Hard to Handle (Caine Cousins #2)(21)

Her sassy tone made him smile. The woman sounded as though she couldn’t even fathom the two of them together, yet here she was, sitting across from him.

Leaning in, Lynx waited until she met his eyes. “Trust me, darlin’. A week would never be enough for me.”

Some women would’ve swooned if he’d said that to them. Not Reagan. The girl was stubborn as all get out.

“Sweet-talk a nun outta her panties,” she muttered, her gaze focused on the silverware wrapped in a paper napkin.

“What was that?”

Reagan shook her head. “Nothin’.” She lifted her gaze to his. “So, why’d you wanna meet me for breakfast?”

“’Cause I like your company.”

“Pfft. Now I know you’re fulla shit.”

Although he probably should’ve been offended, Lynx couldn’t keep the grin off his face. Reagan had always been sassy. For as long as he’d known her. It was one of the reasons he was so into her. She wasn’t the type of woman to let a man sweet-talk her out of her panties, that was for damn sure. If a man wanted to be with her, he’d have to work for it.

And Lynx knew he’d have to work twice as hard because his reputation when it came to women wasn’t one he was necessarily proud of. However, explaining to Reagan that he’d been trying to fill the void because he wanted her more than he wanted air probably wouldn’t gain him any points.

“Tell me, Lynx. When’s the divorce gonna be final?”

Ah. Fantastic. His least favorite topic.

Leaning back, Lynx toyed with the paper ring that held the silverware inside the napkin. “Monday.”

“Really?” She didn’t sound convinced.

“Yeah.” Lynx held her stare. “It was filed a while back. Just had to wait it out.”

Reagan sat stone-still, her eyes locked with his. He could tell she was processing that information, probably trying to find a way to verify it. When she finally broke eye contact, shaking her head slightly, Lynx held back a smirk.

Reagan sighed and Lynx waited. He could see her brain working, knew she was coming up with a sassy retort.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she finally said under her breath.

He didn’t say anything. What could he say? It was true. And come Monday, Reagan wouldn’t have a reason to push him away. Sure, she would probably come up with something, but at least she didn’t have her usual excuses working for her anymore.

“What made you marry that woman, anyway?” She relaxed somewhat. “I’ve always wanted to know.”

“What made you stay with a dumb ass like Billy Watson?” he countered.

Reagan’s dark eyes narrowed. “That’s none of your business.”

“No?”

Donna returned with a cup of coffee for Lynx and a Dr. Pepper for Reagan, but the older woman didn’t stick around, quickly moving to the next table and refilling coffee mugs.

“No,” Reagan stated firmly. “Plus, I ain’t with him anymore, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Sure it does. Same as it matters to you why I married Tammy.”

If Lynx wasn’t mistaken, there was something territorial about Reagan’s heated stare. She certainly didn’t like the idea of him being married. Whether it was to Tammy or anyone, Lynx couldn’t tell.

Leaning forward, he decided to clear the air between them. “I’m gonna say this one time and one time only. You do with the information what you want.”

“I’m all ears,” she responded in that snarky tone that made his dick hard.

Keeping his voice low enough that it didn’t carry past their table, he said, “I married Tammy because she said she was pregnant. And yes, before you ask, I did glove up. I’ve never had sex without a condom.”

He noticed a blush creep into Reagan’s cheeks. The talk of sex and condoms was clearly not something she was used to.

“But I took her at her word and yes, I fucked up. I married her.”

“Did you love her?”

He didn’t even hesitate when he said, “No. Did I think I would eventually? No, but I had an obligation. I thought maybe we could make it work for the baby. But it didn’t. She lied about bein’ pregnant and she was screwin’ around behind my back. I learned my lesson.”

What he didn’t say was that he knew he could never love Tammy because there was only one woman he could and would ever love. And she just so happened to be sitting across from him right at that moment.

“I’m sorry about that,” Reagan stated, her tone softer this time.

Lynx sat up, surprised by her reaction.

“Regardless of whether you loved her or not, it’s not easy when they cheat.”

He knew that Reagan had experience in that area. Billy had shit for brains and the dumb ass hadn’t even attempted to hide his infidelity. That still didn’t explain why Reagan had stuck with him for so damn long.

“Did you love Billy?” he asked, figuring it was only fair. Tit for tat.

“I thought I did. At one point. But no, I don’t think so. I cared about him, sure. But even that died a long time ago.”

Lynx believed her. Hell, if she’d said she had loved Billy, he would’ve believed her. He wouldn’t have liked it, but he would’ve believed it.