Fat Louise (12 page)

“Bailey doesn’t seem to be having any trouble with her weight,” Cade remarked.
 

“No, she doesn’t.” She lowered her lashes to hide her hurt reaction at him comparing the two of them.
 

“What I meant was that maybe, if you weren’t as active when you were younger, you might not need to watch your diet as closely now that you’re older.”
 

“Did you miss the part where I said I like to eat a lot?”
 

Cade’s mouth curled in a smile, the first genuine one she had seen since she met him. She felt her nipples tighten. Embarrassed by her reaction, she glanced shyly away. If one of her friends was nearby, she would have felt more comfortable, maybe even casually flirted with him, but she didn’t have any confidence without them.
 

“Was my father very upset?” Jane asked, changing the subject.
 

“Your father seems the type to think no problem can’t be solved with his money.”
 

“Unfortunately, that’s true. He thought getting Raul to sign that pre-nup he had drawn up would protect Bailey. I tried to tell him not to keep giving Bailey such a high allowance after they married, but he wouldn’t listen. I think, without the money, he wouldn’t have brought Bailey with him.”
 

“I don’t, either. He seems like a dick. I can see why no one in the family likes him.” He rubbed the badly bruised side of his face.
 

“Would you like me to clean up your face for you? It’s in pretty bad shape.”
 

Cade stared at her in amusement. “Have at it.”
 

Jane dug into her backpack, pulling out a shirt. Ripping off a section that seemed fairly clean, she used the water in the canteen to wet it. Then she dug in her pack again for some salve she had put in before coming into Mexico.
 

“You got a first aid kit in there, as well?”
 

“No.” Jane laughed. “Just Neosporin. I’m kind of a pack rat.”
 

She motioned for him to sit down and then carefully scrubbed his face of the dried blood, trying not to hurt him. She felt a blush rise in her cheeks as he stared up at her.
 

After she finished cleaning him off, she dabbed the salve onto the cuts. Putting the cap back on, she took a step backward, forgetting her backpack was behind her. She started to fall, but
Cade’s hands reached out to steady her. She balanced herself by placing her hands on his shoulders.
 

“I’m a little clumsy,” she said, beginning to straighten.
 

His hand left her waist to slide to the nape of her neck, holding her in place. Surprised, she froze as he brought his mouth closer to hers. Jane lowered her eyes to his mouth, waiting for his kiss.
 

“What’s going on?” Bailey asked, stepping out of the trailer while running a brush through her hair.
 

“Nothing. I was just patching up Cade’s face.”
 

Bailey didn’t look happy. “I should have offered. Are you okay?” she crooned, coming up behind him to place a comforting hand on his back.
 

Jane turned and picked her backpack up before going back into the trailer.
I wanted that freaking kiss
, Jane thought, mourning the loss of a second kiss from him, one where he wouldn’t be pretending. She didn’t stand a chance against her sister’s more obvious flirtation, though.
 

She sat down on the mattress, wishing Killyama was there to kick Bailey’s ass for her. The longer she sat there fuming, the angrier she got. Why should she let her sister keep her from trying to get to know Cade better? She might not be as pretty as Bailey, but she sure as shit had a better personality.
 

Standing up, she decided to make her own play for Cade instead of running like a wimp and leaving the field wide open for Bailey.
 

She came to an abrupt stop in the doorway.
 

Cade and Bailey were plastered together, with him giving her the same passionate kiss he had once given to Jane, except the one he was giving Bailey looked real.
 

Chapter 12
 

They began walking again as the sun set, with Jane behind Bailey, whose energy seemed restored. She kept a constant stream of chatter going until Cade was forced to quiet her, telling her the sound of voices would travel in the night. Thankfully, his reprimand managed to quiet her, and Jane was given a respite. She made sure to keep space between her and Cade as they traveled through the night. Cade shot her several curious looks yet didn’t question the distance she had placed between them.
 

When they stopped to rest, Bailey sat down next to him, leaning against him as if they were already a couple, talking to him in low whispers that had Jane feeling like a third wheel.
 

She rose to her feet, turning to walk a few feet away.
 

“Where are you going?” Cade’s hand on her arm stopped her.
 

“I need to find a place to use the restroom,” she told him softly.
 

“Hurry.” Cade released her arm.
 

Jane hurried a few more feet away until she felt comfortable enough to lower her pants and relieve herself. When she came back to the camp, Cade was still sitting next to Bailey, her hand lying intimately on his thigh.
 

“How much longer before we get to the border?” Jane asked as she found a place to sit down until they started walking again.
 

“If we can walk some tomorrow without getting caught, we should make it tomorrow night.”
 

Jane felt relief flooding her. She didn’t know how much longer she could watch Bailey throw herself at Cade. She forced the feelings of jealousy away. She had never envied Bailey anything—not her father or the attention she managed to get from all their family members, and
certainly not the boyfriends she had gone through over the years. However, Jane was finding it hard not to feel envious of the escalating intimacy growing between the two.
 

“Ready?” Cade and Bailey had risen to their feet and were waiting on her.
 

“I’m coming.” Jane found herself following behind once more, gritting her teeth when Bailey began talking again. This time, she kept her voice to a low whisper so Cade couldn’t reprimand her.
 

In the morning, they weren’t lucky enough to find another RV, although they did find a small crevice in the side of a hill they could hide in.
 

“I’m starving,” Bailey complained.
 

Jane sat down, hugging her knees, feeling her sister’s glare on her as she complained. She tugged her backpack closer and unzipped it to take out the last candy bar. Tearing it in half, she gave a piece to Bailey, and then tore the other part in half again, giving that piece to Cade.
 

“No thanks, I’m good. You eat it.” While Cade gave her a hard stare, refusing to take it, Jane returned the stare, continuing to hold the candy out until Cade gave in, taking it from her.
 

“We don’t have too much farther to go. We’ll be crossing the border at Hidalgo, Texas, but it won’t be safe to stay there, since the same criminals do business on both sides of the border. When we get to Corpus, I’ll buy you both a steak,” Cade promised, taking a seat closer to the opening.
 

“Let me have your backpack, Jane.” Bailey rudely held out her hand.
 

Jane lifted her head. “Why?”
 

“I want to use it as a pillow,” she snapped, taking it without so much as a thanks when Jane handed it to her.
 

Cade frowned, opening his mouth then closing it, and Jane wondered what he had been
about to say.
 

While she tried to make herself as comfortable as possible, Cade straightened out his legs. Reaching out, he curled his hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her down until her head rested on his thighs. She lay stiffly, unable to relax with Bailey’s eyes spitting fire. Jane closed her own to shut her anger out. Cade’s comforting hand didn’t move away; instead, he gently stroked her neck until she fell asleep.
 

It seemed like only a few minutes before she was being shaken awake.
 

“Is it time to leave already?” she asked drowsily.
 

“Yes, I want to get started,” Cade answered.
 

They crawled out of the crevice.
 

“What time is it?” Jane asked, staring at the large expanse of land around them.
 

“Around noon.”
 

They walked for a while before Jane realized she had left her backpack behind.
 

“Forget it. We don’t need it,” Bailey said.
 

Jane looked at Cade in question. “It’s too far to go back for it now. Hopefully, we won’t need it.”
 

Jane nodded unhappily. There wasn’t much left in the bag. Besides, the contents weren’t important to anyone other than her, although it was handy to have when she wanted to stash something.
 

“We’re getting closer to the border. They’ll probably have people stationed at a few of the crossing, watching for us,” Cade warned.
 

They passed several small villages on their way. The curious looks from the town people heightened Jane’s fears that they would be stopped.
 

Bailey quieted, the tension finally succeeding in silencing her.
 

“Let’s stop here while we still have a little cover. As soon as the sun goes down, we’re going to reach the border,” Cade informed, telling both women without words that they were entering dangerous territory.
 

Jane nervously ran her hands along the sides of her pants.
 

“You don’t think Raul would really hurt us, do you?” Bailey asked when Cade went to scout ahead.
 

Jane remained silent, not wanting to lie.
 

“Why would he hurt us when he can get money out of Dad?”
 

Jane couldn’t keep the contempt out of her eyes at Bailey’s unconcern for their father being extorted by her husband.
 

“Don’t look at me that way!” sneered Bailey. “You’re no goody two shoes. You hang out with bikers and trash.”
 

“Don’t talk about my friends that way,” Jane warned in a low voice.
 

“It’s true. Hell, you’re nothing but their little ass kisser. Anytime they need something done that none of them want to do, they just get you to do it.”
 

“It’s not true, and you know it for a fact.” Jane leaned forward so Bailey couldn’t mistake her meaning. “You don’t like them because they know you’re a fucking bitch. You’re afraid of Sex Piston, Killyama, T.A., and Crazy Bitch.”
 

“I am not.”
 

“Yes, you are, and we both know why.” Jane had dealt with enough.
 

Standing up, she walked away to put a few feet between her and her sister. She walked farther than she realized and stared around in dismay, not seeing Bailey or Cade. She spun in a
circle, not spotting anything she recognized, and began to panic. She was totally confused as to which direction she had come from.
 

While her instincts screamed at her to keep moving, calm reasoning kicked in, and she stood still, hoping the soldiers didn’t find her before Cade.
 

She didn’t see him until he was almost on her.
 

“What in the fuck is wrong with you?”
 

“I’m sorry. I got lost.”
 

His hands reached out, grabbing her arms. “You’re lucky I don’t pull those pants down and smack that ass.”
 

“I’m sorry,” she repeated with tears brimming in her eyes.
 

“Stop crying!” Cade said heartlessly. His face was a mask of harsh recrimination. “Are you trying to get us all killed? Were you trying to get my attention?”
 

“No!” Jane was aghast at his interpretation of what had happened.
 

“Well, you have all my attention now, so what are you going to do with it?” he went on, ignoring her denial.
 

“What?”
 

Cade jerked her to his chest, his mouth cruelly covering her trembling one. She tried to turn her head, but his hand went to her jaw, holding her in place.
 

“You wanted to kiss me again, didn’t you?” he gibed.
 

He covered her mouth again before she could deny his accusation, trying to part her lips with his tongue. Jane refused to let him deepen the kiss, but Cade wasn’t a man who took denial easily.
 

“Open your mouth.”
 

Jane tightened her lips, giving a whimper as his knuckles brushed against her nipples. With a gasp of shock, her lips finally parted, and his tongue claimed her mouth, discovering the sweet interior without caring, seeking to humiliate her. Jane managed to put her hands on his chest, thrusting herself away from him.
 

“You bastard.”
 

“That’s right. I am. And I’m fed up with you two. Both of you need to quit worrying about who’s going to get inside my pants instead of getting our asses out of here alive!”
 

“Bailey can have your damn dick. I don’t want it.”
 

“Oh, you want it, Jane. Don’t lie.” His eyes traveled insultingly over her body. “I don’t even mind taking both of you up on your invitations, but you’ll have to wait until we’re in a hotel where I don’t have to worry about being sneaked up on by drug runners while taking a piece of pussy.”
 

Jane could only look at him with wounded eyes at his sarcasm. She refused to deny his accusations any further.