Page 25 of One Quick Obsession

“You look good then too.” I nearly bit off my tongue wondering what the hell I was saying.

“Oh. Well you look good now too. I mean, last time I saw you, you weren’t wearing a shirt, so you looked good then as well, but… well, I’m just going to stop thinking or talking. Or whatever.”

I let out a curse and lowered my head. “This is a damn mistake.”

“Totally.”

And then my mouth was on hers, my hand sliding through the back of her hair, and I stepped off that precipice that told me that this was going to end badly.

She tasted of sweetness, and Scarlett, and it was everything I could do not to press her up against the side of the barn and take her right then. Instead, I just deepened the kiss and let my hand fall to her waist. Her hands went to my back, her fingernails digging in, and when I tilted my head, our tongues colliding, I finally tore myself away, trying to catch my breath.

“Mistake,” she blurted.

I nodded, not knowing if either one of us was telling the truth. “Mistake.”

And with that, I stormed to my truck, grateful that nobody had seen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Scarlett join the others, so I knew she was safe.

Safe from anyone who wanted to hurt her, and sure as hell safe from me.

Chapter Seven

Scarlett

After three days, I should have been able to push all thoughts of a certain Cage out of my mind. In fact, I should be able to ignore that he even existed in the first place. I hadn’t slept a full night since the moment I’d left him, however.

I could still taste him on my lips, I could still feel his body pressed into mine. Why was it so difficult for me to even breathe when it came to Hudson Cage?

He made no sense. He practically hated me and I wasn’t sure what I felt about him. How could I when every time I saw him, our push and pull nearly gave me a migraine? He’d seen me at my worst and yet I’d never seen him close to his. He hid himself so well it was hard to even imagine what that could be. But I could still taste him on my tongue and had to wonder where the hell that had come from because there was no way I was going to ever be able to breathe the same way again when he was around me.

I was losing my sense of reality when it came to him. I paged through my planner on my desk, knowing I had a long day ahead of me. And having Hudson on my mind would only complicate things.

And yet there had been something on his face. Not lust, not need. But something else. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Perhaps I was looking for something that would appear, but it felt as if there was a damage beneath the surface other than him being worried about me. Other than him always being angry that he had to step in to help me. As if I wasn’t just as angry that he had to do the same.

I ran my hands over my face and went back to my planner.

Today was a big day at the resort. We had a sizeable and grand wedding, and I wanted to make sure it was perfect. Not only for the bride, groom, and wedding party, but for anyone else who happened to be at the resort. The Cage Resort didn’t normally do weddings on a scope such as this. Yes, there were a few smaller ones that fit the atmosphere the elder Cages had envisioned, but the resort was usually for skiing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Getting your hot toddy while the rest of your party was out on the slopes, or hiking in the spring, was the main event.

I wanted to help bring the resort into a new era. Climate change was affecting the way the timing of the resort worked. This generation of Cages were environmentally and economically responsible and doing their best to combat climate change. They were putting their money, talents, and designs into making sure the resort was self-sustainable on solar and wind energy and were looking into different ways to help increase the population of certain wildlife, as well as aid in water conservation and quality, and even had a science team on property working on different erosion studies. I knew Hudson’s father had been staunchly against things like this. In fact, I knew that he would rather burn the place down than worry about any tree-hugging nonsense.

This generation of Cages cared. Truly cared. I was grateful that I could be part of something. And as the changes affected more than the environment, it meant that what happened on property would also need to evolve. There needed to be a way to make the Cages money, that way they could put it towards more research and to ensure that they didn’t only rely on using what was around them. I was so thankful to be part of this company, and I wanted to show them all that hiring me wasn’t a waste.

At first, I had been afraid they had hired me because I was a local and had stood up to their father on more than one occasion. Part of me also had thought that maybe they were using me to get back at their dad, or even just because I was a pretty girl who happened to live in town.

I knew that they trusted me. They believed in what I could do. At least, they used to. Now I was adding more and more to their plate, trying to get them to see that there was so much more that could be done within the Cage name. And considering I wasn’t a Cage, sometimes it felt as if I were perhaps taking on something far too big that wasn’t mine to begin with.

But I needed to push that from my mind and get back to what I knew would be beneficial for the town, the resort, the Cages, and maybe a little to me.

“Hey, I was just stopping by to check on you. How are you?” Isabella asked as she walked into my office after tapping on the doorframe.

I’d had the door open, and she knew that if the door was closed, I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone and was focusing. But I did have an open-door policy. If the door was open, I was free to chat, or to see what anybody needed.

I couldn’t help but remember the last time I thought I had closed the door, but had failed.

The bruises had healed, even the bruises within. Perhaps those were more scarred over than anything, but I wasn’t the same woman I had been when I had looked into that mirror and realized I had failed. And yet having Hudson there, watching my failure, had been the final pin. I had yelled, screamed, and hated myself for breaking down in front of him.

And it turns out it hadn’t been the last time I would do so in front of him.