Troublemaker (Troublemaker, Book 1) (8 page)

His kindness is throwing me off. Fighting I can do. Arguing, no problem. Debating, right in my wheelhouse. But dealing with someone who’s trying to help me even after he just caught me breaking and entering into his apartment… I’m totally stumped.

“Hang on Kenz, I’ll be right back.” I listen as the shuffle of his feet on my driveway grows more and more distant. I must
er up the courage to peel my head off the steering wheel and sit up straight in my seat.

Cage
pulls his car up next to mine and gets out. I look out of the corner of my eye and catch a glimpse of his hips as he walks past me towards the engine of my car.

“Okay, give
her a start,” Cage calls out from under my hood.

I turn the key and the engine starts right away.

Cage shuts the hood and walks toward my window. I take a deep breath and look up at him. That crazy beautiful look in his eyes is back.

And I want nothing more than to grab him by his shirt and drive my tongue in his mouth.

But I’ve done enough damage already.

“Thank you,” I say quietly.

“No problem, Kenz.” He cracks a smile that only Cage West can crack. “Any time.”

“
Cage, about me going through your stuff, I’m so sorry.”

“Forget about it.” He snickers and leans in closer to me. “I forgive you.”

“For real?” I ask. “It was pretty pathetic.”

“Yeah, it was. I’ll drink to that,” he smirks. “But I’ll take it as a compliment
that you couldn’t help yourself from snooping through
my
things.”

I roll my eyes at him.
“I forgot just how highly you thought of yourself,” I laugh as I look away for a moment.

He lightly
bangs on the roof of the car. “Anyways, you’re all set to go.”

“Yup, I’m all set to go.
” Only now I don’t want to go anywhere. Especially without him. With my foot on the break, I put the car in drive. I look up at him one last time.

O
ur eyes lock, and everything else around me disappears. No sounds, sights, or feelings.

Only
us
.

Only now I have to start driving because I don’t have the guts to say what I should say right now.

“Thanks again,” I say as I turn my eyes away from his and adjust the rearview mirror. I begin to drive the car out of my u-shaped driveway.

“McKenzie, wait!” he calls out.
I step on the break and notice his legs coming towards my side of the car.

He stops in front of my open window. I look over at his belt, then make my way back up to his eyes. “You forgot something,”
he says, smiling.

I shrug my shoulders, totally clueless.
“What?” I ask.

“You forgot me,” he says. “You feel like
having some company?” he asks.

This. Is. Crazy.

“Sure,” I say.

“Great, sounds like a plan,” he says, making a clicking sound with his mouth.

My lips form a smile as he walks around to the passenger side of the car.

Cage
gets in my car and gives me a wink. This is one direction I never thought today would go. But as I said, with him, anything is possible.

Anything.

I start driving. I have no idea where we’re going, and I’ve never cared less. Somehow just being together is way more than enough.

“You really are a character
, McKenzie Miller,” he shakes his head, gently patting my thigh which makes it almost illegal for me to be driving.

“Oh really, I’m the one who’s a character?” I ask.
“You’re the one who decides to stroll into town, rent my apartment, and turn it into a dance club within forty-eight hours.”

He nods his head in silence, but it’s clear he’s deep in thought. “And you’re the one who obviousl
y has no idea what she wants. You want me out, then you want me in, then you want me out, then…”

“Alright, alright already.
Listen, not everybody can roam this earth like
the
Cage West.” I turn on the car radio, which is about the only part of this car I can rely on.

“Hey, you sad it lady, not me.” He smiles, putting his hand outside the win
dow to feel the air on his skin. “After all this drama with you, I’m friggin starving.” He rubs his stomach, making me wish I was his hand more than anything else in this world. “You wanna grab something to eat?”

I nod my head. “Great idea. You want something raw and organic I assume?” I ask.

He chuckles. “I’d prefer something that’s still actually moving, like maybe a living pig or something.” His eyes widen at the thought.

“That is so nasty. Don’t you care about anything you put into your body?” I ask, and even I realize how obnoxious I sound.

“Don’t you think you need to start caring a little less in general? Especially about what
I
eat?” he asks.

I concede. “You might have a point… for once, you might actually have a point,” I say.

He laughs. “
For once
… keep dreaming, Kenz.”

We drive around for a while looking for the right place to eat.

“Hey look, isn’t that the scumbag at the beach that I almost ripped in half?” Cage asks.

I look through the windshield and across the street and
see Chase with a bunch of his friends, and his arm around some girl.

Better her than me.

I look over at Cage who looks really pissed off.

“Jesus,
Cage. Take it easy,” I say.

“Why don’t you pull over for a sec so
I can finish what I started when that asshole was crawling all over you?”

I feel so weird inside. I’m way too flattered that he cares this much about pummeling
Chase on my behalf, but I’m also terrified that he’s going to make a huge scene. I can’t do anymore huge scenes right now.

“C’mon, pull over Kenz.
I’ll be quick, I promise.” Cage looks like he’s literally about to jump out of the car window.

“No way
Cage, he’s not worth it,” I say, looking over Cage to gauge how close he is to exploding.

“
He’s
not worth it? Or you don’t believe enough in yourself to think
you’re
worth it?” he asks.

“Forget about it
Cage, we’re done here,” I say, putting my foot on the gas. The sound of the engine causes Chase and his gang of losers to turn and face us. He recognizes me, and us, immediately.

And he doesn’t look too happy, which is satisfying enough for me even if it doesn’t fulfill
Cage’s need to decimate his body with his bare hands. As we continue to pass them on the main street, I look one more time in my rearview mirror. Chase is still staring at my car, looking more pissed off than I’ve ever seen him.

Cage
shakes his head and wipes the sweat off his temple.

“You ready to eat or what?” I ask.

“Definitely,” he pauses. “But I’ve kind of lost my appetite for eating around here.” He makes a fist and cracks his knuckles. “Plus I’d really like to avoid spending the night in jail tonight if possible.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I say. “Not that I’ve ever spent the night in jail.” I jab him in the shoulder. “But I’m sure you could tell me all about it.”
Cage’s lips form a smile again. I make a huge sigh of relief as I focus my eyes back on the road.

* * *

We end up deciding to get Thai food delivered to the house so we can eat out on the patio. Half of me is totally thrilled, and the other half is completely terrified. I have no idea what I’m getting myself into.

None.

Just because I like being around him, it doesn’t mean I should be having all of these ridiculous feelings. And just because he’s choosing to be around me, that doesn’t mean a single thing either.

Not a single thing
.

I take a deep breath and decide, for once in my goddamn life, to give myself a small break from all of this overanalyzing.

Cage is in his apartment ordering the food and getting ready. I take my second shower of the day, and throw on a fresh pair of panties and a clean top. I grab the same jeans that I had on earlier and head out to the patio.

And there he is waiting. He’s wearing a soft, white button down shirt and a pair of jeans that show off the muscles in his thighs. I
look at the table and see that he’s lit a couple of candles, and he’s playing some classical music through his iphone.

His eyes are focused out on the ocean as the wind from the sea blows through his hair. This is almost too much for me to take, but I guess I have no choice.

“I never knew you were a classical fan,” I say.

“Well, it all depends on
the mood Kenz. With the ocean in front of us and the sun going down, it seemed like the right fit.” He turns his eyes to meet mine, and I want nothing more than to melt in his arms.

Luckily that’s really not an option at this point, which I’m plenty happy about.

Or so I tell myself.

“Have a seat, Ken
z.” He gestures with his hand towards the table. Just as I’m about to sit, my phone vibrates.

Crap, my father.

My heart speeds up as I ignore the call.

“Everything alright?” he asks, smiling gently at me.

“Oh, yeah, more than alright.” I look out at the spread on the table, hoping to hide the stress on my face from Cage. “The food smells delicious,” I say. “You wanna eat?”

“You ain’t kidding.” He moves the containers of food closer to me. “Ladies first,” he says.

“Jeez, who brought the super gentleman to the…” My phone goes off again.

Please, no.

It’s him again.
Ugh.

This time I turn off my phone and toss
it onto a nearby couch. My father’s ruined a lot of things in my life, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let him ruin this.

Whatever
this
is.

And somehow turning my phone off brings me back into
Cage’s world, which as terrifying as it is, is much better than Colonel Miller’s world.

Cage
has a smile a mile wide as he eats his food and reaches for his beer. “Aren’t you so glad we didn’t go freaketerian tonight?” he asks.

I roll my eyes at him and my foot
accidentally brushes against his. “That’s the thing Cage, I’m not as rigid as you when it comes to food,” I pause, nodding my head in favor of myself. “Or everything else for that matter.”

“Oh please, McKenzie Miller is less rigid than me?” He picks up his beer. “I won’t drink to that, but I will drink.” He takes another sip from his beer, and I follow suit with my own.

“Admit it, Cage, you’re really not as cool as you like to think you are.”

Cage
raises his beer to mine. “Cheers Kenz, I love it when you fight back.” He grabs another bite from his plate. “Even if you have no chance of winning,” he says, giving me one of his cocky winks.

The food, the alcohol, the ocean, and
him
. I’ve never felt this good in my entire life. At least not since I can remember, which is long after my mom…

I catch him looking me up and down
from my chest to my stomach. I fidget in my seat, nervous as hell. I know the look, but I’ve never seen it from him, and he’s just inches away.

He grabs his beer and looks away for a moment. “You know you were pretty sexy when you got all pissed off earlier.” 

Sexy?
Okay, this has to be flirting. And I find myself wanting more of it. At least my denial is wearing thinner.

“Excus
e you?” I can’t hide my smile so I reach for my napkin as a distraction.

“But man, what a classic when your car wouldn’t start
.” His entire body starts shaking from laughing so hard.

I pick up a baby carrot from my plate and throw it at him. I sha
ke my head and grin. “I’m glad me and my shitty car could make you so happy.”

His
face looks dead serious now. “Oh, you have no idea, Kenz.”

Wait, what?

I look out at the ocean. I really don’t know if I can handle this. I never had a boy like Cage take any interest in me. I realize I shouldn’t be complaining, for a few good reasons. But none of this is making any sense to me right now.

He switches his playlist to a
Bruno Mars song. “Come here,” he says as he holds out his hand for me and gets up from his chair before I can even respond.

“Do I have a choice?” I ask
. My body feels like it’s about to overheat.

He rolls his eyes
, still holding his hand out for me as he waits.