Chapter 19
19
E than knocked on Cate’s office door.
“Come in.”
Walking in, he found her hunched over her desk, reading something on her computer screen. He didn’t think she could retreat any further, but since Samantha moved in four days ago, Cate had become a ghost in her own home.
He hadn’t been able to get her to come read with him outside even once.
And he didn’t like that one bit.
“Cate?” he asked, looking around while he waited for her to acknowledge him.
He noticed a full tray sitting on the end of the desk.
Was she eating any of the food the housekeeper brought her?
She glanced up, blinking in surprise. “Oh, Ethan, hello. Can I help you?”
“I’m concerned about you,” he barked. Shit. He hadn’t meant to snap. “Are you eating? Sleeping?”
“What? Yes, I’m eating and sleeping.”
“Enough?” he pressed.
“I guess that depends on what you think enough is.”
“Don’t try to play word games with me,” he said firmly. “Three meals, two snacks, lots of water, and eight hours sleep. Minimum.”
“Is that what you do?” she asked.
“Yes.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Helps keep me big and strong.”
“I’m not sure I desire muscles that big.” But she couldn’t seem to take her gaze off him. And he had to stop himself from puffing up like a rooster. “And I don’t need as much food as you do.”
“But you need as much sleep. And some food. Was this lunch?” He gestured at the tray.
“Oh, is it past lunchtime already?” She blinked at the clock. “It’s not quite one.”
“Yes, and you have a meeting at two-thirty. I thought I’d check in to see find out what time you want to leave.”
“Oh. Yes. That’s in my calendar.” She peered down at her calendar. “I need my list of things I’m supposed to take.” She dragged out a piece of paper from a drawer. He noticed that it had images of each thing she needed alongside the words.
Things like a briefcase, a laptop, water, and shoes were on the list.
“I’ll be ready to go in forty minutes. I need to change these clothes. I think I wore them yesterday.”
Okay, now he was officially worried. While they were out, he was going to get her to eat and drink something. If she couldn’t take care of herself, he would need to step in.
It was as simple as that.
Forty minutes later, Ethan stood in the foyer, waiting for Cate.
“Oh, good, you’re ready to go.” Samantha stepped into the foyer, dressed in yoga pants and a sports top that showed off her stomach.
“You’re leaving?” he asked. “Did you ask Seth to arrange a temp for you?”
“What? No. Why would I need a temp when I have you?” She bit her lip as she stared up at him.
He was sure she thought she was being sexy. But it just felt creepy.
“I’m busy, sorry,” he said politely.
“Doing what? Look, I have a yoga class I need to get to. Polly! Are you ready?”
Polly, Samantha’s assistant, walked out of the living room carrying a large duffel bag, two garment bags, and a huge bottle of water.
Polly was a sweetheart. Quiet and shy. She rarely lifted her gaze off the ground and spoke in such a soft voice that it was difficult to hear her.
And he hated how Samantha spoke to her. As though she was her slave.
Polly’s brown hair was in a messy ponytail, and her glasses were falling partway down her nose. She tended to wear eclectic clothing as though she’d just chucked on whatever she first put her hands on. But it worked for her.
“Here, Polly, let me help.” He stepped forward to grab the bottle of water, which he knew would be Samantha’s. He shoved it at her. “Take this.”
She took it, her mouth dropping open. Then he grabbed the bag off Polly.
“Fine, you can carry my stuff to the yoga studio. Put all those muscles to work.”
She fluttered her eyelashes at him.
“Is there something wrong with your eyes?”
The question came from Cate as she stepped up next to him, nearly touching him. He gave her a surprised look. It was rare for Cate to initiate touch. In fact, she only seemed to do it with Rhodes.
So he felt about twenty feet tall that she was practically pressed against him.
Don’t get carried away.
“Excuse me?” Samantha asked. “Why would something be wrong with my eyes?”
“You were blinking a lot. I thought you might have something in your eyes. I hope it’s not a tic or something. Perhaps you should eat a banana.”
“I don’t need a banana. It’s not a tic. And there’s nothing wrong with my eyes.”
“Oh. Then were you doing that on purpose?” Cate asked.
Samantha narrowed her gaze at Cate before she seemed to realize that she had an audience. Her glare turned to a smile. “Thanks for worrying about me, Cate. I’m fine. I was just going to yoga. Polly, Ethan, let’s go.”
Cate glanced up at him, then quickly away. For a moment, he swore he saw a hint of pain in her face before the mask came back over.
He frowned. Damn Samantha.
“I’m not going with you, Samantha. I’m taking Cate to a meeting.”
“But . . . but . . . Cate never goes out. What meeting?”
“One that she’s had penciled in since I started this job. You’ll have to stay here or go alone.”
“I can’t go alone! This whack job is out to get me.
“Then you should have spoken to me before now and I would have arranged a temp. Come, Cate. We need to go.”
“I can go with you, Samantha,” Polly said quietly.
“This is unacceptable,” Samantha said shrilly. “I shall be speaking to Rhodes.”
Ethan ignored her, turning to Polly. “Are you all right, Polly?”
Polly glanced up at him and blushed before nodding and looking back down at her feet. “I’m fine.”
“Cate, are you going to be warm enough in that? Do you need a jacket?” he asked.
“I will be good.”
Ethan placed his hand lightly on Cate’s back, nearly jumping for joy when she didn’t move away as he steered her out the front door to the dark SUV that was waiting for them.
Cate used a service to get around, but Ethan’s need to be in control meant he couldn’t handle that. So he was going to drive them.
God help him.
He moved ahead and opened the front passenger door.
“Oh, I usually sit in the back.”
“Would you prefer that, sweetheart?” he asked.
“I, um, well . . .”
Poor thing looked befuddled. And exhausted.
That was it. No more hiding tonight. She was eating dinner with him and relaxing in the living room. Samantha and Rhodes were going out to dinner, so she didn’t have any excuses.
Or none that he was going to listen to, anyway.
“In you get. You can sit up with me where I can keep an eye on you.”
Yeah, he was skirting the line into inappropriate. But he didn’t want to put more space between them. She needed more than a bodyguard right now. And if her brother wasn’t here to help her, then it was up to him.
“I don’t think I need you to keep an eye on me,” she informed him.
“Perhaps if you hadn’t been skipping meals and sleep, you might successfully have argued that point. But considering that you look dead on your feet, I’m going to watch you closely.”
“I don’t think it’s a bodyguard’s job to watch my food intake.” Her voice was cool, but he wasn’t letting her push him away.
“Well, guess you got yourself a different sort of bodyguard. In you get.”
A huff escaped her, making him smile. Any sort of reaction was better than none at all.
She got into the SUV and he shut the door, walking around the front of the vehicle.
Calm down.
He climbed in and waited.
“Why aren’t we moving?” she asked. “Did you forget how to drive?”
“I’ve been driving since I was twelve, sweetheart.”
“Twelve?”
“Yep. I’m not moving until you put your seatbelt on.”
“Oh.” She drew it over herself. “I never forget my seatbelt.”
“Glad to hear it. But that makes it even more important that you get your sleep. You’re not thinking properly.”
She was silent as he pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.
“It’s hard to sleep,” she said quietly.
Ethan glanced over at her. She looked serene, but she wasn’t fooling him.
“Because of all the changes?”
Cate nodded.
“It’s hard for you having so many new people in the house.”
“It’s not you,” she said quickly.
“Really? So you haven’t been hiding from me?”
“Maybe a bit. Are you mad?” she spoke in a calm voice, but her fingers were clenched tightly together.
Reaching over, he carefully laid his hand over hers. Her hands twitched, but he counted it as a victory that she didn’t move them away.
“I’m not mad, Cate. The only thing I’m upset about is that you’re putting your health at risk because of all these changes. I want to help you feel better. More at ease. Then you might be able to sleep and eat properly.”
“I was able to do that until . . .”
“Until Samantha moved in.”
“It will be fine.”
But he could tell she didn’t believe that. He followed the GPS instructions. Fuck, he hated driving in the city.
“Cate, it’s not fine if you’re not looking after yourself.”
Fuck. He wanted to offer to take over. To ensure that she ate and slept and had some balance in her life.
But that definitely did overstep the bounds of his job. Although if they were friends . . .
“I’m just worried about you. As your friend.” He turned his attention back to the road, placing both hands on the steering wheel.
He was tense as he navigated traffic.
“Um, are you all right? The tight way you are holding the steering wheel indicates you might be stressed, but I’m not sure why.”
“Just not used to this sort of traffic, sweetheart. I’m fine.”
Great. Now he sounded like her. Saying he was fine when he clearly wasn’t.
“You should have used the service if you don’t like driving.”
“I like driving, just not in the city. And I prefer to be in control.”
“Even though you don’t like driving in the city?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Sounds logical.”
To his shock, there was a note of humor in her voice. “Are you laughing at me, brat?”
“I am not a brat.”
It was his turn to snort. “I’m not so sure about that. Something tells me that if I had stopped you from having ice cream in the middle of the night, you would have thrown an epic tantrum.”
It was a risk to bring up what happened. It might push her away from him. But he was starting to think that part of the problem was that she didn’t talk about it. To her therapist, sure. However, he’d been here three weeks and she hadn’t seen her therapist or mentioned going either.
What if she felt ashamed of regressing because no one spoke about it? Ethan didn’t want her to think she’d done anything wrong or bad.
“I would not throw a tantrum. I’ve never thrown a tantrum.”
Relief filled him at her reply. “Oh, you would have. I can see that your Little side could absolutely be a brat.”
“I don’t . . . I don’t really like that word.”
Shit.
He snuck a glance over at her. “Hey, Cate. Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
Pulling the car over, he parked.
“This isn’t where my office is.”
“I want to talk to you, and I can’t do that properly while I’m driving.”
“Ahh, yes. Men find multi-tasking difficult, don’t they?”
“Stop being sassy.”
“I was being sassy? I thought I was stating a fact.”
“I’m touching you now.” Reaching over, he put his fingers on her chin, turning her to face him.