“You need to get more exercise.”
He bit back the retort on the tip of his tongue about exactly what kind of exercise he needed. “I work out enough.”
She looked at him curiously at his sharp answer. “Oookay. Well, I’ll leave you to your show. Goodnight.”
He hadn’t sat there half the night to be blown off the minute she walked into the house. “How was the party?”
“It was fun. There are several new people who have moved into town that have started going to church. It was nice getting to know them. Beth brought the babies. They are so cute—”
“Any new men?” Cash interrupted her.
Rachel had been walking across the room, talking to him like he was one of her fucking brothers after being out.
“Yes, two. King hired them. One’s a chef and the other his manager.”
“Single?”
Rachel’s face lost her friendly expression. “I believe so, yes.”
“You going to chase after them like the rest of the women in town?”
“I’m thinking about it.” She narrowed her eyes on him, turning to face him fully.
“I wouldn’t if I were you, unless you want them to leave town before they have a chance to unpack.” He was tired of pussyfooting around her, trying to make amends for being a jackass. If he wasn’t careful, she would be in someone else’s bed while he was still trying to gain her forgiveness.
“You son of a bitch! You can go to Hell. You think you can sleep with me then have any woman you want, flaunting them in my face. Your attitude toward women sucks. I want a man who wants marriage and children. I want a house and four kids. I want a husband who, when he walks out that front door, I’m never going to doubt he’s mine. And I sure as shit don’t want you. I not only hate you, I despise you.”
She angrily reached into her purse, pulling out her cell phone. “If you want to relive old memories, call Sleeping Beauty; maybe she hasn’t woken up and discovered you’re an asshole.” She tossed him her phone.
Cash barely managed to catch the phone she threw at him. He felt each word slap him in his face, her hatred blasting at him from across the room as she left him with a look of total disgust.
Damn, he had forgotten calling Cheryl ‘Sleeping Beauty.’ Rachel was obviously not happy with his choice of nicknames. He had been a stupid prick fucking around with Cheryl. Damn.
He had forgotten the only piece of advice his father had ever given him, downplaying its importance as he had moved from one woman’s bed to another, not believing its value.
When he had been sixteen, he had broken his first girlfriend’s heart. It hadn’t bothered him, just made him impatient because she kept calling him. He had learned after that he didn’t have to say he was in love to fuck them.
His father had seen him hang up the phone, shaking his head.
“She won’t quit calling,” Cash had told his dad.
“She will.”
“Not soon enough,” Cash had said without pity.
“Son, make sure you want her to quit calling because a woman has a breaking point. She’ll stand by you if you kill someone, but when she finally reaches her breaking point, she’s done with you. There’s no getting her heart twice.”
“It’s not her heart I want.” His young, arrogant voice still sounded in his ears after all these years.
A sad look had come over his father’s face. “Make sure, Cash, or you’ll spend the rest of your life wanting something you can’t have.”
Chapter 17
Rachel was sitting on her bed, making notes on her computer when a knock sounded on her door.
“Come in.”
She thought Mag would open her door; instead, Cash stood leaning on her door frame.
“Busy?”
The pinched look on his face showed he hadn’t fully recovered from his accident.
“No, do you need something?”
A brief silence met her question before he answered. “There’s a swap meet going on in Jamestown. Feel like giving me a ride? I want to look for a new bike.”
Rachel started to mouth off and ask why he didn’t ask Bliss; instead, she slid off the bed and put on her shoes. He probably didn’t want any of his women seeing him when he wasn’t able to hold himself up much less them. Rachel blocked the image of him holding Bliss from her mind. She had been right; it wasn’t an image she had been able to forget.
In her car, Cash slid the seat back as far as it would go then leaned his head back on the headrest.
“Did you take anything for pain?” Rachel asked as she drove toward Jamestown.
“No. I would have smoked some weed, but I was too scared of what your brother put in it.”
Rachel stifled her laughter.
“I didn’t take you for a coward,” she teased.
“I’m not. I just don’t want to smoke cat shit.”
Not able to hold back, her laughter filled the car.
“You’re not going to tell me you were kidding around?”