Page 120 of Caged

“Or what I’ll do to you if you hurt her?” It didn’t feel like an empty threat.

Pretending I wasn’t intimidated, as he stared directly into my soul, I answered, “No, sir.”

I’d left the office with every intention of making sure Cate was okay and telling her how I felt.When did it all turn to shit?

When I let the past cloud my judgment.

When I discounted my feelings because I didn’t trust them.

When I let my old insecurities take over.

“There’s only one thing that can make a man act this stupid.”

Did I want to know? Did I already know?

“You’re in love with her.”

I didn’t know what I’d expected to hear, but it wasn’t that. “Excuse me?” It was true, at least I’d thought I was until I’d talked myself out of it.

But had I really? No, I just convinced myself I had because I was scared. But how did he know? The same way my father did; I couldn’t hide how I felt about her.

“You heard me, don’t try to deny it. I can see it in your eyes. I saw it in the hospital.” General Maxwell said. “But that doesn’t excuse your behavior.”

“No, sir, it doesn’t. And I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to.”

He was right. I needed to apologize to Cate, the woman I was terrified of falling in love with.It’s too late, I love her.My walls fell, my doubt faded, and my panic soared.

Have I fucked it up beyond repair?

“Get your head out of your ass and tell her how you feel, before it’s too late.” His fatherly advice sounded a lot like my dad’s.

If I wanted to fix this, I needed to clear my head. Cate deserved a proper apology, one presented with a fair amount of humble groveling.

Twisting to look at the door over my shoulder made my ribs scream in pain. I gritted my teeth and ignored them. Turning back around, I ran my hand through my hair.

Man up, Sheppard.“Sir, I owe you, both of you, an apology. I let my inner demons get the best of me and unleashed them on Cate. She didn’t deserve that.”

“No, she didn’t.” He crossed his arms and waited.

Nodding, I said, “I need to fix my head before I talk to her.”

He raised his eyebrows at that.

“I need to get it right, because I doubt she’ll give me more than one second chance.”

His laugh was completely unexpected. “If you act this stupid again, you won’t deserve one.”

Damn, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It was easy to see where Cate got her no nonsense attitude.

As if getting schooled by Cate’s father wasn’t enough, I could hear my father’s voice saying the same thing.

“Then I better get it right.”But how?“I’ll be back in an hour.”

He held eye contact while he lifted his wrist in front of his face. If I’d blinked, I wouldn’t have seen him glance at his watch. He nodded. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

I relaxed my shoulders while releasing an internal sigh, because sighing in front of a three star general was not something a good soldier ever did.

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