Page 17 of Shallow
Cary
“Carrick,”she whispers, her jaw goingslack.
“I’m sorry, Miss West. You must have me confused with someone else. My name is Cary.” A streak of vindication rushes through me, and I fight a smirk. I’ve waited a lifetime to see the shock that’s on her face. I only wish I had a camera to captureit.
“Cary,” she repeats, twisting her shaking fingers together as she brushes her hair forward on one side. “When did you lose the rest of yourname?”
Sitting back, I brush the pad of my thumb over my lip ring. “Pretty much when I lost everythingelse.”
Shiloh glances from the top of my head down to my waist. She’s evaluating me, and I’m more than happy to let her get her fill. After all, I’ve waited for this moment for seven years. It’s all I’ve obsessed over since finding out she’d been court-ordered back totown.
Tome.
Still, the reality of seeing her again is deadlier than the anticipation. Seductive magazine pictures were safe. I could appreciate her assets like any other red-blooded male. However, I have to fist my hands underneath my desk to control my reaction as the real thing stands in front ofme.
An uncomfortable silence fills the room, and I want it to go on forever. I want her speechless, just like she was that night. She chews on her lower lip, trying and failing miserably to not stare. The reward is even better than I imagined as a flush heats her neck. She breaths heavily as she blatantly takes in the new CaryKincaid.
Surprise,Starshine.
Shiloh’s slate gray eyes dart back and forth from my arms to my neck. The shocking tattoos that paint every inch of skin from my fingertips to my neck are a far cry from the clean-cut honors student she spent four years casting aside. Her unwavering confidence is replaced by a distracted bounce from one foot to the other, and I smile as I take it all in. I’m so soaked up in the moment that I barely hear the discreet clearing of a throat as Will steps in front of her, blocking myview.
“I take it you two know eachother?”
“Somewhat,” I answer vaguely, my stare never moving from Shiloh’sface.
“A long time ago,” she adds, tilting her chin to the side. I’m not sure what’s going through her head, but it doesn’t escape me that she’s hesitant to elaborate. “Good to see you again, Carri—I mean,Cary.”
“I somehow doubt that.” Picking up the letter from the state of California, I wave it in the air like aprize.
“Did you arrange this?” she asks, narrowing the eye not covered by her hair. If she didn’t seem so antsy, I’d probably be amused. Instead, I’mintrigued.
“What if Idid?”
“You don’t have that kind of power.” Shiloh holds my stare, but her fidgeting betrays the confidence in hertone.
She’s right. I don’t. I’m just as shocked she’s here as she is, but a direct challenge like that can’t gounanswered.
“You have no idea what I’m capable of now, Starshine.” Folding my arms behind my head, I lean back against my chair and throw her a cocky glare. At the mention of my old nickname for her, she sucks in a sharp breath. That one word holds more weight than anyone could ever understand—my way of waving a red flag at an already iratebull.
It works. She’s ready tocharge.
“Neither do you.” The rebellion in her eyes fucks with me for a minute as I see a flash of the confident woman I remember. The self-indulgent posture. The flickering eyes you know are judging you. The sexy curve of herlips.
My pants involuntarily tighten, and I bite back a curse. It pisses me off that my body still reacts to her bullshit. Tension crackles in the small room as I try to temper down my hard-on. I suppose I’m a dick for feeding on her nerves, but after all this time, it’s the least she owesme.
“Shiloh, can you wait outside for a minute?” Will gently touches her elbow, and I have to grip the armrests of my chair to keep from jumping out of it. I recognize the look in his eyes. Normally, I don’t give a shit what woman he targets—our tastes are hardly ever the same. However, something about the sudden familiarity between them sets me onedge.
“Outside?” Her gaze snaps toward the open door where Frankie still stands, his arms braced against the wooden frame like a hell hound. “You mean, out there by myself with thosecriminals?”
“Watch the stone throwing, sweetheart. You know what they say about those who live in glass houses.” I’ll put up with a lot, but disrespecting my boys when she’s been shipped across the country against her will isn’t one ofthem.
“Shiloh, go,” Willinstructs.
Her eyes darken as Frankie steps back and motions her through the doorway with a dramatic sweep of his arm. Shiloh moves at a snail’s pace and his eyes follow every sway of herass.
“Don’t worry, sweet thing,” he assures her with a wink. “Will’s my probation officer too. We have a lot incommon.”
Shiloh swallows, her gaze hopeful. “Did you wreck a cartoo?”
