Because of Low (Sea Breeze #2)(3)

“Wipe that look off your face. I don’t need your pity. I know what Cage is like. I know you have probably seen the kind of girls he’s attracted to and I look absolutely nothing like them. I don’t live in a fantasy world. I’m very aware,” she tilted her head and smiled at me sweetly, “I don’t even know your name.”

“Marcus Hardy”

“Well Marcus Hardy, I’m Willow Montgomery but everyone calls me Low. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise”

“So, you’re a friend of Preston’s.”

I nodded, “Yes but don’t hold it against me.”

She laughed for the first time and the sudden pleasure from such a simple sound startled me. I liked hearing her laugh.

“I won’t. Preston isn’t all that bad. He likes to use those pretty boy looks of his to get his way but I’m safe from his attention. Cage would kill him if he decided to bat his baby blues at me.”

Was it because of Preston’s womanizing or the fact he was a guy that made Cage protective of Willow. Did he really expect her to wait around until he was ready to settle down and marry her?

“LOW,” Cage’s voice rang out as the door to the apartment swung open. His head snapped around and his eyes went straight to Willow.

“God baby I was so afraid you’d leave, come here.” This was a side of Cage I’d never seen. Apparently the sweet little red head got to him in a way no one else could. He pulled her up into his arms, reached down and grabbed the forgotten suitcase then led her back to his bedroom whispering to her the entire way. If she hadn’t informed me that she refused to have sex with him earlier I’d have been eat up with righteous fury at the idea of him touching someone so sweet after having just left the bed of not one but two girls. But instead, I was eaten up with envy because I knew he was going to get to hold her and listen to her musical voice as she spilled out all her problems. He’d be the one to fix them, not me. I’d just met her. Why the hell did that bother me?





Chapter Two





Willow



I glanced down at Cage sprawled out on the floor beside me. He’d somehow managed to find a few blankets and a pillow last night when he’d returned from his two a.m. booty call. He reeked of whiskey and sex. I didn’t allow him to sleep next to me when he’d been out screwing some nameless chick, crazy boy. I resisted the urge to reach down and brush the long black hair out of his eyes. I needed to leave and if I woke him up he’d stop me. My sister was expecting me to keep my niece Larissa today. I was still furious with her but Larissa was a baby and she needed me. She couldn’t help the fact her mommy was a selfish brat.

I took the quilt off the bed as I stood up and gently covered Cage’s half naked body. He’d stripped down to his boxers last night in his attempt to get rid of his smoke, whiskey, and cheap women infested clothing. Didn’t matter he still smelled like all those things. The ridiculously chiseled body of his was always a golden brown. His mother had been one hundred percent Indian and it was obvious in his features. The intense blue eyes of his had to be the only thing his dad gave him genetically and physically. That was one of the many bonds Cage and I shared, absent fathers.

My suitcase held the only three clean outfits I currently had. My dirty clothes were piled up over in the corner of Cage’s room in a plastic laundry basket. I really needed to make time to do the laundry. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a “Hurricane’s Baseball” t-shirt Cage had given me from my meager supply of clothing, I dressed quickly and quietly. After I’d brushed my hair, I closed my suitcase and threw my clothing from last night into the dirty clothes basket.

Gently closing the bedroom door behind me so I didn’t wake him, I turned and headed for the fridge. I needed some coffee and I wanted to leave some ready for Cage when he woke up. Lord knows he’d need it after his late night.

“I thought you left last night.”

I spun around to see Marcus Hardy sitting at the kitchen table with a newspaper and a cup of coffee already in his hands. I really wish he wasn’t so dang gorgeous. Marcus Hardy wasn’t in my league or even my atmosphere. How Cage had landed a Hardy for a roommate, I had no idea. Preston must be really tight with Marcus which seemed odd since Preston grew up much like Cage and me.

“Um, no, that was Cage that left last night.”

Marcus frowned that disapproving frown I’d seen last night again. He really didn’t get Cage and me at all. I wasn’t sure if he was judging me or Cage but it annoyed me. Even though he had the prettiest green eyes I’d ever seen on a guy in my life.

“Cage isn’t here?”

I shook my head, “No, he’s back. He had a um, call last night and he went out. He got back a few hours ago.”

“So he left you here while he went... out”

I sighed and reached for a coffee cup.

“Yep”

“I was going to make me some eggs and toast. You want some?”

That hadn’t been the response I’d expected. I was sure he was going to beat this thing with Cage and me into the ground. Instead, he was offering to fix me breakfast.

“No thanks, I’ve got to go keep my niece today.” I held up the coffee mug in my hand, “I take mugs full of coffee with me when I leave but I always bring them back.”