Definitely not a woman who had easy affairs. It was obvious she was trying to look like a seductress, but he couldn’t buy it. Her movements were stiff, her smile forced.
Jesse sent him a look, his brow furrowing. He seemed confused as well.
Cade reached out and took her hand. Earlier in the day, he’d crossed the street from the shop and headed to Polly’s Cut and Curl. If a man needed to find out about a woman, the local beauty parlor was the place to go. Polly had gotten the scoop from Teeny, who had talked to Callie, who had heard it from Stella that Gemma had not only been engaged, but that the whole thing had ended in a disaster that cost her everything. Was she trying to rebound with the small-town yokels?
He followed Jesse and Gemma to the classic car he’d spent years restoring. It was his dream car. He’d scrimped and saved and lovingly put together every piece of that car. It had been his father’s at one point, the only thing he really had left of him. After his parents died, Nancy Gibbs had taken him in. She’d also put his father’s prize possession into a garage and kept it there for him. He could remember the moment when she’d come for him. It had been at his parents’ funeral, in that odd time after they and his sister had been placed in the ground, when he’d gone to his home where everyone was gathered, but he’d felt so alone. He’d hidden in that Camaro. After the accident, it had been hard for him to feel comfortable in a car, but the Camaro hadn’t worked in years.
And then Nancy had been there, sneaking into the car with him. She’d been his mom’s friend. The rest of his family didn’t have a place for him, but Nancy stepped up. She’d sat in that car with him until long after everyone left.
She’d promised to take care of him and the piece-of-crap car his father had loved. Even after she’d lost her money, she’d found a way to pay for the garage. Now this car was all he had left of her, too.
How would Nancy Gibbs have handled Gemma Wells?
Jesse opened the door, but Cade was faster. Jesse had pushed them into this. He could do the driving, too. Cade helped Gemma into the backseat and followed after her. Jesse frowned as Cade slapped the keys into his hands. “Asshole.”
“It’s not far away.”
Gemma sat in the backseat, looking forward as though she’d just figured out she was in a car with two men she didn’t really know. He had the most insane urge to push her boundaries just a little.
“Hey, do you do this often?” he asked with a silky slide. He knew the truth. He would bet his life she’d never done anything like this before, but he wanted to see if she would lie.
“Often enough.” There was that brassy tone, the one she seemed to use on everyone until she forgot to and showed her softer self.
Little liar. He put a hand on her knee. She stiffened slightly before taking a deep breath.
“So you sleep with a lot of men?” Cade decided to put it more baldly.
“Cade!” Jesse admonished as he turned the engine over.
“Hey, you’re the honesty guy. It’s a fair question. We’re practically strangers and we’re heading back to her place to have sex. I would like to know what I’m getting into. For all I know she’s one of those female serial killers. She could be luring us back to her lair with the promise of sex and all the while she intends to kill us and use us for fertilizer.”
She turned to him, her mouth hanging open. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I’m not a serial killer.”
He shrugged. “It’s Bliss. I have to ask. So how many men have you slept with?”
“Cade!” Jesse hissed his name, a warning.
Cade wasn’t listening. “It’s a fair question.”
Even in the low light, he could see her flush. “How many women have you slept with?”
“Fifteen. Wait. Are we talking actual penetration or like oral and stuff?”
She huffed. How did she expect to get naked with them in the next fifteen minutes if she couldn’t even talk about sex? “It doesn’t matter.” She was quiet for a moment.
“Gemma?”
“Two. Okay. Fine. It’s two. Are you happy now? I slept with my boyfriend in college and then he turned out to be gay, and then I slept with my fiancé and he turned out to be an asshole. So maybe you should think about this because I don’t have a great track record in the happy customer department.”
There she was. Bitchy. Honest. Funny. He hated the hard shell, but he was so intrigued by the woman he was beginning to glimpse underneath. He shouldn’t sleep with her. He was fascinated and that was dangerous. He should walk away. He couldn’t, and if he did, he probably wouldn’t be welcomed back. If he wanted any kind of a place in the relationship she and Jesse were starting, he had to be there now.
Because she was a little like a turtle. She’d poked her head out and looked around and decided to give them a try. If they turned her down, she would go back into her shell.
“Why only two?” He kept asking questions he didn’t want answers to.
She turned a little, watching the night go by. “I only had the two boyfriends.”
Jesse drove down the long paved road toward her cabin. “I think what Cade is asking is why did you choose only two? You’re a beautiful woman, Gemma. You’re what? Twenty-six?”
“Thirty.” The word was flat, but Cade heard the satisfaction behind it. “I don’t know. I didn’t have time for it. I knew from a young age that I wanted to do something special. I studied really hard. And my parents moved around a lot, so I was constantly adjusting to new schools or sometimes to homeschool if we were on a commune. My parents wanted me to get a life education, but I just wanted to score really high on my SATs.”
Now she was talking. He scooted a little closer to her. She didn’t move away. “That must have been hard. So no high school boyfriends?”
“No. My dad died when I was twelve. Mom settled down for a few years and I spent all my time studying. The first time we had high-speed Internet was the greatest day of my life.” She relaxed against him, her body sinking into his. “Look, I love my mom, but she was all about finding herself, and that meant I was in some weird situations. I know that communes are supposed to be these perfect places, but I was a teenaged girl without a dad.”
Vulnerable. She would have been so vulnerable. Cade knew how that felt. In the warm darkness of the car, it was easy to pull her into his arms, to let his body comfort hers. It didn’t have to mean anything. He could walk away in the morning. He wouldn’t even have to feel guilty because Jesse would take care of her. He could cuddle her tonight and go about his business in the morning.
Her face turned up. “Why did you get in the back with me? Did you want to play twenty questions?”
He had an honest answer for that. “If I’d let Jesse hop in the back with you, he would already have you flat on your back with your legs spread. I wanted to wait. I wanted to be able to watch when he gets you naked.”
“Maybe I would get him naked first,” she said, a hint of challenge in her voice. She brought herself up, staring him in the face. “I don’t want to talk, Cade. I don’t want to open up my damn soul and tell you my story. I want to have a good time. Can you help me with that?”
He knew he was being deeply perverse, but he didn’t like the sound of being Gemma’s good time. It wasn’t fair so he let it go. He gave her his easiest, most laid-back smile. “I’m right here, darlin’. You come and take what you want.”
She put her hands on either side of his face, drawing him down. He was game. He let her lead for now. She pressed her mouth to his, her little tongue drawing along his bottom lip. His cock jumped. He had zero intentions of going first. That was for Jesse. Jesse was the one who would stay with her. Jesse was the one who would be her man. But he liked being close to her. The scent and warmth of her called to him. She moved him, and more than just his cock.