Engaging (Alluring Book 2) (2 page)

"You still haven't told me why you're here," Cassie said, as she stopped by her car.

"You're not impressed by me at all, are you?"  Gage asked, taking her keys from her hand and opening the driver's side door.

"You've yet to do something impressive."

"Ouch.  I guess I deserved that.  It's been a long time since I've had to work this hard for a date."

"Is that what you're trying to do, ask me out?  Because, let me tell you, your technique sucks."

Gage ran his fingers through his hair, looked to the ground, and sighed.  He looked back up and locked his eyes on hers.  "You're right.  I'm screwing this up.  Listen, when I saw you today, I thought you were the prettiest thing I had ever seen."

Cassie straightened her spine and looked at Gage closely, sure he was pulling her leg.  She knew she was pretty, many people had told her so, but for a famous rock star to think she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen.  Someone surrounded by beautiful people every day.  No, she didn't buy it. 

He brought his hand up to her face and lightly caressed her cheek with his thumb.  "With your long, golden hair that my fingers are itching to touch in order to discover if it's as soft as it looks.  Your exotic, green eyes that held me captive the first time I looked into them. And your red, full lips that I can't wait to taste with my own."  He whispered now as he said, "You're absolutely perfect."

Cassie, at a loss for words, just stared into his beautiful blue eyes.  Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest, and her stomach clenched with the knowledge that she could fall hard for Gage Hunter.

Chapter One

May 16, 2015
              

Cassie lay back on the lounger, enjoying the sun's rays seeping into her skin.  She managed to find the one secluded spot away from the party.  The noise level was bearable here on the outskirts.  She honestly didn't know why she had come.  Yes, she did.  Sam had asked her to come and after the friendship that Sam had extended to her and the help Sam had given her nonprofit organization, Tail Wagners, she couldn't say no.

Her aunt, Laurie Wagner, founded Tail Wagners ten years ago, and Cassie had worked for her aunt for the past four and a half years.  They rescued abandoned, neglected, and abused dogs throughout Las Vegas and its surrounding areas and found permanent, loving homes for them. 

Cassie had met Samantha Douglas a few months prior when Cassie's son Logan and Sam's son Kyle became friends at preschool.  Cassie and Sam struck up a conversation one day while they waited for the boys to get out of school and since had many after school play dates with the boys.  Cassie enjoyed having a friend close to her own age and that shared her same interests.

Sam's husband, Derek, owned his own construction company and while he worked long hours, he still doted on his wife and son.  Sam's brother, Mason Connor, was the star quarterback for the Nevada Pursuers and was his birthday party she was at now.  Also, the main reason she had come to the party was because Sam's birthday present to her brother was one of Cassie's rescue dogs, Charlie.

  Charlie, a two-year-old Shepard-mix that had come to their facility about a year ago, was basically still a puppy and tended to be a bit hyper, so Cassie had been more than thrilled that Mase had seemed genuinely excited and happy at receiving him.  She was delighted that Charlie had found a loving forever home.

Cassie took a sip of her fruit juice and watched the party-goers.  With the exception of Sam and her husband, the rest of the guests seemed to be football players, starlets, or groupies.  She looked down at her plain, cotton sundress that she had bought at a discount store, knowing she covered more skin than the skimpy bikinis the other girls wore.  She watched all the flirting, the touching, the kissing and knew they sought someone to hook-up with at the end of the evening, something Cassie was not interested in and knew this wasn't her scene.  She didn't fit in.  And thus, the reason she sat away from the crowd, observing but not participating.

She closed her eyes and sighed.  With so much to do back at the ranch, she felt guilty enjoying the sun and the peace.  Her aunt always told her she needed to get out more, especially on dates, but having a four-year-old didn't leave much personal time, and she liked it that way.  Logan was all she needed. 

A shadow fell over her face, and she heard her name whispered, brokenly.  Cassie opened her eyes.  Standing above her was someone she'd never thought to see again.  Gage Hunter.  She slowly sat up.  She blinked twice, not believing her eyes, but he still stood before her in all his masculine perfection.  He looked good.  No, he looked magnificent.  His raven-black hair was still long, skimming his shoulders.  He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she could tell he was more muscular than he was five years ago, but he was still lean, his abs well defined.  He had added another tattoo.  Some kind of squiggly design that started at his right shoulder and traveled down over his right pec.  She remembered the flaming guitar tattoo on the inside of his right forearm and knew he had a replica of Engage's first album cover on his left shoulder blade.

She brought her eyes to his face.  His eyes, still the most startling blue she had ever seen, held her captive, and she had to force herself to look away.  His face was a tad thinner, his cheekbones more pronounced, but God, he was still so ruggedly handsome.  She had almost forgotten how absolutely gorgeous he was.  Almost.

They stared at each other, not saying a word, cataloging years worth of changes in each other.  She knew she looked different, and she was sure she looked older.  Her body was fuller from having Logan, and her long blond hair that had once fallen to her waist, now only fell to mid-back.  She had a scar over her right eye that she acquired two years ago while chasing a Labrador that had escaped the property, and she had hit her head on a low hanging branch.  But many of her scars and changes were internal and couldn't be seen, put there by the man standing before her now. 

She wanted to reach out and touch him, make sure he was real.  So many times she had envisioned what would happen if she ever saw Gage again.  What he would say, what she would say, but she hadn't expected the deep longing she felt for Gage being her strongest emotion.  And she hated herself for it.

Gage was the first to speak.  "You look beautiful.  Still the prettiest thing I've ever seen." 

His eyes devoured her, missing nothing.  Cassie straightened her spine.  Did he actually think she would fall for that line again?  Cassie felt a surge of anger.  She was no longer the naive teenager she once was.  She was a woman now, a mother.  Someone who knew how it felt to have their heart stomped on and didn't relish having it happen again. 

She stood abruptly, her eyes narrowed, and her body shaking with emotion.  She opened her mouth to speak, but he brought his hand up and caressed her cheek, a feather light touch that sent goose bumps down her arms.  She lost all train of thought and just stood there like a ninny, swept away by old emotions.

She remembered how it had felt, being in his arms, feeling loved, protected, and cherished.  Only, it had all been a facade.  She had to remember that.  "What are you playing at, Gage?"  She asked, in barely a whisper, but he heard her.

"I'm not playing at anything.  I just really missed you and your beautiful face."

Cassie took a step back.  She couldn't think while he touched her.  She slowly brought her hand to her face.  Her fingers covering the spot Gage had touched.  "You had your chance five years ago.  You missed it then, as you're about to miss it now.  Good-bye, Gage."

She turned and ran away.  Not her finest moment, but all she could think about was putting distance between them.  She heard him shout her name, but she didn't stop, couldn't stop.  Gage Hunter was dangerous to her in more ways than just her heart.

* * * * *

Gage stood paralyzed as he watched Cassie disappear into the crowd.  His brain screamed,
don't let her get away
, and his feet immediately took action.  He ran out the front door of Mase's house in time to see the taillights of a red SUV exiting the gate.  Several lights flashed and questions were shouted.  Damn, he'd forgotten about the paparazzi.  He kicked the door shut on his way back in.  He needed to find Mase.

He found him in the kitchen talking with Jackson Cole, hotel owner and good friend.

Mase greeted him by lifting his beer.  "You want one, man?"

Gage shook his head.  "How do you know Cassie Wagner?"  He asked, leaning against the kitchen counter and folding his arms across his chest.

Mase gave him a quizzical look.  "The name sounds kinda familiar."

Gage continued, "Long blond hair, green eyes, about 5'3"."

Mase laughed.  "You just described half the women here."

Gage gave an exasperated sigh.  "She was wearing a light-yellow, cotton sundress."

Mase thought for a minute then snapped his fingers.  "She's the dog chick."

Gage practically growled, "She's not a dog.  She's fucking beautiful."

"No," Mase shook his head and waved a hand, "she works with dogs or some shit like that.  She's Sam's friend.  If you want to know anything about her, you'll have to ask her."

Jack spoke up.  "What's this about, Gage?"

Gage looked down at the floor.  "We dated a few years ago.  She was in college at the time, and we met when I played a concert at her school.  Things got pretty serious, but before I left to go on tour, I told her long-distance relationships never work, and I broke up with her."  Gage shook his head and looked up at his friends.  "Biggest mistake of my life.  Didn't know what I had, until I let it go.  I went back to find her, tell her I loved her, but she disappeared.  Dropped out of school.  Even her damn cell phone had been disconnected.  Today was the first time I've seen her in five years, and she ran away from me.  Not that I blame her."  He uncrossed his arms and stood from the counter.  "I broke her heart and then I broke mine."  He gave a nod of his head and turned to leave the kitchen. 

Mase called his name, and he stopped and turned back around.  His serious expression was so un-Mase-like that Gage found himself paying careful attention to what he had to say.  "Go find Sam."  That was it, three simple words but full of meaning.

Gage gave him a chin lift, then left.

* * * * *

Cassie knew as she stepped through the door of the ranch house that she would get shit from her aunt about being home so soon, and she wasn't wrong.

"Cassandra Wagner, why the heck are you home so early?  You've only been gone a few hours."

Logan sat, coloring at the coffee table and at the mention of her name his head snapped up.  He got to his feet shouting, "Momma," running at her full steam and wrapping his little arms around her thighs in a tight hug.

"Hey, little man."  Cassie squatted and enfolded her son in her arms.  "I missed you."  She backed away and looked at him.  "Were you a good boy for Auntie?"

He nodded his head, shouted, "Yes,"  then ran back to his coloring.

Her aunt shook her head.  "I wish I had half his energy.  Now, tell me, young lady, why are you home so soon?"

Cassie looked over at Logan, making sure he wasn't paying attention to their conversation.  "I ran into Logan's father." 

She heard her aunt inhale a shocked breath.  She didn't know who Logan's father was, no one did, except Monica.  She still kept in touch with her college friend, but she moved back home to New Mexico after graduation so didn't see her as often as she once did.

"Did you tell him about Logan?"

Cassie gave her a sharp look.  "Of course, not.  I didn't say anything.  I just left.  That's why I'm home so early."

"I know I've said this before," her aunt started, and Cassie already knew what she would say, "but, he has a right to know he has a son."

Cassie sighed, she loved her aunt, truly.  She was the one person who had stuck by her when she had wanted to keep Logan and her parents had wanted her to put him up for adoption.  Let's just say, relations between her and her parents had been strained, actually, they had been nonexistent, for the past five years, but her aunt had always supported her.  Literally and figuratively.  "My reasoning is the same today as it was back then.  He broke up with me because he didn't want to be tied down.  I'm not going to tie him to me with a child."

Laurie shook her head and sighed. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I am going to tell you that I think you're wrong.  The man has a right to know.  Now, I've said my piece, we won't talk about it anymore.  I want to know about Charlie.  Did he go to a good home?"

And that was what Cassie loved about her aunt.  She spoke her mind, gave you her advice, but she didn't preach.  So Cassie let her change the subject and told her all about Charlie and his new home.

Cassie lay in bed that night, unable to fall asleep.  Her thoughts were full of Gage.  She knew it was unhealthy to think of him.  It had taken a long time to mend her broken heart and it hadn't helped that Logan was the spitting image of his father.  Cassie had taken her aunt's words to heart.  Sometimes, she did wonder whether she had made the right decision all those years ago.  Especially, when she looked at Logan and worried she had cheated him out of the love of a father.  He didn't understand now but in a few years he would, and one day he would ask.