She sucked in a quick breath. The excitement in her eyes and the smile on her face eased my anxiety, but just a little.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
MISSING VIRGINITY
LAKE
“GTO Jones!”I called from the top of the stairs. One step down left me seething with a few mumbled expletives. I was not ready to wear any prosthetic yet, but… stubborn… contumacious.
“I’ll carry?—”
Before Cage could finish his offer, I dropped to my butt and slid down the stairs. It didn’t feel awesome, but at least my backside didn’t feel like raw flesh. The messy, dark-haired boy at the bottom of the stairs giggled at me.
“Grant, Auntie Lake needs kisses.” I held out my arms.
He jumped into them. I tried to hide my flinch as even his little body caused mine pain.
“Good Lord, Lake. What did you do?”
Keeping Grant captive in my embrace, I looked up at my brother Luke. He was the male version of me: black hair, blue eyes, and yep, upon inspection, his ears stuck out a bit too.
“Meth lab mishap.”
He continued to stare at me with no reaction. Jessica laughed.
“Sunscreen, Lake,” Luke said. “SPF 75 for your fair skin.”
“Thank you, Dr. Jones. I’ll take that into consideration thenext time I fall asleep on the beach. Hi, Jess.” Releasing Grant, I grabbed the stair rail to pull myself up without putting too much weight on my leg.
“We miss you. When are you moving back?” She winked and gave me a gentle hug.
Her body stiffened and in that moment I knew Cage had made his way down the stairs.
The son of her ex-lover.
The boyfriend whose name I never mentioned.
The man I wanted my family to love and accept more than absolutely anything.
Luke. He was the only one in my family who knew about my once-in-a-lifetime encounter with Cage. I let everything go after that day for him and Jessica. Luke looked at me and it was a very bittersweet moment. I saw the man who didn’t want to remember that time in his wife’s life, but I also saw the brother who remembered the day his sister found “the one.”
Luke drummed the top of the steering wheel with his hands. He was tired of driving around the block.
“You didn’t need to honk the horn.” I slipped in the seat and slammed the door shut.
“So what did you find out?”
“He’s gorgeous. He plays quarterback for Nebraska. Oh… and I think he loves me and my prosthetic leg.”
That wasn’t the information he wanted. Luke needed to know if I found any clues to Jessica’s whereabouts. I didn’t mean to blurt out all of that about Cage, but I had to tell someone… I just had to. We rode in silence back to our hotel in Omaha. Pain for his beloved radiated from him. I wanted to make it better, but just as we pulled into the parking garage, Luke reminded me why I loved him so much.
I rubbed the top of my leg, staring out the window.
“Your leg bothering you today?” Luke asked.
“No.” I stilled my hand. “It’s just a habit. That’s all.”
“I have no doubt that you’re right.”
