“He was there. I thought you and Luke talked to him earlier.”
“Well, uh … we did, but he’s not ready to talk about it.”
Jackson squinted a bit then nodded once. He seemed to be thinking something that he wasn’t willing to share with “Little Jones girl.”
“I think snooping around the neighborhood is a bad idea.”
“Why?” She lifted her chin.
“Because it’s not safe.”
She looked around. “You live in a retirement community, in Omaha. I think I’ll be fine.”
He groaned or growled. It sounded much more like a growl, an angry animal growl. “Stubborn women. I can’t handle any more of you in my life.” He grabbed her arm. “Let’s go.”
“What? Wait!” She tried to keep up as he dragged her toward Cage. If there was truly a God, he’d keep her upright and not let her land on her face in front of her dream guy—whom just so happened to have a beautiful girl with two legs standing next to him.
“Young buck, here.” He handed Lake off like a piece of property then dug into his jeans pocket. After he retrieved what looked like a couple hundred-dollar bills, he shoved them into Cage’s coat pocket, ignoring his look of utter confusion. “I have to run a few errands. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
The blonde with bangs that kept falling in her face like a sheep dog, gawked at Jackson. If she was a girlfriend, she sure didn’t hide her attraction to Mr. Watch After Little Jones Girl.
Cage’s gaze shifted to Lake. “Are you on probation?” He grinned.
She could not have been more embarrassed by the situation. If Jackson weren’t so menacing, she would have thrown a full-blown conniption fit for being treated like a prisoner. But as she looked at the newly-assigned warden, she couldn’t find a good reason to protest.
“Apparently soliciting isn’t allowed in this neighborhood. Mr. Knight has made a citizen’s arrest.” She glared at Jackson. “Your sister would not approve of your behavior.” Looking back at Cage, she smiled. “Jillian likes me. We’re sort of best friends.”
He nodded, looking at Jackson.
“I’m out of here. Just … watch her.” Jackson shook his head and stalked back to his garage.
“Hi, I’m Lake. Prisoner for the night.” She held her hand out to the girl.
“Emily.” She shook Lake’s hand.
Lake gestured to Cage’s coat pocket. “Have you two had dinner? If not, I think my captor just paid for delivery.”
Cage smiled, flaunting those damn dimples. Emily was one lucky girl. Lake’s quest to add more images of Cage to her fantasy collection took a turn for the weird and a bit creepy in the presence of Emily.
*
Cage ordered pizza while Lake shot off a quick text to Luke informing him of her temporary house arrest. He replied with one word: figures.
With a prolonged stare, Emily noticed Lake’s leg the moment she pulled off her boots, but she didn’t say anything so Lake decided to not address it either. Cage deserved a break from talking about her leg, boobs, or the death of her boyfriend.
“Pizza will be here in forty minutes.” Cage tossed his phone on the sofa and sat next to Lake.
Emily took a seat in the black leather recliner.
“So did the Housby’s know where Jillian is?”
“Oh, well …”
His quick observation as to why she had been roaming their neighborhood caught her off guard.
“Greta was taking a bath and Marvin didn’t seem to know anything. I’ll check back with her.”
“Who’s Jillian?” Emily asked, focused on her phone as her thumbs tapped the screen.
“She was my dad’s girlfriend. I told you that.”
Emily nodded, still not deeming his response worthy of her undivided attention. “I just didn’t remember her name. The one who got the mail in her panties and red rain boots?”
Cage grinned, looking at Lake. “Yes.”
Lake laughed. She missed Jessica and the thought of her being alive and infiltrating the lives of Cage and his father was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It was obvious Cage and AJ cared about her, but she belonged in San Francisco with Luke and Jones and the entire Jones family.
“I hope I’m not interrupting your evening.”
“No. I just picked Emily up from the airport. Her boyfriend is a buddy of mine and his flight into Omaha got delayed, so I picked her up so she didn’t have to wait there.”
Best news of the night for Lake. Football player fantasy was officially back on.
“You both live in Omaha?”
Emily looked up. “No. I’m from Minneapolis. Eddie and I attend Texas A&M. His family lives here, so we’re spending part of our break with his family then we’ll spend the second half with my family. I haven’t officially met his parents, so I wanted to wait for Eddie before going to his house.”
Lake nodded.
“Eddie was my running back last year and my roommate. He was injured in the last game of the season. He’s done playing football. Emily wanted to transfer to Texas so he followed her.”