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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Gage couldn't figure out what possessed him to think swearing off sex was a good idea. Yes, they needed to get to know each other again after so many years, but damn. It had only been twenty-four hours and already he wanted to cave. It didn’t help that like an idiot, he had condoms delivered last night just like she asked.

Dani was a vixen, hell-bent on torturing him and he only had himself to blame. He might as well have waved a red flag in front of a bull and expected it to ignore him.

Not only was that expectation unrealistic, it was a challenge. One he was losing big-time.

Especially with Dani prancing her ass around the house in the tiniest shorts known to man. Black came through on his promise and had her car delivered within hours of asking. Gage almost wished he hadn’t asked. The damn shorts she was wearing were black spandex. Then she had the audacity to pair it with a blue tank top that dipped low enough for him to see the outline of her perfect tits.

Now, he considered himself a man who had control of his urges.

Hell, it had been a long time since he allowed himself the pleasure of a woman. Normally he took care of himself, but both last night and this morning he tried that, to no avail. Instead, he was walking around with an erection that was dangerously close to being considered in need of medical attention.

Or the attention of a certain caramel-haired beauty. They were great together as teenagers and he was sure that they would be even better now. That is, if he didn’t die from blue balls before that.

“Is there a reason you’re walking around with a scowl on your face?” The object of his obsession once again popped into his line of vision and that damn tank top mocked him.

“Is there a reason your wardrobe is so damn tight?” he snapped back but instantly regretted it. Closing his eyes, he rubbed the spot between his brows. “Sorry, that didn’t come out right.”

“Oh no, I think it came out exactly as you meant it to.” He could hear the smile in her voice, and sure enough, when he opened his eyes, she was smirking at him. “Remember, this was your doing. The current state of your balls is all your fault.”

Dani made a show of running her eyes caressingly over his body, making sure to spend extra time on that particular part of his anatomy.

Fuck it. Two could play at this game.

Gage grabbed his shirt by the back of the neck and yanked it over his head. If he was going to be forced to look at her half naked, then she would need to do the same.

“That’s not playing fair.” Dani pouted and damn did he wish those pillowy lips could be pursed around something on him.

Taking more clothes off wasn’t helping the situation but his brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders at the moment.

“You started this.” He smirked.

“I did, didn’t I?” She sauntered closer, a playful expression on her face. But it was gone in an instant. He didn’t need to look down at his body to know what caused the change. “What happened here?”

Dani ran her fingers gently along the raised scar on his stomach and sent a shiver throughout his body.

“I was shot trying to protect Steel’s wife. They hadn’t been married back then but are now.”

Steel had refused to wait any longer to make Karlie legally his and who could blame the guy? Their story didn’t exact start out as a happy one.

“Does this happen often in your line of work?”

Gage thought back on the years since she left him; his time in the Army before being recruited by Pritcher. He had been shot at plenty of times during war but never injured. Then when he worked with Pritcher, his job was to carry out assassinations. He preferred to take care of those jobs “hands on” and they rarely involved guns. He was much better with a knife.

Working for Blackguard Security was different. It was more personal security and that was how he got shot.

“I wouldn’t say often.”

“You said it happened while protecting Steel’s wife. Who was after her?”

She continued to rub the area and it was doing crazy things to his body. Normally he avoided looking at the scar because it reminded him that he failed Karlie. She was supposed to be safe with him and instead he ended up in surgery and she was forced to endure a kidnapping for the second time in her life.

“Her brother, and a cartel leader. He wanted her as his mistress and sent her brother to collect her. We were going shopping when someone crashed into us. Before I could get to her, they shot me in the stomach. I was lucky not to bleed out.”

He couldn’t hide the disgust in his voice no matter how hard he tried. It was one of the worst days of his life.

“You sound angry at yourself.”

Dani always did know him better than anyone else. Of course she would pick up on how he was feeling.

“I am angry with myself. It was my job to protect her and I failed. In my line of work, failure isn’t an option. People end up dead.”

“Is Steel’s wife dead?”

Her question was like a slap to the face and he physically recoiled at it. “No. Of course not. She’s alive and well.”

“Then you didn’t fail her. If she’s alive, then you aren’t a failure.”

He shook his head. She didn’t understand but she would. She would see that she wasn’t the only one who made mistakes during their time apart.

“But I did fail her. Karlie had a rough time. She was kidnapped the night she met Steel and he spent months looking for her. The only reason we found her in the end was sheer luck but her time in captivity was awful. She was forced to give birth to their daughter on her own. When we found her, she was starving and unable to feed the baby. Then when we got her to a hospital, someone tried to kill her with a drug and she ended up in a coma. When she woke up, she didn’t remember Steel or their baby. It took time for her to finally heal, and the first time she went out in public, it was my responsibility to make sure she was safe. Instead, she got kidnapped for a second time, so yes, I failed her. I was the reason she had to endure that all over again.”

Horror, shock, and a half dozen other emotions flitted across her face and each one was justified. A pool of tears rested in both of her eyes and her hand covered her mouth. The longer he looked at Dani, the more disgusted he felt with himself.

He wanted her to see how horrible of a mistake he made, but actually witnessing it was harder than he imagined.

“Changed your mind about me?”

Dani shook her head. “Never. My heart is broken for what she had to go through. I can’t imagine having to delivery my own baby, but you didn’t fail her. You couldn’t have known what would happen and I believe with every ounce of my heart you did everything you could to protect her, despite being shot.”

He let the memory of that day replay in his mind. How grumpy he had been to have to drive her when he would’ve rather done anything else. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Karlie. He did. He also felt bad for her. No one deserved what she had been forced to endure. But civilian life was new to him and he wasn’t handling it all that well. He had been so angry that a dishonorable discharge was forced upon him. It wasn’t his fault Pritcher was an asshole. Sure, he should’ve asked more questions. But would he have changed what he did? Probably not. He was good at it and it helped ease his mind.

The lack of guilt over what he did was one of the many things that fucked with his head. He should’ve felt something for the people he killed, but instead, he was mad that his actions were what got him forced out of the Army. Forced him away from the only place that ever truly felt like home after Dani left him.

“I don’t deserve your blind faith in me. You don’t know the man I became after you left.”

And he was sure she wouldn’t like it.

Dani scoffed. “Pretty sure I’ve proven how much I fucked up while we were separated. I have zero room to judge anyone.”

True. They were two broken people just trying to overlook their pasts so they could move on to the future.

“I guess you’re not wrong.”

“Of course I’m not. You might think you failed Karlie but I’m sure she feels differently. I’m going to prove it to you, and then I’m going to help you see that there is nothing wrong with letting people in. Your teammates clearly care for you, but you’re just shutting them out. I won’t stand for it. Not when the reason for your hesitancy is because of me. I’ll fix the mess I made.”

Gage raked his eyes over her body, and the lack of clothes. He had almost forgotten that she was standing in front of him in barely anything.

“Fine, but can you do it with more clothes on?”

Dani laughed. “Fine,” she mocked him. “I’ll go throw on sweatpants and a hoodie but only if you put your shirt back on.” Dani turned around with a huff.

A thought popped into his head; a way for him to get his hands on her but in a platonic way. “Deal, but grab a bottle of nail polish while you’re at it.”

Dani turned back to him with a confused look, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his lips. There were so many things he remembered about her. He pointed down to her toes. “Your toenail polish is chipping and I know how much that bothers you. I’m going to fix it.”

This time, it was he who turned his back to her before he could see the look on her face. If she was hell-bent on torturing him, then he would fight fire with fire.

And if there was one thing he knew, Dani couldn’t resist when he gave her a pedicure.