Chapter 5

It was dark out by the time Violet walked into the Pier.

“Violet! Over here!” Chrissy, her boss and friend, waved.

Violet reached the booth to find four already tipsy women: Chrissy, Jessica, Francesca, and JL. “I thought you were working tonight, JL,” Violet said.

“I am. Sort of.” She pointed to a brunette behind the bar who looked like she was about to spill a tray full of drinks. “Penny needs to work a shift all on her own. I’m just here for moral support.” All five women cringed as they watched Penny’s tray teeter to the left, nearly spilling the drinks. “God, she’s terrible.” JL closed her eyes.

“The worst,” Francesca admitted. “Poor thing.”

“But she’s so pretty. Look at all the nice men helping her out,” Jessica, Slade’s fiancée, said as group of men flocked around Penny.

“Thank God for that. She’s sweet as pie, but the woman might be the worst bartender in the history of bartenders,” JL said.

“The men seem to like her,” Violet said as she sipped some wine.

“They certainly do. Look at your brother, I think he’s drooling,” Chrissy said to JL. The entire group turned to look at Travis, whose eyes were fixed on Penny.

“Oh yeah. Travis has been makin’ googly eyes at her since he first saw her,” JL laughed.

“Speaking of googly eyes, what’s going on with you and Cain?” Chrissy asked Violet. “I was going to ask you last night, but you seemed preoccupied, juggling that guy and Cain.” Chrissy waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Violet scowled at Chrissy. “Cain was not making googly eyes at me.”

“You’re right about that.” Jessica said. “I don’t think the man has the facial muscles necessary to smile, much less make googly eyes.” She downed some wine. “Chrissy, you’re the doctor. Can a person be physically incapable of smiling?”

“Yeah, that man is intense,” Chrissy said. “But he’s got it bad for you, Violet. Trust me, if he could make googly eyes, he’d totally eye-fuck you.” All the women whipped their heads at Chrissy. “I mean, googly-fuck…Googly-eye…whatever. You get the gist of it.” The women all laughed.

Violet let out a big sigh. “I don’t want to talk about Cain and his mood swings. I want to talk about how I’m going to find a date for this stupid reunion.”

“You need a lesson in men, honey,” Francesca said. “You stood up the one from last night, and that time I tried to set you up, you barely said a word to the guy.”

“Oh, please. You’re one to talk. You were all weird before Tony came along and swept you off your stilettoed feet.”

“Okay, fine. I had issues. But the perfect man will fix all your issues.”

“I don’t want a man to fix me—I want a man who loves me just as I am. I don’t need to be fixed. I’m not broken.”

“Aren’t you sassy this evening?” Jessica said with a laugh.

The women drank and chatted for the next hour. Cain had yet to make an appearance, but the rest of the guys: Jack, Travis, Enzo, Slade, and Tony were all playing pool or darts in the back of the bar.

“You know,” Francesca said, her words slurring slightly, “I have a secret to tell you.” She placed a finger to her lips, then gestured for all the women to lean in. Once they were huddled together, Francesca said, “Cain has a Prince Albert.”

“A what?” Violet said loudly. All the women hushed her.

Ignoring her, Jessica asked, “How would you know that, Frances?”

“Know what? I don’t know what you people are talking about!” Violet said.

“I read it. It’s on his file from a medical exam. I asked Tony about it once, but he said some bullshit about bros before hos. Can you believe that shit? He thought I’d blab to you guys!” Francesca huffed.

“Uh…I think you just did,” Jessica said with a laugh.

“Oh, bite me. It’s not like you aren’t curious now that I’ve told you,” Francesca said with an arched eyebrow. “I know Tony’s seen it, because he didn’t seem surprised when I brought it up. He had a two-minute meltdown when he thought I’d looked at Cain’s cock. For those minutes I didn’t understand half the shit he was yelling, so I couldn’t defend myself. His accent came out in full force, and half the words were in Spanish.”

“Back up there, lady,” Chrissy said. “Your boyfriend’s been lookin’ at Cain’s junk?”

“No!” Francesca hissed. “Well, yes. But not on purpose. Once in a while, they walk around the locker room naked. They do the weigh-ins naked sometimes. It’s not weird. Okay, maybe a little weird.” Francesca shrugged. “It’s not something they talk about.”

“Damn. I want to go into that locker room!” JL put in.

Violet blew out a breath in frustration. “Hey! What are you people talking about?!”

“Keep up!” Jessica laughed. “Cain has a piercing on his penis. Tony’s seen it.”

“He what?” Violet yelped, and then quickly covered her mouth. “No way. Impossible. He doesn’t even have a tattoo. No way he’d have piercings. Super-law-abiding Cain? He’s a freakin’ Army Ranger. I don’t believe it.” Violet sat back as the women continued cackling. “How the hell does that even work?”

“You’re a nurse. You should know.”

“How would I know? I’ve never seen that. I just…I can’t believe that. It’s completely out of character. I’ve known him since he was…I’ve never not known him. No way. Why would he get his pecker pierced?”

“For her pleasure,” Francesca added matter-of-factly. “Wait! Did you just say pecker?”

“That seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to please a woman,” Violet mused, ignoring the question.

Chrissy raised her eyebrows. “Some men are all about pleasing. You should see what Jack could do with his fingers.”

“Oh, and Slade’s mouth…mmm,” Jessica added.

“Eww. No. No. No. I don’t want to hear about my brother’s mouth.” Chrissy made a disgusted face, and the other women laughed.

JL gave her a look. “You know what they say about the quiet ones.”

“I think our quiet guy is a force—not just in the cage, but in bed too,” Francesca added.

“And probably on the table, and in the shower, and…” Chrissy giggled.

“Oh, God,” Violet groaned. “I feel so inadequate right now.”

“Howdy, ladies.” Travis, JL’s brother, came over with a tip of his cap. The rest of the men were close behind.

“Come on, wife, it’s time to go home.” Jack reached for Chrissy’s hand. The way that Jack looked at Chrissy was the stuff fairy tales were made of.

“I gotta stick around and make sure Penny doesn’t break anything else,” JL said.

“Come on, babe. We need to let the dogs out of their crates,” Jessica said to Slade.

“Guess we should head out too,” Francesca said to Tony.

“I’ll stick around,” Violet said as all the women said their goodbyes.

Travis slid into the booth across from her. “Another round then?” he asked, and JL signaled for Penny.

Fifteen minutes later, Violet and JL were laughing so hard at Travis’s stories that Violet’s cheeks hurt. But she stopped laughing abruptly when the door of the bar opened and in walked Cain holding a tall, slender redhead close to him with one arm while trying to shut an umbrella with the other. His blond hair was wet and his black shirt clung to him in the most perfect way.

“Violet? Hello? Earth to Violet,” Travis said, and whistled.

She turned her head to see Travis and JL looking at her knowingly.

“Googly eyes,” JL said, pointing at Violet.

Violet swatted her arm. “Stop it.”

“Darlin’, you got a little crush on Chatty over there?” Travis teased.

“I do not have a crush,” Violet hissed.

“Sugar, you’re so full of shit, your eyes just turned brown,” JL drawled.

Violet looked at the siblings and barked out a laugh. “You are so gross, JL.” Her eyes were teary from laughing so hard. Violet may have been from Texas too, but those twins had the slangs, twangs, and sayin’s down to a science.

“Yo.” A deep voice interrupted her laughter. She looked up to see Cain giving her the chin nod that passed for a greeting with him. “Vi, thought you’d be home by now.”

“Nope. Still here.”

Without missing a beat, JL leaned over Travis and looked down at Cain’s crotch, then at Violet, and giggled stupidly. Cain’s eyebrows drew together. Violet’s face flushed and she threw a napkin at JL. “Stop that! Travis, would you control your crazy drunk sister?”

JL looked like she was about to say something snarky and embarrassing, but just then a crashing sound and a yelp came from the bar. “Son of a bitch!” JL pushed her brother out of the way and jumped out of the booth. “Penny! What did you do now?”

“She sure is pretty, though,” Travis said as he stared at Penny, who was bent over picking up broken glass from the floor. He shrugged and turned back to Violet. “Guess it’s just you and me, darlin’.” He gave her a wink.

Cain didn’t look amused. Instead he grunted and went back to his date, who was sitting at the bar waiting for him. Violet shook her head and ignored him.

“What’s his problem?” Travis asked.

“Who knows?” She finished her glass of wine, suddenly unable to think about anything but Cain, his date, and the fact that he’d all of a sudden reverted back to being a jerk. “How ’bout some shots?”

A few minutes later, when JL had rejoined them, two men walked into the Pier, both looking devastatingly handsome in sharp business suits. The taller of the two, with inky black hair slicked back, smiled at Violet as he walked past her to sit at a few tables behind.

JL eyed the two men. “Holy hotness! It’s Bruce Wayne,” she said, loudly enough for the men to hear, and they gave her a smile.

Travis snorted. “Stop staring.” He downed a shot of tequila.

Ignoring him, JL called out, “Hey, Batman and Robin. Want to join us for some drinks?”

“Oh my God.” Violet winced. “Stop talking.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve had tequila.” JL coughed. “The tall one’s checking you out. So quiet down. Fluff your hair or something,” she ordered.

Violet looked over her shoulder and saw Cain scowling at her in an overbearing, overprotective way. The intensity in his eyes made her shiver. He was such a handsome jerk. She licked salt off her hand, her eyes glued to his, and downed another shot. She wasn’t sure why she kept staring at him—she just couldn’t look away. She knew that her drinking was pissing him off. She wondered whether she was trying to rile him up, but she was too drunk to care.

“So tequila is the drink of choice tonight?” the shorter man asked as he as his friend came over to their booth.

“It sure is, sugar,” JL said, sliding over to make room.

“Are you sure it’s okay? We wouldn’t want to intrude,” Batman said, looking first at Travis and then at Violet.

“Oh, no, it’s fine.” Violet pointed across the booth. “That’s my friend, JL, and her twin brother and my friend, Travis. I’m Violet.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Violet. I’m Peter Ward,” Batman said. “And this is Sam McKenzie, my business partner.” Everyone shook hands, and Peter and Sam sat down, gesturing to Penny to bring more drinks to the table.

It turned out that the men were in town on business for a few days; Peter was single, and Sam was married with a little boy waiting for him back home in Ohio. “Would it be rude if we ordered some food? We’re starving. We left a meeting, and this is the first place we saw, so we came in hoping to get something to eat. You all want anything?”

“Here, I’ll take your order. I work here too,” JL said. “If we wait for Penny to come by again, you’ll have died of hunger.” A moment later JL walked their order to the kitchen, then came back and sat down again. For the next half hour the bunch laughed, drank, and eventually ate.

When the waitress took their plates away, Peter stretched, flung his arm over the back of the seat, and inched a little closer to Violet; with his other hand he patted his lean stomach. “Wow. Way to impress the pretty girl, huh? A full rack of ribs, fries, a beer. I hope I don’t have barbeque sauce all over my face,” he said with a sexy smile. “I wish you’d let me buy you dinner or something.”

Violet laughed. “I already ate, but thank you for the offer. And no, you don’t have barbeque sauce all over your face. Just on half of it.” She pointed to his face, and he blushed. She chuckled. “I was just teasing. No worries.”

“Can I at least buy you dessert?”

“How ’bout we share? They make a great Key lime pie here.”

“Sounds perfect.” Peter smiled and signaled to the waitress.

Peter was nice, Violet thought—sweet and very funny. He seemed down to earth, and he was smoking hot. He’d stripped his black suit jacket off and slung it carelessly over the seat. She liked that he didn’t seem pretentious even though he looked financially well-off. He’d long ago loosened his tie, and the top button of his shirt was open, giving her a peek at the tanned skin that lay beneath. He was very attractive in a classy sort of way, unlike the men she’d befriended from WtF Academy, who were all edgier, bulkier, and rugged in their appeal.

Unable to resist, she turned her head. Cain was sitting in the same place at the bar, but his date wasn’t beside him any longer. His jaw twitched and his lips were a thin line. His eyes were pinned directly on her. Quickly she turned back around.

“Well, looky looky.” Travis came over to Cain, who was not at all in the mood for conversation. “Seems like Violet finally got herself a man.”

Cain stared at Violet as she laughed, her hand occasionally brushing the man’s arm. Her freckles were covered by makeup and her green eyes were shining.

Just then the door to the Pier opened, and Tony walked back inside. He went to the bar, spoke briefly to Penny, then came over to join Cain and Travis.

“Had to come back—Francesca left her wallet,” Tony said as he slapped Travis’s and Cain’s shoulders. “What are you two lookin’ at?” But before the men could reply, Tony followed their line of vision. “Oh, shit. Is that Violet? On a date?”

“Nah,” Travis said, then corrected himself. “Well, maybe. He’s some suit that’s in town for a coupla days. Peter seems taken with Violet, don’t you think?” He nudged Cain.

“Peter?” Cain snarled. “Stupid fuckin’ name.”

“Guess I lost my shot,” Travis said with a lift of his shoulder.

“You interested in Violet?” Cain roared without meaning to.

Travis leaned back, his elbows on the bar. “ ’Course I’m interested. Any man with eyes is interested. Sweet, sassy, and single. Isn’t that right, Chatty?”

Cain slammed his beer down and turned around to face Travis. “Don’t call me that.”

“You see, Travis? This right here,” Tony said, pointing to Cain, “is what my therapist calls avoidance. Misplaced anger, if you will.” Tony and Travis laughed. Cain did not.

Just then he heard Violet’s laughter clear across the room. He downed the rest of his beer. Damn, the woman had an infectious laugh. Growing up, he’d heard it over and over again, and the sound usually made him think of home. But tonight her laugh felt more like nails on a chalkboard, because she was laughing with some guy who might be a serial killer. Who the fuck was this Peter, anyway? She shouldn’t be so open and trusting with someone she didn’t know. She really should be more cautious.

“You know, you could come join us,” Travis said as he headed back over to the booth.

Tony left, too, leaving Cain once again sitting there alone. Stewing.

Fuck it, he thought, and walked over to the table.

JL looked up from the conversation she’d been having with the group. “Yeah, uh, this is our bouncer.”

Travis rolled his eyes, “Don’t tease him. Peter, Sam, this is Cain.” The men stuck their hands out and Cain reluctantly shook them, but his eyes were on Violet. Her face seemed completely neutral, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Why don’t you grab a chair and join us, Cain?” Travis asked.

Cain reached behind him, pulled over a chair, and straddled it backward, his forearms crossed over the back of the chair. A moment later, Penny set a slice of pie on the table in front of Violet and Peter.

Sam, JL, and Travis made an effort to include Cain in their conversation, and while he nodded or shook his head at the appropriate times and answered when necessary, his eyes continued to roam over to the cozy couple sharing dessert.

“Oh, man. I’m sorry,” Peter said, standing up and gesturing at Violet’s finger, which had a dab of whipped cream on it. “I think you’re making me nervous. I’ll go get you some napkins.”

While Peter walked over to get the napkins, Violet addressed Cain.

“Why are you here?” she whispered.

“Drinking.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Drinking? Really? Where’s your date?”

Cain shrugged.

She leaned closer. “I get it. You’re like this man of mystery. You grunt or nod and scowl at me from across the room instead of using actual words. Super cool, right? Wrong! It’s annoying. You do have a tongue in there, so you should probably use it,” she said mockingly, the alcohol giving her bravado. She reached forward and touched his lips with her thumb, forgetting there was whipped cream on it. “Open up. Is there a tongue in there, or did you swallow it?” she said playfully.

Just as she was about to pull her hand away, Cain grabbed her thumb gently with his teeth without thinking about it. Violet was so shocked she couldn’t move.

In the middle of the Pier, with JL, Travis, and Sam in the booth next to them, Cain gently bit down on Violet’s thumb and then sucked as his tongue played with the pad of her thumb, his heated gaze never leaving hers. He repeated the sensual assault on her finger until every last bit of whipped cream was gone and her mouth was open in disbelief.

He pulled her finger out of his mouth with a pop, then licked the inside of her wrist and kissed it. He leaned in, his voice husky. “Trust me. I have a tongue.”

He stood up and turned—almost crashing into Peter, who stood slack-jawed, holding a wad of napkins in his hand. He gave Peter a short nod before walking back to the bar.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment before Peter slid back in. “Guess you don’t need napkins.”

Violet couldn’t speak.

JL addressed Peter. “They’re just old friends.”

“Well, isn’t this a friendly little town,” Sam said with a laugh, breaking the tension, and Violet took the opportunity to pull her hand down to her lap. It was still tingling from the sensation of Cain’s mouth on her fingers. She could still feel his teeth and tongue on her thumb, which apparently had a direct connection to all her girly parts.

He just freakin’ sucked on my finger!

And damn if she wasn’t completely turned on.

After that little display, the mood at the table changed, and less than twenty minutes later Sam and Peter paid the bill, said their goodbyes, and left. Peter hadn’t even bothered asking for her number. Even with her lack of experience, Violet knew enough to know that men usually frowned upon having their potential dates fondled in front of them by other men.

As soon as they’d gone and Travis had gotten up to get them some more shots, JL leaned across the table. “What in the holy fuck was that?”

“He sucked my finger?” she said. It came out sounding like a question.

“He sucked your finger?” JL repeated.

“And nibbled, too. He definitely nibbled. And then he licked and kissed my wrist. In a bar.”

“Jesus Christ!” JL said. She sat back and fanned her face with a napkin. “Wow. I think I just came a little.”

Violet laughed. “Okay, it’s messed up on so many levels. We don’t have that sort of relationship. We’re just friends. But holy smokes, it was pretty…wow.”

“This game you two are playing is dangerous. It’s not going to end well,” JL warned.

“What am I supposed to do? Do you think I walked in here tonight thinking, ‘Gee, I hope Cain sucks my finger?’ I’m not even creative enough to have thought that would be as hot as it was.”

“Tell him how you feel.”

“Which is what? Lust? I can’t do that.”

Travis walked back and slid into the booth with some more shots of tequila. Violet downed one and instantly felt a little lightheaded and a lot happy.

Cain had been watching from the other side of the bar, and now he walked over. “Enough,” he said, his voice deep.

Violet snorted. “Enough,” she said, mimicking Cain’s voice.

“Enough. Luke, I am your father,” JL chimed in, doing her best Darth Vader impression.

“Another round!” Violet exclaimed, her hands up in the air.

Ticked off, Cain shook his head and signaled to Penny for the bill.

“Noooo,” Violet whined.

“Come on.” Cain took Violet’s forearm and pulled her out of the booth.

“Where’s your girlfriend? You didn’t even introduce her. I hope you’re nicer to her than you are to me. Maybe that’s why she left. Or did you kick her out?” she said as she pulled her hand from Cain’s grip. “Maybe you left her. That does seem to be your thing. Leaving.”

Cain reached for her arm again. “Stop fighting me, damn it!”

“You stop! You’re not in charge of me.”

“Yes I am!” Cain growled out. All night she had taunted him. Batting those long lashes. Smiling! Why did she have to smile so fucking much! And now she was baiting him. He’d had enough.

“Excuse me?”

“Never mind. Stop being difficult. Let’s go.” He pulled her by the elbow out of the bar and toward the parking lot.

She yanked her arm away. “No. Tell me right now what’s going on. I can’t do this anymore, Cain. We used to be inseparable. We used to be best friends. Today at the clinic, I thought maybe you’d gotten over whatever crawled up your behind, since you were sort of nice. But then tonight you glared at me the whole time, and I thought you were super mad at me. Then you licked my freakin’ finger! What was that all about?” Her eyes watered. “Since you came into my life again, I’ve cried more than I have in years. And now? You yell that you’re in charge of me? What does that even mean?”

“Fuck.” Cain became flustered and ran his fingers through his hair. “Don’t cry, Vi. I could never stand to see you cry. I don’t know what got into me in there. I don’t know why I did that. You were goading me and it just happened. Forget it ever happened.”

She swiped the tears that slowly leaked out of her eyes. “Forget it happened?” She snorted. “Look at me. I never cry. Well, not usually. Only around you.” She sniffled. “I’m just so frustrated. Why are you treating me like this? What did I ever do to you?”

He took a deep breath and pressed the balls of his palms against his eyes. “Damn it,” he whispered, then looked up and reached over to brush some tears away from her cheek. “I’m sorry, okay? It’s not you, it’s me.”

“That’s a breakup line. You sound like you’re breaking up with me.” She tried to laugh, but it didn’t quite work out that way. “Just be honest with me. What is going on with you? I didn’t know you lived here when I moved, but I like it here, Cain. I feel like I fit in. But I swear to God, if you keep on being a jerk, I’m leaving. You should be the one to pack up your crap and leave, but I’ll do it, because I can’t keep tiptoeing around you. We have the same friends, and I’m sorry about that, but you can’t keep treating—”

He put his big hand over her mouth. “God, you talk too much.”

“And you don’t talk enough. You’re the one they call Chatty, not me,” she mumbled from behind his palm.

“They’re being dicks when they call me Chatty. You, on the other hand…” He released her mouth.

“So, it’s about my talking? I only talk a lot around you. I’m a nervous talker, you know that. It’s like a weird defense mechanism or something. You don’t talk. I feel the need to fill the awkward void and then I just keep blabbering away and I can’t seem to shut my mouth even though—”

“Vi.”

She covered her own mouth as if it was the only way to shut herself up. “See?”

“Let’s get you home, Vi. You’re drunk.”

“Home? That’s it? Nothing was resolved.” At that exact moment she hiccupped. “Oh, man. I think I’m drunk.”

“You think?” He gave her a smirk. “I won’t be a jerk anymore. Problem resolved, okay?” he said, taking her hand in his. Her hands were so tiny. So warm and delicate.

“Violet?” A man called her name from the far side of parking lot. She turned to look back and let go of Cain’s hand.

Violet squinted. “Ty?”

The man looked at Violet and then at Cain. “You okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Cain, this is Ty. Ty is a trainer at my gym. Ty, this is Cain.” She smiled. “A friend. We’re just friends.”

“You sure you’re okay? You don’t look okay.”

Who the hell is this nosy douchebag?

She waved her hand breezily. “Oh, I’m fine. Perfect.”

“I hope we’re still on for that free training session,” Ty said.

“Yeppity yep yep. Absolutely. Can’t wait. Woo-hoo!” She punched a fist in the air and smiled her big bright smile.

Cain snorted. She was so fucking cute. So fucking sweet. And so fucking naive, giving away her smiles so freely. Didn’t she know how it brought sunshine into the world?

Ty chuckled. “Remember I’ll be out of town for a couple of weeks, but I hope to see you when I get back, Violet.”

After Ty had left, she slapped her forehead and then covered her eyes. “What the heck is wrong with me? ‘Yeppity yep yep’?” She groaned and leaned her head against Cain’s chest. “I don’t even say things like that. And oh God, did I just pump my fist and yell ‘woo-hoo’?”

Cain laughed hard for the first time in a long, long while, even though he also had an urge to pound his chest and claim his woman in front of the world. But these goofball moments of hers made the love he was trying so hard to bury deep inside of him seep out. “That was kind of weird. You’re so awkward sometimes. It’s adorable, though.” He paused. “What was that guy talking about?”

“Ty’s a personal trainer at the gym I go to, and he offered to give me a free session, so I told him I’d treat him to lunch afterward.”

“So a date.”

“Not a date. A thank-you.” She whipped her head toward Cain. “Oh, no, you think he thinks it’s a date? That makes me nervous.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

She smacked his shoulder playfully. “Don’t tease me. I don’t know what to wear or if I’ll say the wrong thing, again. Ugh! Maybe I should just cancel or change gyms.”

This was the relationship they’d always had. Easy. She wore her heart on her sleeve. She said what was on her mind, and he’d listen. It didn’t usually happen the other way around because Cain rarely spoke. But he was sure that she’d listen to anything he wanted to say, and she’d give him sincere advice. They had always been comfortable together. This arguing—it was all new. And truthfully, it was all him. He had to take all the blame for the chasm between them. He needed to fix this. To fix them. He took her keys out of her hands and helped her into the passenger seat of her tiny clown car.

When he got in on the driver’s side, she said, “Help me.”

He looked over, concerned. “Help you with what? Are you feeling sick?”

“No. I mean help me be less weird. Give me some dating pointers. Help me learn how to date. Show me how to seduce a man.”

As he drove, he thought about how to respond. Fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq had never brought him to his knees the way her smile could. That had always been the problem—all reason left his brain when she was around. Sweet, wholesome, naive Violet, with a smile that made his world shift on its axis, leaving him dizzy and unnerved. He needed that warm smile directed elsewhere or else, he feared, he’d pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless.

He needed her to get over Jeremy and really start dating again, he decided. That way she’d be preoccupied with her new man, and Cain, in turn, could stop thinking about her and move on himself.

Eventually she spoke again. “Maybe that was a stupid suggestion. It must be all the alcohol.” She paused for a moment. “Actually, maybe you’re not the best person to give me advice. I mean, I don’t even know if I’ve ever seen you date, other than tonight, which obviously didn’t end well.”

He glanced at her; her head was leaning back against the headrest and she was looking out the window.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t know women,” he said softly.

“I really need to get out, let loose, have fun.”

“Yeah, sunshine, you do,” he agreed reluctantly.

She turned her head and looked at him with a loopy smile. “Wow. You haven’t called me that in years. I like it. Good memories.” She continued to smile lazily at him. It made it hard for him to concentrate on the road.

After a moment she added, “Oh, and I was going to tell you that I was going to take a little nap and that I may need to throw up soon.”

He chuckled and looked over. Her eyes were already closed.

The rest of the drive to her house was quiet. When he parked, he gently squeezed her hand. She startled awake, saw where they were, then opened the door and stumbled out. He followed next to her, ready to steady her if needed. She teetered a few times until he finally wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her to the door.

She turned in his arms, all soft and warm. She leaned close to him, her breath smelling of tequila, and her eyes were hooded with sleep. She looked at him for far longer than necessary, then smiled and tried to insert her key into the door lock, failing miserably. He took the keys out of her hand, opened the door, and led her into the kitchen, where he poured a glass of water for her and one for him.

“Cain?” She looked drunk and utterly cute. He reached forward and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He couldn’t help it.

“What, Violet?” He lifted his glass of water to his lips to take a drink.

In a dreamy yawn, thick with her southern drawl, she said sweetly, almost reverently, “I want to see your pierced cock.”