What a sadist. My libido self-combusted. I would need a 5-in-1 to scrape it off my leather seat later.
My eyes popped open. His danced with amusement.
“My number?”
He nodded, not moving an inch from my face like he dared me to kiss him.
“I’m not going to kiss you,” I whispered. Shoving him into the back seat and having sex with him was another thing, but I could do that without kissing him.
“No?”
“No.”
He moved back and my lungs screamedYES!as they drew in a breath. Cage retrieved his phone from his pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to me.
“I’m leaving for Beijing in a few days.” I typed my name and number into his contacts.
“Really? What for?”
I handed his phone back to him. “My job. In layman’s terms, I test robotic legs. The company has engineers all around the world who make prototypes for amputees. Jerry Chu, twenty-eight and just barely over five foot with an affinity for answering all questions with ‘excellent’ or ‘you’ll see,’ has two new prototypes to fit me—one for swimming and one for rock climbing. So basically I’m going to China to swim and climb.”
“You rock climb?”
“I do a little bit of everything. That’s why my boss, Thaddeus Westbrook, hired me. Different limbs for different activities which is nothing new, but his are unique. They ‘sense’ or respond to my muscle reflexes. You could call them smart limbs, of sorts. Although, the one I had on this morning was too smart for its own good when it landed on the security guard’s shin.”
“Jailbird.” He grinned, looking at my mouth.
“Shut up.” My eyes shifted to his lips, begging him to just kiss me.
“Is your sexy prosthetic also smart?”
I laughed while rubbing my hand down over it. “No, she’s clueless. My smart ones are not sexy. Thaddeus says function before fashion. He hopes to someday make physical disabilities obsolete.”
“Big dreams.”
“Yes, but he’s wicked smart, so I don’t doubt him.”
Cage shoved his phone in his pocket. “Well, safe travels.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
I waited for him to shut my door, but he just stared at me. No one looked at me like Cage Monaghan. I thought it the first time we laid eyes on each other, and years later it still feltthe same. He looked at me like people looked at puppies, cooing babies, ocean-view sunsets, and… miracles.
Not one ounce of pity.
Not one reservation.
Not one hint of anything but total admiration.
“I’ll call you.”
“Pfft.” I rolled my eyes. “You won’t remember me in the morning.”
“I won’t forget you when I’m dead.” He shut the door.
CHAPTER SEVEN
RUB A DUB DUB
