Brutally Beautiful(52)

“Lainey! Lainey?” Fran’s voice called from the hallway.

Neither of us moved.

The pressure of his hand gripped at my neck tighter and a slow devilish smile appeared on his lips.

“Lainey?” Fran’s voice continued to call.

Kade shifted and pressed his body against mine, thudding my back against the door of the office, clicking it closed. The hand tangled in my hair tightened more and his other slipped softly along the side of my waist, under the hem of my shirt and skidded hot fingertips along the surface of my skin. Leaning his face into the curve of my neck, he inhaled deeply, and I was instantly gasping for breath from his closeness. “I think someone wants you,” he whispered, chuckling softly against my skin.

“Yes, I hear him,” I whispered back, not caring at all.

“I wasn’t talking about Fran.” He growled, pressing his warm lips against my neck. Oh, hell, it just got hot in here.

Reluctantly stepping away, his hands released me, his eyes so intense, stared down into mine. “I don’t know how to start this, I’ve never done this…,” he whispered.

“Kade, I think you just did.”

His eyes stayed fixed on mine as he smiled. Fran’s voice was closer now, just on the other side of the door and Kade moved past me to open it. His hand brushed over my hip, along the curve of my waist to the front of my belly, and lingered just below my navel. I thudded my head against the wall as the strongest surge of lust exploded through my entire being. My soul wanted a piece of that man.

“Lainey? Are you okay?” Fran’s voice shattered through our bubble, interrupting our moment. He walked through the door purposefully, looked at Kade and narrowed his eyes, then turned to glare at me. “Dylan is closing early tonight, everybody seems to have left. I’ll drive you home now,” he said, chancing another glance towards Kade. “To make sure you get home safe.”

Kade’s eyes never left mine. “Go,” he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow night with my pitchfork and horns.”

“Goodnight, Kade,” I said as I slipped out of the room, leaving him alone. I went back to the trailer that night with a very buzzed Bree, but I wore a smile plastered to my face. I was glad to soothe someone again, to heal someone again.



****





As I applied the tiniest bit of mascara to my lashes and the thinnest layer of gloss over my lips, I relayed all the facts I’d discovered about Kade’s past to Bree. “That’s the worst thing I’ve every heard, Lainey. Lord, no wonder he’s such a hard guy to get along with. Did you tell him anything about what you’ve been through?”

“No, Kade doesn’t know that I know, so there’s no need to tell him about my past. And I won’t, so please don’t say anything to Dylan in your pillow talk.”

“Girl. My pillow talk will not have you in it, not to worry,” she said kissing me on my temple and winking at me as she looked into my reflection in the mirror we were sharing. She slathered on a thick layer of dark shiny lipstick and puckered her lips, blowing a kiss into the air, and then leaned all the way against the surface of the mirror. “How is it possible that it’s the dead of winter and I have more freckles on my face? Skin cancer? Look at them. Do they look abnormal? ”

Scanning her beautiful skin, I counted five very normal freckles across the bridge of her perfect nose. “Stop. You still only have five freckles. Your freckles are freckles, and you’re beautiful.”

“And you,” she said turning to face me, “are actually putting make-up on your face. I know damn well it’s not for Fran. What gives?”