He coughed a laugh. “Because cock-rock is so much better. Let’s see… I’m pretty sure most of those songs are about sex, drugs, prostitution, and rich people buying shit.”
The tea in my mouth tried to come out of my nose as laughter filled my chest. “Cock-rock? Like… getting your cock rocked?”
“So you’ve heard the term?”
“No.” I giggled some more. “That’s not a real term.” Tapping my finger on the console between us, I shrugged. “But at least the voices are sexy, not twangy.”
“So it’s not what someone says, it’s how they say it?”
“Exactly.” My head bobbed in an exaggerated nod.
“So I could call you a whore, and tell you to bend over while I snort a line off your sweet ass with a hundred dollar bill before I fuck you, and if I said it in the right voice it would sound sexy to you?”
“Pfft… no.” I rolled my eyes. Then, of course, I wondered if the “sweet ass” comment was literal or just a lyrical example.
Okay, it might have sounded sexy to me. I wasn’t going to ask him to actually say that in his sexiest voice, but it sure left me thinking about the songs I liked. Then I focused on the actual lyrics… yeah, he could have said that to me and made mewant to let him do it. The religious sector was right: music was corrupting young minds, and I was one of them. A unique and catchy beat could make people dance and celebrate some really terrible shit. Not. Good.
“So…” I found a quick change of subject that made me feel less like a tramp. “Thaddeus is quite wealthy. He has tons of patents on things beyond robotic technology. He pays me well, but I received a hefty settlement from my accident, too. I’ve also been photographed for various fitness and technology magazines. Thad lines all that stuff up for me. It’s good publicity for him as well, and the money that comes from the photo releases is pretty good.”
“Sounds like you’ve got everything going for you.”
Not everything.
He pulled into my airline’s terminal drop-off and got my luggage out of the back.
“So how long will you be in Beijing?”
“A week to ten days. It depends on how much tweaking they do.” I shrugged. “So if you find yourself in the Beijing area give me a call. We can grab dinner or something.”
Cage grinned. “Sure, I’ll check my schedule. Somehow I think my six-day-a-week workouts, pre-season training, and fishing will prevent me from being in your neighborhood.”
“Fishing? You fish?”
“Ten thousand lakes, of course I fish.”
I nodded, imagining Cage on a fishing boat, listening to country music. It surprised me how much I liked that visual. “I’d better go. Who knows how long it will take me to get through security with my metal parts. Thank you for the ride.”
“My pleasure.” He didn’t move.
I didn’t move.
What were we waiting for? A kiss? I hoped so. He stepped closer to me. I held my breath. The ground shook. The clouds parted. Angels played their trumpets. Okay, that may have been a slight exaggeration, but inside that’s how I felt until the world’s biggest dickhead honked his horn at us.
“This isn’t a parking lane,” he yelled out his window.
Cage stepped back.
No, don’t step back!
“We’ll text.”
I smiled, but it felt more like a grimace. “Bye.” Turning, I made sure to give dickhead an evil glare before making my way to the entrance.
First-class.Thaddeus took care of me, but even with some extra room and extra attention, the flight would be brutal. No one sat next to me on the flight to Seattle; I could only hope to have as much luck on the plane from Seattle to Beijing.
With my two-hour layover in Seattle, I grabbed a sandwich, SmartWater, and a bag of BBQ potato chips, then claimed my seat by the gate, propping my legs up on my carry-on suitcase. After licking off the BBQ flavoring, I took my phone off airplane mode and a text dinged right away.
Cage:I should have just kissed you. Stupid me.
