Chapter 18
18
C ate was exhausted as she sat by the pool with her eReader
Ethan approached with two glasses of orange juice. And there were three maraschino cherries on a stick in her glass. Along with a cute yellow umbrella.
Yes.
She held out her hand for the drink and he handed it to her. He set his drink down, along with two bottles of water that he’d had under his arm.
“I’d like you to drink the water, too, please.”
Hmm. There went that please again that made it seem like it should be a request. But it certainly felt more like a demand.
Cate was actually surprised that she was here. Normally, after an episode like she’d just had, she’d have to spend a few hours alone in her closet, trying to calm down.
Ethan really did have magic arms.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, sitting sideways on his sun lounger so he could look at her.
Cate glanced down at herself. She was still dressed in slacks and she wore three layers on her top half. She’d taken off her shoes before she’d sat down, but her feet were encased in socks.
And she was still a bit chilly.
“About your magical body parts.”
His mouth dropped open. “My magical body parts?”
“Uh-huh.” Was that strange? Maybe it was.
“Which part do you think is magical?” he asked with a strange look on his face.
“Your arms.”
“Oh, my arms. That’s slightly disappointing.”
Huh? She didn’t understand.
“You need a blanket.” He jumped back up and walked inside before she could say anything, returning with the blanket from yesterday. He placed it over her legs and lap. That did feel a lot better.
“Have you always felt the cold this badly?” he asked her as he sat again.
“Ever since I can remember. If I get too cold, my circulation gets really bad.”
Ethan nodded. “Then we need to make certain that you’re never cold.”
Did he really care? Or was it something he was just saying?
If he didn’t care, would he have looked after you just before? And last night?
“You told me about being a Daddy Dom so I would know something about you,” she said.
“Yeah, I did.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“No. But I wanted you to know. You have nothing to be ashamed of, Cate.”
She let out a deep breath as some of the knot in her stomach unraveled.
“I apologize for coming on too strong last night and scaring you off.”
“Sometimes I get overwhelmed. As you have seen this afternoon. And I . . .” She looked out over the pool to the view of the ocean beyond. “I run and hide until I’m less overwhelmed.”
“I understand, though I wish that you would stay and talk to me instead of running from me. How about if that urge comes over you again, you just tell me you need a time-out?”
“A time-out? Like what naughty children get?”
“Maybe not the best thing to call it. A reset?”
A reset.
Yes, she could do that. Slowly, she nodded. “I’ll try.”
“That’s all I ask. Now, read your book and try to relax.”
Unfortunately, she was only five minutes into her book when she heard someone clear their throat.
A huff of irritation left her, and she rolled to her side, trying to get away from whoever was attempting to interrupt her reading time.
“Cate. I know you don’t like to be interrupted when reading, honey,” Rhodes said. “But I need to talk to you.”
“I don’t think she can hear you,” Samantha said. “Maybe you should just tell her later. Now I need to get home and organize my stuff and you have to come with me, Rhodes. I can’t be alone right now. I just can’t.”
Urgh.
Cate sat up and turned to glare at Rhodes and Samantha. She heard someone let out a muffled laugh and glanced over to find Ethan smiling. He winked at her.
That was weird. Why was he winking at her?
“Sorry to interrupt, honey,” Rhodes said.
“Rhodes,” Samantha said with a whine. She was draped around her brother as though she needed him to help prop her up.
“Samantha, I know you’re upset, but I need to speak to my sister. Maybe you could go and tell Seth that we’re leaving in ten minutes?”
Samantha’s face scrunched up for a moment, but when Rhodes looked down at her, she smiled up at him sunnily.
“Of course I can do that.” Samantha turned to look at Cate. Cate moved her gaze so it was focussed on Samantha’s chin. Hmm, was she getting a pimple?
“And Cate, I know that you struggle with change, but I’m sure you’ll be understanding about my situation.”
Why did she sound so strange?
Turning, she moved off. She always walked a bit oddly. As though she was on a catwalk.
“Why did she sound funny?” Cate asked Rhodes. “Is she getting ill?”
“Uh, no. She was just trying to be nice.”
“Why?” Cate asked.
Rhodes ran his hand over his face, looking tired. She immediately felt guilty. Rhodes was everything to her and she knew that she was a lot of work for him. He’d had to come back here in the middle of the night because of her.
“I’m sorry, Rhodes,” she told him.
“What for?”
“For being such a nuisance. Making you come back here in the night for me.”
Rhodes glanced over at Ethan, who was now frowning. “Can you give us a moment?”
Ethan hesitated and glanced at Cate. “You all right, Cate?”
“Of course.” Why wouldn’t she be? Oh, perhaps because of what happened before. “I’m fine with Rhodes here.”
Ethan nodded and left.
“You and he are getting close?” Rhodes asked as he sat sideways on Ethan’s sun lounger.
“Close? I don’t think I’d say that. But he . . . he’s a kind man. Patient. And he listens to me. I don’t think he judges me. He said he wants to be friends.”
“You deserve a friend, honey. But just . . . be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“You think Ethan would hurt me?” she asked.
“I think Ethan seems like a great guy. But after all this, he’ll leave, and I don’t want you to be upset.”
Oh. Rhodes was worried that she’d miss him? Well, she guessed that made sense.
“You need to worry less about me,” she told him. “You have a lot going on, so you should concentrate on yourself.”
“I just want to protect you.”
Reaching out, she squeezed his hand. “I love you, Rhodes. You’re the best brother I could ever ask for. I wish I could be as good a sister to you.”
“You are,” he said intently. “You might not see it, but you take care of me as well. Whenever I need you, you’re there for me, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you.”
She didn’t believe him, but she wasn’t going to argue.
“Rhodes!” Samantha called out.
“You’ll be all right with her living here?” he asked.
Shoot. She tried not to lie. And saying she would be all right with Samantha would definitely be a lie.
“I’ll adjust.”
“It’s just for a short while. Until we can pin down this stalker. I still think she’d be safer staying away from me, but she doesn’t agree. She’s scared. I know Samantha can be a lot, but she has a kind heart.”
She did?
“I’m glad she’s good to you. You deserve that. I’ll manage.”
And if she couldn’t, there was always the lake house.
Ethan walked away from the pool, leaving Rhodes and Cate to their talk. He stepped into the living room, where he could hear voices.
“Polly? Took you long enough to answer,” Samantha snapped into the phone. “Yes, I know it’s Sunday. Are you trying to say that I can’t call you on a Sunday? Good.”
Ethan glanced over at Seth who was frowning at Samantha with his arms over his chest. Samantha was turned away from them both, so he wasn’t sure if she was aware they were listening to her.
How did Rhodes not see this woman for what she was? Although he guessed she acted differently around the other man.
“I need you to arrange a moving company. No, I’m moving in with Rhodes. Yes. Yes, this week. Everything will come here, of course. I don’t like most of his furniture, so we’ll get rid of it. Also, I’ll need you to contact the landlord and get out of the lease. I don’t care how you do it.”
She was planning to move all of her stuff here?
“I thought you were just moving in here while there was a threat,” Ethan said as she ended the call.
Samantha let out a small cry and turned to him. A smile filled her face as she stared at Ethan hungrily. He raised his eyebrows and gave her a stern look back. He wasn’t sure why she looked at him like he was a snack. Seth was usually the one women flocked to.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were there. Are you coming with us to my place?” She strolled toward him.
“Pretty sure Rhodes told you Seth is going with you.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
She slid closer to him. “But I’d rather have you.”
“Too bad you can’t have me.” He turned away and walked toward Seth as Samantha let out a huff of annoyance.
“Rhodes,” she called out as she walked over to the doors.
“She likes you,” Seth said to him. “Sure you don’t want to go? I could stay and read by the pool with Cate.”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening.
“I’ve got Cate.”
Seth shot him a sharp look. “Yeah?”
“Something wrong?” Ethan asked.
“Nope. I’ve just never known you to be anything but professional with a client.”
“I’m being professional.”
“Hey, man. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it. Technically, Cate isn’t paying us. She’s an adult. She can do what she wants. But Rip might not see it that way. And Cate is . . . vulnerable.”
“I know that,” Ethan snapped. “I’m not going to take advantage of her.”
“But if you like her, I’d never stand in your way. I know you’ve had a long dry spell.”
Ethan groaned. “Get out of my business, dickhead.”
Seth grinned before he grew serious. “But I should probably take point with Cate if you want to pursue anything.”
“I’m not pursuing anything.” Much as he might want to.
“Yet,” Seth said.
Asshole.
“So you think we should give Rip a heads-up about that phone call?”
Ethan sighed as Rhodes and Samantha stepped up to them. “Can I have a moment before you leave, Rhodes?”
“We have to go,” Samantha said.
“It will only take a minute,” Ethan said firmly. “You can go wait with Seth in the car.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth.
“Please go wait with Seth, Samantha,” Rhodes insisted.
Ethan turned to him after Seth and Samantha had left. “Listen, I need to talk to you about?—”
“Your intentions with my sister,” Rhodes said. “You’ve been reading with her.”
“Um, you say that like it’s a bad thing. It’s just reading.”
“No, it’s not. Reading is her favorite thing to do. It’s her escape. The world can be a hard place for her. It can be overwhelming. When she reads, she relaxes. And she doesn’t do that around other people. Except you. So, do not hurt my sister. If you do, I will come for you.”
Ethan nodded. He understood. “I respect that. If someone hurt my sister, I’d destroy them.”
He was still considering killing Stu for letting Lana go to a concert alone. Even though she’d come home perfectly safe.
That wasn’t the point.
“Good. Now, what did you want to talk about?”
“I walked in on a phone conversation between Samantha and someone called Polly.”
“Her assistant. She’s a sweet girl. She might be a regular visitor now that Samantha is staying for a while, so we should add her to the list.”
Ethan nodded. “No problem. Hope I’m not overstepping but Samantha was instructing Polly to hire movers to move everything from her place.”
“And put it where?” Rhodes asked.
“Here.”
Rhodes sighed. He ran his hand over his face. “She’s misunderstood. I’ll talk to her.”
Misunderstood? Or had she just decided to do what she wanted to do?
Ethan wasn’t so sure.
“We can’t spread ourselves among the three of you if you’re all going to different places,” Ethan pointed out. “And before you say it, you are the target of the stalker. We have to go with you.”
And Ethan wasn’t willing to leave Cate on her own.
“I know.” Rhodes nodded. “I called Ink. He can’t spare anyone else for Samantha at the moment. So whoever is out of the house takes a guard. And at night, one of you should be here with Cate. If Samantha and I are going to different places in the evening, we’ll have to hire someone from an agency. Ink is looking into someone temporary who can be on call. At least this asshole hasn’t targeted Cate in any of their notes.”
“Probably doesn’t see her as a threat since she’s your sister.”
“I still don’t want her here alone at night, and I would rather you were the one here with her. We’ll sit down and go over our schedules when we get back.”