby’s life. I hesitate. Not that I’m going to tell him that... yet. Not until I’ve gotten my revenge for what she did to me. And while Knight would understand my motivations, he’s going to be far from happy. In fact, he’s going to be royally pissed with me... A bridge I’ll cross when I get to it.

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