Page 128 of Caged

I made a mental note to ask later if he knew from experience.

“Yes, it does.” My muscles slowly relaxed as the extra medication kicked in.

Jay put his hand on the table, palm up. This time, I accepted his invitation without hesitation.

“I’m so sorry, Cate. I came here today to tell you how I feel. To beg you not to leave. Instead, I freaked out becauseI thought you’d already left.” He paused. “I didn’t handle it well.”

Charlie was right. “I noticed. Did you really think I’d leave without saying goodbye?”

“No. Yes.” He ran his hand through his hair again. “Christ, I don’t know. I tried calling, but you didn’t answer.” His eyes shifted to my phone. “When I got here and couldn’t see your car, well, it scared me.”

“And instead of asking me about it, you decided to act like an idiot?” I half teased.

Instead of answering, he laughed and pulled the card out of the roses.

The card said,I’m an idiot, in elegant cursive. He didn’t write it. Somehow it meant more knowing he’d said them out loud to a total stranger.

I smiled and met his gaze.

“Love will make a man do that,” he said. No hesitation. No wavering. Just dropped the damn love bomb on me while holding my hand and staring in my eyes.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to blink. It was my turn. Not to say I love you, I couldn’t lead with that, but to admit my fear and to apologize.

“You know, I thought I heard you when I was in the hospital, but I kept slipping in and out of consciousness. You promised to be there, but when I woke up, you weren’t.” I sucked in a deep breath, grateful the pain pills worked. I whispered, “I thought I’d imagined it all.”

I’m sorry, was all he said.

“It’s okay, I understand why now.” I paused and looked down the short hall to my bedroom door. “I’m glad my father was there. We needed the time.”

He nodded; we both had family issues in need of healing.

“When you didn’t come visit, it hurt. I convinced myself it was for the best.”

He squeezed my hand and apologized.

“I wasn’t leaving. I promise.”

He nodded. “But you are going to DC?”

“Yes. Maybe.” Probably not, if this conversation continued to go well. “But not today.”

He squeezed my hand. “Good.”

“I wouldn’t have left without talking to you. That’s why I went to the store. I needed a phone so I could call you and make sure you were okay, and…”

Following his example, I took a steadying breath.

“To tell you how I feel. To find out if you felt the same.” I chuckled before saying, “But you showed up here and pissed me off before I could.”

“Sorry.” His laugh negated his apology.

“Why do you always have to piss me off?” I asked without venom.

“I don’t do it on purpose,” he said. “Well, not always.” He emphasized the word, always, and followed up with a wink and a grin.

It was my turn to laugh.

“Do you think we would’ve killed each other if we hadn’t fallen in love in the cage?” I asked. Letting him know I loved him in the same indirect way he’d told me.

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