Page 27 of Biker's Temptation
“I’ll just kiss and skip the ass pats,” I promised before claiming her mouth.She made a show of trying to escape, and I settled my hands on her lower back, keeping her right where I wanted her.She whimpered when I eased off the kiss and pressed our foreheads together.“I missed you.”
“We were apart for nine hours, Shane!”She rolled her eyes and whacked me with the stack of mail she held.“What are you going to do with yourself when I’m out of town at librarian conventions or book fairs?”
“Waste away in a depressive funk?”
She snorted.“Stop!”
“Maybe I’ll come with you,” I said, trying to imagine what a librarian convention was like.“I can be your personal assistant.Carry around all the books you probably buy at these things.”
Before she could reply to my offer, we both noticed a clunky silver Cybertruck rolling up the street.I hated those refrigerator-looking shit boxes and couldn’t understand how anyone with two brain cells thought it was a smart financial move to drop nearly six figures on one.
When the Cybertruck pulled into her driveway, I shifted my hold on Melissa and gently pressed her behind me.I couldn’t explain it, but I had a bad feeling.It was a sixth sense, I guess.An ability to sense trouble before it happened honed by all those years doing stupid, dangerous shit for my Calaveras crew.
I couldn’t have been more correct in my assumption.
The vehicle parked, and when the door opened and a man in a dark suit stepped out, Melissa actually gasped.She dropped the mail she had been holding.One of her hands gripped onto my forearm.The other snatched onto the back of my jeans, clasping my belt as if she thought she might need to hold me back.
I didn’t have to ask.
I just knew.
This was him.
Cade.
The monster ex.
Chapter nine
Melissa
Thisisnothappening.
I watched my ex-husband as he surveyed my yard and house in that cold, calculating way.He swept off his designer sunglasses and tucked them into the pocket of his tailored Canali suit.His fashion tastes hadn’t changed a bit.
But his hair was grayer than I remembered.His face was fuller, almost puffy.He had put on a little weight, and I was sure that drove him crazy.The whole time we had been together he had prided himself on his low body fat percentage.
But those eyes.
They were still the same.
Black.Soulless.Evil.
My heart ached at the realization that he hadn’t changed at all, not even for his kids.Not that I should have expected anything different.My therapist had warned a man like that never changed.He wasn’t capable of it.He was just broken inside.
Shane glanced down at me.He had angled his body to protect me even before my ex had stepped out of that ridiculous car.How he had known that trouble was here I couldn’t say, but there he was, ready to use his own body to shield mine.Yet more proof that he truly was the man I needed.
I gently released my hold on Shane.Cade was an asshole, but he wasn’t stupid.He wouldn’t make trouble with someone like Shane.He would play nice, wear that fake smile and try to fool Shane into thinking he was friendly.
Shane didn’t buy it.He shifted his stance, letting me step up next to him, but he made it clear he wasn’t leaving unless I asked.
Wanting to get rid of Cade as quickly as possible, I asked rudely, “What are you doing here?”
Cade smirked.“Nice to see you, too, Missy.”
I schooled my features, refusing to let him see how much I hated the nickname.Instead, I repeated, “What are you doing here?”
He ignored me and held out his hand toward Shane.“Cade McEntire.”
