Sea Breeze 03 - While It Lasts

to Brett or I’m leaving, ” I yelled.
    Cage smirked but the angry gleam still flashed in his eyes. “I ain’t apologizing to anyone , sweetheart.”
    I wanted to scream and punch his chest and cry because he wasn’t who I thought he was. He wasn’t the sweet guy I’d gotten to know the last couple of weeks. I should tell Brett goodbye but I couldn’t. I was too close to tears. So, I ran.

    I heard Cage call my name as I pushed through the crowd but I didn’t look back. He’d shown his true colors tonight. I’d fallen for his act but not again. My chest ached and the lonely feeling I’d slowly been overcoming was seeping back in. I pushed out the first set of doors I came to and ran out into the parking lot. This wasn’t where my Jeep was parked. The tears I’d tried to hold back had finally started to fall and my vision was blurry. I hated this. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to cuddle into my covers and be safe. No more pain. No more being let down.
    I started walking. I’d just walk around the building until I found my Jeep. Maybe I could find it before anyone came out here and saw me like this. I hated looking weak.
    “EVA! ” Cage’s voice called out from behind me. I wanted to run but I was wearing heels and walking on gravel. I’d just end up fall ing into a heap if I tried. Even so , I didn’t have to stop. If he wanted to talk to me then he could do it while I walked. It would be easier to ignore him that way.
    “Eva.” H e repeated my name again as he caught up to me. I didn’t turn my head to acknowledge him.
    “I’m sorry. I saw you with th at guy and I snapped. I didn’t think about your feelings ; I just cared that he was touching you. I didn’t want him touching you. I was wrong.” The pleading sound to his voice was a little more powerful than I’d have thought. I stopped walking but I kept staring straight ahead. I was afraid to look into his eyes just yet. If he was as sorry as he sounded then his eyes would tell me and I’d melt. Damn his pretty face.
    “Brett was a friend of Josh’s. He wasn’t some strange guy in a bar.”
    Cage let out a heavy sigh. “ Fuuuck .”
    “You were dancing with some girl. I don’t see how me dancing with some guy was any different.”
    Cage’s fingers wrapped around my arm, “Please look at me, Eva.”
    He was really good at the begging thing. His voice even dropped to a low sexy rumble. Danggit .
    I shifted so that I was facing him. His pale blue eyes looked desperate .
    “I’m a jackass. I know that. I’m sorry. I should have never treated you that way.”
    “Me? What about poor Brett?”
    Cage frowned, “I didn’t touch him.”
    “But you were rude to him.”
    Cage gently tugged on my arm to pull me closer to him. “The girl I was danc ing with was Amanda Hardy. She’s Marcus Hardy ’s , Low’s fiancé , little sister. She was trashed and that is not normal for her. I danced with her because I was worried about who she might grab up if I turned her down.”
    So , he was being kind. Not what I was expecting.
    “Okay. I understand that.” I replied.
    “Will you come back inside?” h e asked as he cupped the side of my face with his hand.
    “Will you apologize to Brett?”
    Cage’s soft expression went hard but only for a moment. Then the corner of his mouth tilted up, “Probably not.”
    “Then I’m not going back inside,” I replied.
    Cage’s face fell, “But I never got to dance with you.”
    Now that Brett had broken me in to dancing in that mass of people I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t been able to dance with Cage.
    “Okay, but just one dance.”

Chapter Fifteen

    Cage

    The tightness in my chest had finally eased by the time I got Eva back inside the doors of Live Bay. Seeing her tear streaked face had only made the panic worse. If she’d really pushed it I’d have come back in here and found the guy and apologized. I was ready to do whatever she wanted me to in order to get her to forgive me.
    I’d taken her to the Jeep so she could get her purse and fix her face before we came back inside. I’d also made sure to get a good long kiss out of her too. Just to feel her safely in my arms and not running away from me had been the biggest relief. The fact she tasted like the cotton candy lip balm she’d put on was an added bonus.
    I noticed a girl that I was pretty sure I’d screwed awhile back making her way to ward us. I really didn’t want any more of my past to be exposed to