Chapter 14
14
“ W hat are we going to do? Rhodes! This is serious! It was clearly a threat against me!”
Great.
Samantha was here.
Just what her headache needed.
Cate shut down her laptop.
It wasn’t like she was getting anything done anyway. Her headache was relentless. And she needed to talk to Rhodes about what had happened last night.
Even though part of her was afraid to ask. She was scared that she’d gone into Little headspace with just Ethan here.
Had he noticed?
Well, it would be hard to miss.
She guessed she’d find out soon enough. No doubt he’d look at her like she’d lost her mind. Or perhaps he wouldn’t even talk to her.
Making her way to the living room, she squinted in pain as she watched Samantha pace up and down the living room. Her arms were up in the air, her face scrunched up.
Was she upset?
She looked and sounded upset.
“Samantha, honey, calm down,” Rhodes said, appearing from the kitchen with two bottles of water. “You’re getting yourself all upset.”
Yay! Go her. She had read the other woman correctly.
“Well, of course I’m upset!” she cried. “Some asshole threatened me.”
“What’s going on?” Cate asked, stepping forward into the living room. “Is everything all right?”
“No! Everything is not all right.”
“I know you’re scared, Samantha,” Rhodes said in a firm voice. “But that’s no reason to snap at Cate.”
Samantha turned to Rhodes, big tears dripping down her face. “You’re right. I’m just so worried that I’m lashing out without reason. And to the wrong person.” Samantha leaned against Rhodes, who wrapped his arms around her and spoke to her quietly.
“Cate?”
She startled, then looked over at Ethan. “Yes? I mean, hello. How are you?”
“I’m good, thank you.” He was smiling. Did he find her amusing? She wasn’t trying to be. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“You’re kind of squinting.”
“Oh, I have a slight headache. All this noise doesn’t help.”
Unfortunately, as she said that, everything else went quiet.
“I’m sorry that my being threatened is hurting your head, Cate!” Samantha snapped.
Cate turned back to her, bewildered. “I didn’t say that. Did I?”
“No, you didn’t,” Ethan reassured her before glaring over at Samantha. “Come into the kitchen. I’ll find you some painkillers and explain what’s going on.”
“Yes, um, all right.” Cate wanted to run in the other direction. But she also wanted to know what was happening and Ethan didn’t seem to be looking at her like she’d lost her mind.
So perhaps she hadn’t gone into Little headspace last night. Maybe she’d just had a nightmare.
Besides, it seemed like there was something more important going on.
“What’s happened?” she asked as soon as they were farther away.
Rhodes and Samantha talked quietly with Seth before they all left the living room, disappearing into the house.
“Sit down at the kitchen island and I’ll get you a drink of water and some painkillers,” Ethan bossed.
She sat on her usual stool and watched as he grabbed some painkillers from the cupboard, placing them and a bottle of water in front of her.
“Take those, please.”
Hmm. He said please, but it didn’t sound like a request. Luckily, she wanted to get rid of this headache.
He poured a glass of apple juice and set that down before her as well. Apple juice was her favorite. Did he know that, or was it a lucky guess?
Somehow, with Ethan, she didn’t think anything was a lucky guess. He seemed to notice everything.
“Drink that too, please.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. Should she test what he’d do if she said no? He raised his eyebrow.
Refusing would be foolish when she wanted the juice though. The only person she would negatively affect would be herself.
So she took the painkillers with some water. Then she sipped on the juice.
“Good girl,” he told her.
“Why are you calling me a good girl?” she asked, startled.
“Because you did what you were told.”
“I’m not sure I like to do as I’m told.”
“You don’t? You don’t like to hear that you’re a good girl?” he asked.
“I’m not sure that me taking painkillers that I needed and drinking juice I like constitutes me being a good girl.”
“Well, I say it does.” He leaned against the counter opposite her, smiling.
“You’re an expert on good girls?” There was something very bizarre about this conversation. And for her to notice likely meant it was really, really odd.
“You could say that. Drink some more. You’re very pale. When was the last time you ate?”
“What’s going on with Samantha?” she asked, ignoring his question.
Was she pale, though? She hoped she wasn’t getting ill.
“It’s rude to ignore a question when someone asks you something,” he told her.
“Hmm, you’re right. You are being rude by ignoring my question.”
He gaped at her, his mouth opening and closing. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh?”
“I can’t tell if you know what I’m talking about or not. I just asked you when the last time you ate was. Seth said you’ve been in the office all day. On a Sunday.”
“Yes, on a Sunday. I’m very busy.”
“You need to take time to relax. How much work can you really get done with a headache?”
Not much, as it turned out.
“Have you had lunch?” he asked firmly.
“No, I haven’t. I wasn’t hungry.”
“You weren’t hungry, or were you hiding from Seth?” he asked.
She really didn’t want to answer him since that was precisely what she’d been doing.
“What’s going on?” she asked, taken aback.
“I’m going to make you something to eat. It will help your headache. And you’ll eat it if you want to know what’s happening.”
“Are you trying to blackmail me into eating?” she asked.
“I prefer the term gently guiding.”
Gently? Cate snorted. Oh. That wasn’t an attractive noise. But he didn’t look at her askance.
“What sort of sandwich do you want? Ham? Pastrami? Chicken?” he asked.
“Chicken and mayo,” she replied. “But I’ll make it.”
To her surprise, he didn’t argue as she started making herself a sandwich.
It would be polite to ask him if he wanted one, right?
“Would you like a sandwich?”
“That would be great, thank you.”
“What kind?” she asked.
“What you’re having is fine.”
“Oh, but I have very plain sandwiches. Rhodes calls them bland and boring.”
“Does he? I’ll still give it a go.”
“All right.” She prepared two mayo and chicken sandwiches, making sure to put plenty of salt and pepper on them.
She cut all the crusts off hers. But she left his crusts on. He seemed like a crust sort of man.
“No crusts for you?” he asked.
“No, and before you tell me that they’ll put hair on my chest if I eat them, that isn’t scientifically true. And even if it was, I wouldn’t want a hairy chest.”
“That’s fair enough.” His lips were twitching. Was he thinking about laughing?
At her?
A knot developed in her stomach and when she sat on her stool, she found herself unable to eat.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I . . . I . . . don’t like being laughed at.”
Ethan placed his sandwich down, staring at her seriously. “Who laughed at you?”
She stared at him for a moment.
“You think I was laughing at you? Sweetheart . . .” Reaching over, he looked like he was going to touch her hand, but then he drew it back.
Why was she disappointed about that?
“You looked like you were.”
“I wanted to smile because you were being so cute.”
“I was?” That was odd. She never thought of herself as cute.
“I thought so. I’m sorry if you thought I was laughing at you. Sometimes, you say things that make me smile. But it’s about being happy, never about ridiculing you. I would never laugh at you,” he said firmly.
She nodded.
“Would it help if I told you why I’m smiling . . . when I smile after you say or do something?”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” she told him.
Although it was a kind thing to offer. That was something she’d noticed about Ethan. He was understanding and patient.
Even if he was also stern and bossy.
Was he always like this? Or was it because it was his job?
“How about if you don’t ask? If I just do it? Well, I’ll try to. Sometimes I might forget.”
“Oh, are you becoming forgetful? Do you need some supplements to help you? Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to be very helpful.”
“I’m about to smile because you’re being cute again.”
Hmm. This was confusing. “I am?”
“You are. And it’s even cuter that you don’t realize you’re being cute.”
“I’m starting to think you might need more help than with just your memory.”
There went that smile.
“Am I being cute again?”
“You are.”
“Seems I do that a lot. Or perhaps you just smile a lot. Telling me why you’re smiling could get tiresome.”
Most people eventually found her tiresome.
“I can assure you I don’t usually smile a lot. I’ve been likened to a boulder before.”
“That seems rude. Although you are very large. But you are not without emotions. You are very calm, though. I suppose that could be considered boulder-like. However, I don’t think it’s a negative.”
Quite the opposite, really.
“Good to know. How about this? Every time I smile at you, you assume it’s because you’re being cute unless I tell you otherwise.”
“That’s acceptable.” She nodded.
“Now, I want to see you finish that sandwich. Please.”
“When you say please it doesn’t sound like a request.”
“Good. I wasn’t trying to make it a request. Eat.”
They ate in silence for a few moments.
“All right. What is going on?” Cate asked, unable to wait any longer.
Ethan sighed and took a sip from his own bottle of water. “I’d rather wait until you stop eating. I don’t want you to choke again.”
“That was a one-time thing. I never choke on my food.”
“Still. We’ll wait to be sure. Keep eating.”
Cate finished her sandwich, making herself chew properly even though she wanted to just gulp it down. “You’re a very stubborn man.”
“Thank you,” he replied.
“Oh, that wasn’t a compliment.”
“I think I’ll still take it as such.”
“I don’t think stubborn can be a good characteristic.”
“It can. If there’s a problem you can’t solve, or something you want to achieve that will take a lot of time and perseverance. Then being stubborn can be a good thing.”
“I suppose that’s true. Still, in this instance, being stubborn isn’t a good thing.”
He laughed.
“Cute?” she asked.
“Definitely.”