Lake:The last pussy of mine you petted was also hairless and believe me she sure as hell liked you petting her… and licking her… and…
Cage:Fuck!! I’ve got to go whack off before my massage. Thanks a lot.
Lake:Monaghan… Don’t forget to love me.
Cage:Impossible.
I hoped the photographers wanted a smiling model because it would take a while to wipe the huge one off my face.
“It’s… amazing, beautiful, and… wow.”I smiled at Thad as I pulled up my robe and put on my new Thaddeus Westbrook original.
“My love said she wanted it all: fashion and function.” He shrugged, but a rare vulnerability showed through that I’d never seen before. He looked like a nervous boy on his first date.
That heaviness returned to my heart. “The toenails are painted.” I smiled like he hadn’t tried to turn my world inside out thirty minutes earlier.
“I taught you function before fashion, but I guess youtaught me that a brilliant inventor wouldn’t sacrifice either.”
I laughed. “Glad to know your ego is still larger than life.” I walked a few feet in one direction, jumped up and down, then jogged to the other side of the room. The leg felt and performed just like my other robotic legs, but it looked like my pretty leg, maybe even prettier. “You’re brilliant, Thaddeus Westbrook.” I hugged him.
His body stiffened beneath my arms, something he’d never done before with any of the other million hugs I’d given him over the years. Even his arms draped around me, resting lightly on my back in the most awkward way. When I released him his smile faded as he cleared his throat and diverted his gaze toward the photographer.
“Ready?” he called.
“Whenever Lake is,” the photographer replied.
“It’s all you, love.” Thad’s sad smile broke something in me, but I couldn’t even say for sure what it was.
“The photographer is a guy.” I tightened the sash on my robe.
“His two assistants are women.”
I looked over at them waiting for me. They smiled. I smiled, sort of. “I don’t want you to watch.”
Why did he have to look disappointed, like I’d rejected him?
“I’m going to see the photos, love. And you’re going to change legs four times. Think of me as your assistant.”
I nodded to the ponytail lady. “She did my makeup, she can bring me my legs.”
“Did I mention I’m going to see the photos? The whole world could potentially see the photos, love. This is going to be huge.”
The whole world.Cage.
Thad grabbed the collar to my robe and pulled me close to his face. My breath caught in my throat.
“Change the world, Lake. Don’t let the world change you,” he whispered then pressed a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth.
He’d kissed my cheeks thousands of times, but that kiss was more intimate. That kiss crossed a line that hadn’t existed between us since our first date because we didn’t need it. We worked together. He became part of my family. That one kiss changed everything. I hated him for doing that. I hated him for taking something so perfect and ruining it.
I wasn’t his.
I would never be his.
I belonged to Cage.
I belonged to the man who made me believe his sole purpose in life was to love me.
Turning, I dropped my robe, letting it pool at my feet just inches from where Thad stood behind me. He sucked in a tight breath. I smiled because… fuck him for doing that to me.
