Trigger Happy (Girls with Guns, #2) (10 page)

As she walked through the park, she watched as parents tried awkwardly to push their kids in strollers through the grass. She laughed at the children that tried climbing out of their strollers when the parents weren’t looking. Amber’s thoughts went to her parents. She remembered coming here with them and watching the dance competitions. They would always, always share a funnel cake drizzled with chocolate. Her heart tightened as she made her way to the edge of the beer garden, which was already packed with customers. She slipped inside the gate and smacked right into her best nightmare.

“Whoa, don’t you ever watch where you’re going? This is the second time you’ve run into me in two days.”

Uh, her stars were never aligned correctly where this man was concerned. Her need for him was still warming the outer edges of her body where she had been thinking of him only moments ago. Now here he stood, looking all alpha-male in his standard black shirt and denim jeans walking around like he had no care in the world.

“I’m sorry. No, I wasn’t paying attention this time,” she whispered.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. Why would you care if something’s wrong with me anyway?” She took a deep breath. She really didn’t want to have this heated conversation with him like they seemed to have every single time they literally ran into each other. “Look, can we please try to speak like civil adults just this one time?”

He didn’t address her question, instead he surprised her, “I saw your, uh, dance team perform. They did a great job. You taught them well.”

Holy shit. Was he actually being nice to her? Giving her a compliment? She stood there momentarily speechless looking into his unreadable eyes. Did he just smile? It wasn’t quite an I’m-happy smile, but she was pretty sure the corners of his mouth turned up just a little.

“Cat finally got your tongue, Amber?”

Oh and the way he said her name really drove her insides wild.

“Yeah, it did. Thank you for the compliment. They practiced very hard. Are you on your way out?”

“No, I’m helping Blake out. Just going to grab a bite to eat.”

Gage couldn’t help but notice how her blond hair kept brushing her cheeks. Without thinking he reached forward and pulled a strand of hair out that had gotten stuck in her lip-gloss. Big mistake. His thumb and forefinger lightly brushed her bottom lip. Her mouth parted slightly, involuntarily. Did he just feel her tongue on his thumb? His gaze traveled to her eyes, eyes that were filled with want. His thumb rubbed her open mouth, the tip of his thumb touching her upper lip. He could feel her warm breath. He had an instant urge to stick his thumb inside her moist, warm mouth. Her mouth, he knew, would be warm and welcoming and he was most definitely familiar with how her mouth worked.

Amber wanted him to stick his thumb in her mouth. Out here, in public, for the entire world to see. She wanted him to stick his thumb inside so she could suck it, could taste him and devour him. Her heart rate was rising rapidly and she desperately wanted to touch him. Her hand came up to his arm but before she could grab ahold of it, he moved it. All contact between them was lost.

“I better go grab something to eat. I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh. Okay...good idea.”

Gage walked off leaving Amber to catch her bearings. Which was starting to become a normal occurrence where he was concerned. She found her way to where Marilyn was serving beer to customers.

“Wow, saw that little exchange. Really heated my insides,” Marilyn told her.

“Oh God, mine too. I don’t know what it is with that man. Can you believe he just gave me a compliment?”

“I can believe it. Blake told me when those Classy Cats went up on stage, Gage was glued. Said his eyes kept darting back and forth between you and the stage. Then, when it was over he told Blake you were pretty amazing – yes amazing, for choreographing the whole thing. You can’t tell me that doesn’t mean something?”

“He said I was amazing?” Amber couldn’t help the schoolgirl feeling that took over her body. “He is so sexy and uh, Marilyn, I swear to Mother Nature, sexual currents just roll off him in big giant tsunami waves. Big ones!”

Marilyn laughed, “As big as his junk?”

“You know, ever since you and Blake became an item, you are much more open to discussing...well, men’s junk. I like it, Marilyn, I really do.” Amber pinched her butt, “Where should I start working?”

Marilyn squealed and began showing her what to do. She showed her how to fill the beer cups, making sure to tilt them to limit the amount of beer head in the cup. She ran through the cash register with her and everything in between. It was a simple and quick process to learn.

“Just double-check their band and stamp, okay? They have to get both in order to come through the gate but double-check them both before you serve them. Got it?”

“Yep, got it. Is Gage coming back to help?”

“Yes. He went to grab something to eat. Here he comes now. Ohmigosh Amber, and with your favorite!” Marilyn squealed.

Amber looked over at the entrance and sure enough here came Gage carrying a funnel cake with chocolate syrup drizzled all over it. She couldn’t help the full-fledged smile. He looked cute carrying the tiny cake that he could probably eat in one swallow. Amber felt her cheeks heat. This was just one more thing that chipped at her heart.

Gage hadn’t had a funnel cake in ages. He usually avoided funnel cakes but once he caught the distinct smell, he knew he was a goner. He feasted on the funnel cake and watched Amber move around the makeshift counter. She had a smile for every single person that came to order a drink. Although he couldn’t hear anything she said to the customers, he watched them all place a bill in the tip jar and smile at her as they happily went on their way. She was something else, that was for sure. He was okay admitting all of this to himself, but he still didn’t want to be caught alone in a room with her. God knows what he might do to her.

The day flew by in a breeze. Poudre Hops sold beer non-stop. The sun had since gone down and of course there were still a few patrons lingering around getting in the last drink they could before closing time.

“Man, I’m glad the dance finals are over.”

“Me too. I can’t take seeing another under-age girl dressed like a gymnast.” Blake’s mouth crinkled into a lopsided grin.

Gage laughed, “I can handle that part. Although, some of those girls have bodies that don’t look under-age. It’s the whole music and screaming and cheering that I can’t take anymore. I’m not exactly sure what the whole point of this stupid contest is in the first place. Seriously.” Gage kept ranting, ignoring Blake’s wide eyes, “Its amazing how shit like this can be so important to some people. It’s just a competition. And performing in Denver at the rest of the home games of the season? You gotta be an idiot to want that. That’s why they have’em young. Young people can’t drive and have no idea what its like driving down the interstate on days like that.”

Blake finally shook his head once Gage looked over at him. Gage squinted his eyes, trying to decipher what the problem was but before he could ask, he heard her unmistakable voice.

“Well it’s no surprise that just when I thought you might actually be nice, you go and say some dickheaded comment to rein me back in. That competition is important to people for other reasons than just being able to dance for the football team. But what do you know? And who are you to criticize something you know entirely nothing about?”

Boy was she pissed. “Wow, did I miss something?” Gage looked to Blake for confirmation.

Blake nodded his head in affirmation; his green eyes watching Amber as if she might strike at any moment.

Gage could not grasp the look of hurt in Amber’s eyes. Nor did he understand why she had her hand, palm open across her heart, as if she were pressing down on an open wound.

“Whatever. One minute I would love to be nice to you and the next minute I want to use you for target practice!” Amber looked at Blake, “I’m leaving. Goodbye.”

Amber couldn’t get out of there fast enough. The first wave of tears hit before she was even out of the gate of the beer garden. She kept her head down, making her way through the booths toward her car. She sobbed uncontrollably then. With her hands on her steering wheel, she leaned her forehead onto her hands and cried. And cried. And cried. She could hardly form a coherent thought in her brain. All she could do was cry. Cry for her mother. Cry for her father. Cry for what their relationships could have become. Cry for herself. Because she had no one.

The entire day had gone so well. She and Gage Alexander, CEO had actually managed to get along. He had a great sense of humor, she had found out. He managed to make every woman that ordered a drink from him laugh. They all had the unmistakable look of attraction in their eyes as they waited for him to fill their cup. He was nice to all the ladies. Even her, for today.

A few times they had actually touched each other. A touch neither of them would admit was on purpose, yet they were the kind of touches that didn’t have to happen. Like when she was bending down reaching for more cups under the shelf, Gage bent next to her and touched her wrist and hand as he helped her pull them out. She herself did it when he was using the cash register and Blake was standing directly behind Gage. Instead of going around like any other person would do, the minute he closed the drawer, she slid in front of him to get by – her backside coming in to contact with all the hard places of his body.

It was such a respite from their normal run-ins; she had started to let her guard down. What had she been thinking? They had managed to get along so well today. Right up until he went and made that bonehead comment about who had come up with the whole grand prize for the winner of the competition. She hadn’t meant to hear him. But the minute she had, her heart broke. This entire thing meant more to her than any one-night fling with any man ever would and the fact that HE thought the idea was dumb, told her that he was not a man she wanted in her bed. EVER. No matter how his butt looked in the denim jeans he wore today or how the black t-shirt he wore clung to his muscles, allowing the world to see every definable feature he had.

How was it possible that something that meant the world to her, that was so important to her, could be perceived as idiotic to someone else? Trying to win this dance contest had literally consumed her every waking moment and the idea that someone she was so attracted to thinking it was silly, was unbelievable. The thought had never occurred to her. Now that it was out there, she couldn’t grasp how someone could think of the whole idea as meaningless – pointless!

Her tears began to subside and she wiped away everything that was running down her face with a Kleenex before she started her car and headed toward home. She responded to Marilyn’s worried text, letting her know she was fine and was heading home.

H
e was such an asshole. He didn’t want his relationship with Amber to be the way it was – if you could even call it that. He really didn’t want to hurt her at all. At least not any more than he already had, but somehow he continued to make remarks that directly affected her and hurt her without him even knowing it until it happened. When she stormed out of the beer garden, his immediate instinct was to run after her but Blake had grabbed ahold of his arm and told him he needed to hear the story before he went chasing after her.

So Blake had told him. He explained everything about how her parents had created the Girl Power Foundation for young girls, trying to empower them into strong leaders, and how it had eventually grown into the whole football performance thing for the winner. He had explained in excruciating detail about how her parents had gotten killed in a plane crash on the way to one of Amber’s performances – one she insisted they be at and because of that, how Amber had never forgiven herself. Gage felt like crap. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had actually made him feel this bad over comments he made.

He owed Amber an apology. He owed her a really big apology. He hadn’t meant to hurt her anymore than all the pain she had already been enduring. Knowing what he knew, he really just wanted to hold her much like he had that night long ago. Now, if he was lucky, he might be able to get a handshake from her. It was late. He shouldn't even be thinking what he was thinking right now, but he found his windbreaker and threw it on over his black t-shirt, jumped into his Range Rover and headed toward Amber’s house.

She wasn't that hard to find. Her house sat atop a small hill located on the other side of town. He wouldn't admit this to anyone but he had memorized her address from the loan application he had given to Lisa. It was a quick, casual glance before he handed the documents off. He knew exactly where she lived. He pulled into her driveway and immediately shut off his lights. He admired the expansive view of lights provided by the town below before he got out of his car and walked to her front door.

He took a deep breath as he made his way to her porch. Was he crazy? Coming to her house at eleven at night, she might very well shoot him! According to Blake, these women were packin’ heat and not afraid to use it. As he stepped onto her porch, the light immediately came on and her door opened. He could she that she had been crying and something fluttered in his heart. Before he could question that, she spoke, “What are you doing here, Gage?”

“I came to apologize, actually. May I come inside?” She was wearing a pink and grey cheetah print robe and his mind idly wondered what she was wearing underneath it.

“I guess. Only for a few minutes.” Her tone was unfriendly, sounding as if she was an errant child being asked to do a chore she didn’t want to do. She pulled the door open wider and allowed him to follow her inside.

“You have a nice home,” he said politely.

“Thanks. Gage, can you please just say what you have to say? I am not in any mood to go rounds with you tonight. I am physically exhausted and I’m an emotional wreck right now so what do you want to say?”

She turned around to face him and he registered the anguish on her face. He couldn’t resist reaching out for her arm and stepping close – into her space. Beneath his hand, he felt her tense but he didn’t let go.