Page 50 of Married With Lies

“I’ll bring them in,” I say. Then I’m struck by a terrible thought. “Is there anything….that I need to worry about?”

“Where?”

“In the car.”

“It’s not stolen for fuck’s sake. It’s a rental.”

“That’s not what I meant. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t find anything horrible.”

He presses the towel to his side and scowls. “We can rummage through my underwear together if it makes you happy.”

“I don’t want to rummage through your underwear. But you show up here all shot and bloody and given your line of work, asking if there’s any excess baggage in your trunk is a fair question.”

“Excess baggage,” he echoes, then throws up a hand in exasperation. “What do you think I did, went out and popped a guy, then left him in my trunk for you to find?”

“Keep your voice down,” I hiss.

He stares at me for a second then he snorts out a harsh laugh that must hurt because he follows it up with a grimace.

“Serves you right,” I say even though my own chest aches at the sight of him in pain. “Now don’t bust a rib laughing again or you’ll probably need a transfusion.”

“You’re a piece of work.” He shakes his head.

“That sounds like an insult.”

“Not at all. I never know what’s going to come out of your mouth, Sadie.”

“Well, I never know when you’re going to show up with a bullet hole, Cale, so I guess we’re even.”

“Hey.” He captures my wrist and gazes into my eyes. “I’m truly sorry about all this. I should have found a way to avoid bringing you into this shit.”

He keeps hold of my wrist. I could shake him off with ease and yet I hesitate. In spite of the bizarre circumstances, the touch of his hand has an effect on me. One that I didn’t ask for and don’t want. It’s the same sensation that left me panting and disoriented after our wedding kiss.

Finally, and rather grudgingly, I detach from his grip.

“You’re always welcome here,” I say. “Just do me a favor and call next time. If I wake up tomorrow with a streak of grey in my hair thanks to today’s shock I’m blaming you. Now let’s get you put back together and I’ll think of a way to justify your existence. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I haven’t found a reason to broadcast this marriage thing around here.”

He mulls that over. “Guess I let the cat out of the bag, huh?”

“You let out the cat, the dog, Goldilocks with all three bears, a dozen ducklings and four elephants. Now can we sort this out later? I’ll get your stuff from the car if you agree to sit here quietly and try not to bleed while we wait for that medical team.”

“One last thing,” he says. “I’m not sure what it is you assume I do with my time but I swear I’m not out there collecting dead people to drop into your lap.”

“Cale, I have no idea what you do with your time because you tell me nothing. I’d like to get to know you better and be your friend but that doesn’t seem to be an option.”

A shadow falls over his face and he breaks eye contact. The comment bothers him for some reason.

But why?

He barely spoke to me in Vegas. He ignores most of my texts and updates about the ranch, never answering with more than a few words if he bothers to answer at all. I’ve stopped feeling annoyed, just figuring that Cale Connelly is impervious to the angsty feelings that trouble the rest of us ordinary humans.

Maybe not, though.

Leaving Cale to whatever dark thoughts are swimming around inside his absurdly gorgeous head, I duck out of the room and head over to Peggy’s kitchen. Jasper sits at the table with a snack of tea and sourdough biscuits while Apollo and Zeus lounge at his feet. Peggy shuts off the sink faucet and parks her hands on her hips.

“Do we know how long our guest will be staying?” she asks, intentionally vague, keeping an eye on Jasper.

“We’ll play it by ear,” I say, just as vaguely. “He’s resting right now.”

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