Page 28 of Cocky

“It was amazing. Fantastic. Kade, I’m gonna pee!”

He stopped immediately, although she could tell by the glint in his eye and the persistent smile that he was doing so reluctantly.

“I’m glad you finally decided to come clean, Mouse. Remember that so there won’t be a next time.”

She scoffed but didn’t press her luck.

“I’m hungry,” Kade blurted as he suddenly rolled over and leaped out of bed. “Get dressed, babe. Let’s go grab something to eat.”

Angel frowned as she did just that while issuing a weak protest. “There’s plenty of food here. Why do we have to go out?”

“Because you don’t have what I want here.”

She couldn’t argue that, since Kade didn’t exactly say what it was he was in the mood for. Pulling on a pair of skinny jeans, Angel had to admit she wasn’t only not tired, but she was curious about this mystery food and place he had in mind.

It wasn’t too late, and a little adventure sounded exciting. Plus, she was ready to get back on the back of his bike.

“We’ll take your car,” Kade said, shattering her desirous thoughts. “Where are your keys?”

As she retrieved them and handed them over, she asked, “You don’t want to take your bike?”

He looked at her as if her head had come unscrewed and rolled away. “Not with your arm like that.”

“It doesn’t even hurt,” she protested. For now, thanks to their amorous lovemaking, she was still riding the painkillers provided by her brain’s flood of hormones.

“Be that as it may, the answer is a big, fat no, Mouse. Until you’re healed, and maybe not for a time afterward until I stop seeing you skidding across the asphalt every time I close my damn eyes, the only vehicle you’re riding in will have four wheels. At least.”

She scowled, but there was no sense arguing. The set of his jaw and the no-nonsense look in his eyes warned her to keep her mouth shut. Angel knew a brick wall when she saw one.

“Fine, whatever. Have it your way. But this isn’t the last you’re going to hear about it,” she warned him.

“I didn’t expect it was, but Mouse,” he said, leaning closer, “I don’t back down from a fight. Ever. You need to remember that too.”

Then he dropped a quick kiss on her mouth and opened the door, standing back for her to pass. She did, giving him the evil eye as she went so he understood just how irritated she was with him.

Angel was going to get back on that bike, sooner than he thought, come hell or high water. He wasn’t her daddy, and he certainly wasn’t her boss. He’d better remember that.

Ha! she thought, feeling better about the situation already.

fourteen

They ended up at some place called the Tavern. It was way out of the way in some town Angel had never heard of before, and it waspacked. Maybe it was the only place in town to get a decent drink because, from the sheer amount of cars parked in the gravel lot and the people milling about, she guessed that every last person that lived in the area was present tonight.

The idea of being in a place that small surrounded by that many people was nausea-inducing, but one look at handsome Kade’s face and how his expression lightened considerably as he threw the car into park, and she kept her lips sealed.

She wasn’t about to rain on his parade when he was clearly excited to be there. When he turned a bright smile on her and said, “Come on,” she knew he was excited to have her there with him, too.

As she got out of the car and met him at the front end, slipping her smaller hand into his, she could feel the energy fizzling from him and got the distinct impression this place was somehow important to him. At the very least, he held a soft spot for it, making her take a closer look so she could try to see what he saw.

Inside was even worse than the outside. The moment they stepped through the solid wood door, Angel was assaulted with noise and smells and heat worse than a sauna—not that she knew what a sauna felt like personally, as she’d never had the pleasure or the desire to be in one. But aside from the discomforting sensations, she thought she saw a bit of what attracted him to the place. From the scarred wood floors to the old-timey curving bar top to the extended ceiling fans that hung from exposed wooden rafters and all of the western memorabilia hanging on the walls, it had a saloon-type feel and an old-world charm that was difficult to come by in a world infested by nightclubs.

Kade held her hand tight as he shoved his way through the throngs of people packed in tighter than sardines. Angel clung to him, one hand in his and the other on his thick forearm, fearing she’d lose him completely if they got separated.

Locating a high-top table that a couple was stepping away from, Kade took long, deep strides to get them there and, without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and grabbed her by the waist, then hoisted her up onto one of the two stools before anyone else could claim it.

“You stay here while I get us drinks,” he said close to her ear. “What do you want?”

Angel might work in a bar, but she’d never partaken much in the actual act of drinking. “Uhh…sex on the beach?”

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