Every touch. Every look. Every moment that felt like our connection had existed before we ever met.
Yeah, I counted. Every. Single. One.
“Lake?”
I looked up from my absentminded staring at the ground between us. “What?”
“I’m kidding. I didn’t fly here just to kiss you.”
I smiled. “That would be crazy.”
“Probably.” He turned and opened the back door to the cab. “But I would have,” he said as I slid in the back seat.
There was only one thing left to do. I clenched my fists at the center of my chest like a super hero ripping off their street clothes, but I ripped open my chest instead and silently said, “Here’s my heart, just take it.”
“You’re awfullyquiet for someone who thinks so loud.”
I turned toward him as the taxi fought through the evening traffic. “You’re here and I’m… speechless. Are you sure you don’t have something else going on? Meetings? Therapy? Training?”
He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, a smile grew along his handsome face. “I think Beijing would be a very odd place to hold meetings, therapy, or any sort of NFL training. Is it so hard to believe that I came here just to see you?” He lifted his head and opened his eyes, pinning me with an intense stare that demanded an answer.
“Well… yeah, it is. Not that I’m not worthy of being followed halfway around the world.” I flashed him a flirty smile. “It’s just that this is a grand gesture of epic proportions. Are you that guy? The one who’s OTT with everything?”
“OTT?” He narrowed his eyes.
“Over the top.”
Cage chuckled and looked out his window. “No. I’m the guy who decided to put my career first the day I was drafted. I’m the guy who basically hands a girl a dating agreement that says it will never be anything more than casual because football comes first. I’m the guy who would rather watch game footagethan porn. I’m the guy who is focused one hundred percent of the time.”
He looked back at me and time seemed to pause while we just gazed at each other.
“You flew to China to kiss me,” I whispered.
Cage nodded, but his playful smile vanished. It was as if the reality of his rash behavior finally caught up to him.
I reached between us and took his hand, giving it a tight squeeze. “I won’t tell the ‘guy’ you were just talking about. This will be our little secret.”
He stared at our interlaced fingers. “Thanks. He’d be really pissed at me for being so impulsive.”
“He sounds like a real downer.”
Cage’s smile returned and all was right on our side of the world again. “He’s just focused. Other than that, he’s a pretty good guy.”
“Yeah?”
His eyes met mine. “Yeah.”
By the time we arrived at my hotel, Cage seemed to be his jovial self again.
“Did you get a room here? And if so, how did you know I was staying here?”
The cabbie retrieved Cage’s suitcase from the trunk.
“I didn’t know where you were staying, and I don’t have a room anywhere yet. I only made the necessary plans to get here.”
We stopped at the front desk, but there were no rooms available, not even for an American celebrity.
“You’ll stay with me.”
