Page 155 of The Single Dads Club
“No, Lex. If you leave, it’ll be like announcing that you can’t handle being around him.”
I huffed loudly. “I can’t. That’s the point.”
She gave my hand a squeeze. “He doesn’t need to know that. Don’t let him drive you away. Don’t let him win. You’re stronger than that.”
Am I though?I sighed and set my purse back down. “Fine. If I’m staying I’m getting ridiculously drunk then, and you’re paying for my drinks.”
Ty groaned and shook his head.
“Now that is something I can work with.” MacKenzie smiled and signaled the waitress for a round of shots to go with our other drinks.
After several rounds of drinks and watching Cade from the corner of my eye, I noticed he was approaching our table.
Oh crap. Act normal, act normal!
Ty fixed a hand on my forearm. “Don’t, Lex. Not again, not with him.” His eyes pleaded with me.
Cade sauntered up, offered a friendly nod to MacKenzie, narrowed his eyes at Tyson, then turned his gaze on me. “Hi, Alexa,” he said, deep voice raspy over the words.
My heart lurched again.
“Maybe we should give you guys a minute to talk,” MacKenzie squeaked, rising from her barstool and shooting Ty alet’s golook. “I’ll go keep your sexy friend company.” She glanced in the direction of Cade’s dark-haired, muscular-as-hell friend standing alone at the pool table, drinking a beer. “What’s his name?”
“Ian,” Cade answered, his eyes not wavering from mine. Once my friends had deserted me, Cade moved in a step closer. “How have you been?” He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck.
That was a dumb question. But I wasn’t about to admit how I’d fallen apart over our split. “Fine. And you?”
His eyes narrowed, searchingmine. I knew he could see right through my hollow answers, but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know how much I missed him. “I’ve been better,” he admitted.
I shook my head, surprising myself by laughing. The giggle bubbled up from my throat and escaped, despite my intentions to play things cool. “You’re a piece of work, you know that? Sex means something to me. It might not to you, but…” I waved him away. “Just leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to you.”
He caught my wrist and held it. “Let me explain something to you, cupcake.” He’d never pronounced my nickname with such venom, and I hated to admit that it stung. He leaned in closer to my face, just inches away from me. “Sex for money has no emotion. It’s like being at work—it’s hard, you’re tired, sweaty, you just want to finish, but you can’t. You have to keep faking the whole fucking act until some asswipe director tells you to come. On command. You try doing that with lighting techs shining bright lights in your face, and a sound guy with beer belly holding a microphone over you while sporting a fucking erection—it’s not all that much fun. Believe me. I’m sure as shit not proud of it. But you know I’d do anything for that little girl.”
“Lily? What does that have to do with Lily? If you’re twisted enough to turn this into some chivalrous act to protect your little sister, you’re more deranged than I thought.” He still had my wrist in his grip, and I pulled it away from him. “Let me go,” I ground out through gritted teeth. I slid from my stool and escaped to the bathroom.
Chapter 20
Cade
Damn, just the sight of her and my resolve was weakening. I was two seconds away from dragging her off caveman-style to make her tell me what was on her mind when she cut out on me.
Alexa’s genuine surprise at seeing me told me that MacKenzie hadn’t told her I’d be here. Dammit. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen for that shit about Alexa being miserable without me. She didn’t look miserable, she looked gorgeous. So much so it was like a kick to the gut, ripping the air form my lungs and making it difficult to breathe. But hearing the bitterness in her words, seeing the glaring anger in her eyes was like a stark warning to stay the fuck away from her. Too bad I couldn’t. Not anymore.
Her absence left an aching hole in me and I wasn’t afraid to admit it. Now if I could just think of a way to convince her that I was worth her time. But getting her to trust me again? The death glare she had shot me told me I was going to have an uphill battle. But it was a battle I was ready to conquer. She was worth everything, and I wouldn’t stop until she was mine.
As I watched her disappear into the restroom, my determination to not let her go increased two-fold. This tension between us needed to be extinguished. I stalked off to the restroom after her. She’d been the one to storm off the morning after we’d share the best fucking sex of my life and I knew there was nothing I could have said that would have made her stay, but tonight I refused to let her run again without telling her exactly what was on my mind and in my heart.
I pushed open the door to the ladies’ room and thankfully found it empty. In the silence of the space I heard soft sobs coming from the stall at the end of the row.
“Lexa?” I tapped softly on the door. “Can we start over? We need to talk about the morning you left after the incredible night we shared.”
She sniffed. “There’s nothing to talk about, Cade. The damage is done. I can’t move past this.”
My shoulders sagged. Could this thing between us really be damaged beyond repair before it really got the chance to begin? God, I hoped not.
A group of girls pushed their way inside the restroom, giggling and chattering. “Hey, you can’t be in here,” one of them called. “You have two seconds to get out.”
I knocked on Alexa’s door more insistently. “Come on, let me in.”
