Page 13 of Blue Collar Hotties

I stagger back like I’ve been shoved. And Riley’s staring at me, her pupils blown and cheeks red, those goddamn nipples prodding the front of that borrowed shirt.

“I’m sorry,” I rasp, and her face hardens. She balls her hands into fists.

“Don’t take it back, Cade.” Riley’s words are calm, but there’s no mistaking the warning beneath. “Not after that. Don’t you dare.”

Silence stretches between us, and my head is noisy with all the things I can’t say. All the words I desperately want to spill. All the reasons I’m no good for this angel.

The breeze is cold, scented with pine, and across the parking lot, the automatic doors to the store rattle open and closed.

“Let’s get back,” I mutter, breaking the silence at last.

And Riley’s shoulders droop before she climbs into the truck, slamming the door hard enough to make me wince.

I’ve fucked up. I’ve really done it this time.

As I climb into the driver’s seat, I find myself praying to be numb again. Dead inside.

Riley

For a man who willingly went to war, Cade can be such a freaking coward. Hewantsme, the big jerk, it’s clear as day, written all over his stupidly handsome face. With every heated glance he sends my way, every blanket he brings me on cooler nights, every glass of water he urges me to drink, he declares there’ssomethinghere. That it’s not all in my head.

And yet every time we come close to being something more, every time we take half a step in that direction—Cade slams on the brakes. Turns to stone.

“What do you want on your pizza later?”

We’re winding along the mountain path, windows down and cool air swirling through the cab. It’s petty, but I ignore Cade’s question, staring out at the thick forest clinging to the mountainside.

“Riley.” He sounds annoyed. He knows I heard him. “Riley.”

“Pesto,” I mutter. “And mozzarella.”

Cade grunts. “Sounds good.”

Yup. I scowl at two crows scrapping in the branches of a tree as we round a bend. They’re a mad whirl of black feathers and vicious-looking beaks, lunging and snapping at each other, and I wince as the bigger one lands a good peck.

“I figure we could build that bathroom cabinet this afternoon.”

The wind in my face makes tears sting in my eyes. Is this how it’s going to be between us? Torturous snippets of what wecouldhave, then awkward, painful distance? How could I even bear that?

“Sure.”

Cade’s sigh gusts through the truck. His thumb taps against the steering wheel, and when I steal a glance at him, his jaw is set.

And it’s not fair. He’s so freaking handsome. As breathtaking as the mountains we’re driving through, and just as rugged, just as raw and beautiful and wild. With his scars and his beard, his piercing eyes and long, dark hair tied back in a knot, Cade looks like he wandered out of the wilderness.

Watching him makes me ache.

Before he turned up at the cabin, before I woke to find this strange man standing over me, I was so cold and numb inside. Back then, I desperately wanted tofeelagain, but now that this sharp-edged yearning has nestled inside my chest… I’m not so sure.

Maybe numb wasn’t so bad after all.

“I’m sorry about the parking lot,” Cade says quietly. It’s his third apology already.

I clear my throat and stare out of my window. “I’m not.”

It’s not a long drive, but it takes a thousand years. By the time we pull up again at the lakehouse, jumping out of the cab onto the hard dirt, I’m stiff and achy. Old before my time.

“Angel,” Cade says softly when he catches sight of my face.

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