Page 65 of Fly Back to Me
If my mouth wasn’t salivating from dehydration before, it is when I see Cade’s charcoal, long-sleeved top hugging his torso above black jeans and boots. My pulse smacks against my neck, and I reach in the console tray for my phone.
Me: Don’t close up just yet???
When I peer back up, Jake escapes the glass doors before heading to his car. My eyes shuffle to Cade’s parked motorcycle, and there’s a tiny blur of white under the chrome bar.
My gaze pinches, and the image clears.
He still has it.
Just as my belly gallops, a larger movement sweeps over the scene.
I cut the engine when Cade strolls outside into the midnight. My body shuffles around, hands tucking my phone in my belt bag before settling the strap over my chest.
When I unlatch the handle of the car door, the weight of it subsides as Cade tugs it from the other side.
“If you need to go home, I can leave,” I say as my ankle boots touch the blacktop.
His forearm lays across the top of the door frame when he pins me with a smirk. “Really? You drove here at twelve at night to tell me that?”
I step away so he can shut the door, my lips tipping up when I respond, “It was the polite thing to say.”
“But you didn’t mean it?” he asks, playing along.
My smirk stretches as I shake my head. “Not really, no.”
I jerk my brows suggestively before traveling toward the brewery. Cade inserts himself at my side, reaching out to hold the entrance door open for me.
I shrug my bag and jacket off, placing them on the first table in my path. “This is cool. I can’t say I’ve been to a brewery when it’s deserted,” I confess. The amber lighting is weaker now, darkening the reclaimed brick on the walls.
“I’m not serving anymore, but if you really want something, I can pour it before I clean out the taps.”
My hands find the belt of my high-rise skinny jeans, and I pad up to the bar Cade’s now stationed behind. “I’m good, thanks,” I say, occupying one of the metal stools.
My elbow props up on the bar, cheek nestled in my palm as my hair cascades over my shoulders. Cade’s eyes glimmer under the light fixtures, and a timid smile lands on my face.
“So …” he trails, laying his large palms on the counter. “You started writing.”
I inhale, tangling both forearms on the bar top. “It’s really silly. I don’t have more than a small outline.”
His hand disappears behind his lower back, scooping a white rag from his jeans pocket. “It’s a beginning, nonetheless.”
“I guess I have you to thank,” I sigh. “You sort ofinspired me, but it’s no big deal or anything.”
A breathy chuckle runs from him, his attention shifting to wipe the counter. “Even if it was a big deal, I’m not one to gloat. In case you didn’t get that memo yet.”
I tuck my lips as my gaze lingers on his face. His crooked smile shines a few of his perfect teeth, while a dark strand of hair slips onto his forehead.
All of it so flawlessly laced together.
“I can tell, trust me,” I finally tease.
Cade pops himself off the bar, tossing the dirty rag into a bin behind him. Then he plucks a clean one from his other back pocket. “Am I that horrible? I’d like to think I have some redeeming qualities.”
You’re perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
My eyes hood, pinning him with caution. “Okay, now you’re just fishing for compliments.”
