Page 67 of Fool Me Twice

Cane wasn’t expecting Hart to grab his wrist and pull him. He refused to move, simply raising an eyebrow at Hart’s flushed face.

“I need to talk to you. Right now!” Hart demanded, tugging.

“There’s nothing to discuss.”

“I think you’ll find there is,” Hart snapped.

“It’ll be okay, Hart,” Ash said, reaching out and placing a hand on Hart’s shoulder. Cane wanted to break it. “I’ve always wanted to go toe to toe with Hurricane. I can hold my own.”

“No, you won’t,” Hart told him, spinning his head back around to Cane. “And you won’t either.”

Cane raised a brow. “What are you implying?”

“Throw it. Or stage it. Something.”

“No,” Cane said simply, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Cane!”

“He’s right, Hart. You can’t stage a fight like this. People can tell. They want blood,” Ash said.

“There must be rules against this!”

Cane took a long drag of his cigarette. “I make the rules here, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me that,” he snapped.

Cane smirked at the slight quiver in his voice. He threw a look at Ash. “Go get ready. I’ll deal with your brother.”

“That didn’t sound ominous at all,” Ash said, frowning and looking between them.

“It’s only your face I want to rearrange. I quite like his,” Cane said in a bored tone.

Hart gaped next to him, and Ash chuckled, frown wiped away, clearly not understanding the magnitude of what Cane had just admitted.

“Well, don’t fall in love while I’m gone. Be back in a sec!” Ash said cheerfully, disappearing into the darkness and strobe lighting.

Hart was left with his face bright red and his mouth hanging open.

Cane smirked, shutting it for him with a knuckle that lingered under his jaw. “Problem?”

Hart drew himself upright, jerking his face away and opening his mouth again to berate him. Cane stuck the still burning cigarette into his mouth instead.

Hart closed his lips on it instinctively, then seemed to remember himself and let it drop to the floor in a shower of sparks.

“CANE!” he yelled, utterly apoplectic at that point.

Cane thought he was beautiful.

He dragged Hart along to his office and closed the door behind them by pushing Hart against it and pressing his mouth to his. It wasn’t a kiss, just a reminder as he whispered, “I’d love to do this with you tonight, sweetheart, but we don’t have a lot of time.”

“This is insane, Cane,” Hart said, smacking his shoulders weakly. “You can’t be serious.”

“There was no other option, Hart.”

“There are always options.”

Cane pulled back from him and smiled slightly. “Your optimism is cute.”