Chapter 34
GRAE
I stared down at my phone as the scenery whizzed by my car window. Nothing from Caden. My thumbnail dug into the pad of my forefinger.
Something was wrong. It had been for days. At first, I’d thought it was the fire at Vacation Adventures, but now I wasn’t so sure. It was as if he was building that invisible wall between us again. Just the thought had nausea roiling through me.
“Whatcha thinking about so hard back there?” Eddie asked from Noel’s front passenger seat.
“Nothing.” I slid my phone back into my backpack. Caden was wrapping up Clive’s retreat; maybe business had him distant.
Noel grunted as if to call bullshit.
Eddie took pity on me and changed the subject. “Want to see if we can lose the po-po just for fun?”
I glanced out the back window to see my now-typical tail. Two officers at all times. Outside Caden’s house. Following me to work. Staying outside our makeshift offices at Jordan’s place. Following me home.
“Somehow, I don’t think starting a police chase is the relaxing end to a long day I’m looking for.”
Eddie sent me a grin through the rearview mirror. “Live a little, G. I think you need some fun in your life.”
“You say fun. The cops say jail time.”
Noel snorted.
A little of the humor slipped from Eddie’s face. “Honestly, you doing okay?”
My heart squeezed at the concern in his voice.
Sometimes, I forgot that he and Noel could take life seriously.
As much as they both lived for the next thrill, we’d been through a lot together.
When Noel’s brother was arrested for dealing and flipped his world upside down.
When Eddie’s fiancée, Megan, had been killed in a car accident.
A Type 1 scare I’d had on the job. None of our lives had been perfect, but we were always there for one another.
I leaned against the seat. “It’s been a long few weeks.”
“Understatement,” Noel said as he turned onto the road that led to The Peaks.
“Lawson say if they’ve found anything yet?” Eddie asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing other than proof that the second fire was arson, too.”
Noel scrubbed a hand over his face. “Whoever this is knows what they’re doing.”
A shiver passed through me at that knowledge.
Noel slowed to a stop at the guard station, and a familiar guy stepped out. He caught sight of me in the back seat and waved. “Welcome back, Ms. Hartley.” He shifted his gaze to my friends. “I’ll just need to see some ID before I can let you in.”
Eddie raised his eyebrows.
“Caden put you both on the list,” I mumbled.
They handed the security guard their drivers’ licenses. A few seconds later, he nodded. “Head on in.”
“Thanks,” I said with a smile.
Noel eased his car through the gates as they opened. “Fancy pants.”
“It’s a resort,” I grumbled.
I gave him directions to Caden’s place, and as we pulled up to it, he and Eddie both let out low whistles.
“No wonder you came around to the douchebag,” Noel mumbled.
I smacked him upside the head. “Don’t be an ass.”
“She’s totally gonna put salt in your coffee,” Eddie warned. “You should know by now that our G can’t be bought.”
“Thank you,” I huffed.
Noel scowled. “I’m just saying a place like this doesn’t hurt.”
I grabbed my backpack. “Thanks for the ride.”
I slid out of the car before either of them could say anything else or before I bit someone’s head off. Everyone just had to have an opinion about Caden and me.
The squad car pulled in just as I made my way up the front steps. Unlocking the door, I stepped inside and disarmed the alarm. “I’m back.”
The word home was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back. Caden’s place had been feeling a little less homey lately.
“In the kitchen,” he called, but I heard that same emptiness in his voice—a void that had my insides twisting.
I locked the door and reset the alarm, then walked in the direction of Caden’s voice. I found him sitting at the kitchen island, staring at his computer.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“Hey,” he echoed, not looking up.
I bit the inside of my cheek. “How was your day?”
“Good.”
Annoyance stirred somewhere deep. “Got anything more than a one-word answer?”
Caden turned on his stool, his gaze finally coming to me. “What do you mean?”
I dropped my bag onto the kitchen floor. “You’ve been doing this keeping-me-at-arm’s-length act for the past three days, and it’s starting to both freak me out and piss me off.”
Guilt flashed in those gorgeous hazel eyes. “I wasn’t trying—”
I stepped between his legs and pressed a finger to his lips. “I don’t need excuses. Just tell me what’s going on.”
Caden dropped his head to my shoulder, nuzzling my neck and breathing me in.
Something in me eased at the tenderness of the gesture. The edge of that panic subsided, and I wrapped my arms around him. “Talk to me.”
Caden’s heart thumped against my chest. “I feel like I hurt someone no matter what direction I move in.”
My arms tightened around him. “Like who?”
“My mom, mostly. I ran into her after my meeting with Gabe and my dad the other day. I told her I wasn’t sure I could keep working for him.”
I straightened. That seemed like a good thing to me, but the look on his face told me it wasn’t.
Caden squeezed the back of his neck. “She begged me not to quit and to let her try to fix things.”
“Hasn’t she tried before?” I knew Jocelyn Shaw well enough to know that she would’ve tried anything to keep her family together.
He nodded. “I’ve never talked to her about quitting before, but I know she’s talked to my dad about how he treats Gabe and me. But it’s useless. Every time I try to have an honest conversation, he brushes me off or mocks me for wanting to talk about feelings.”
Anger flickered to life somewhere low. “It’s not fair for her to ask you to stay in a toxic situation.”
“I think she worries she’ll lose me if I leave the company. I hate the idea of hurting her, and I hate the idea of walking away from Clara’s favorite place on Earth and leaving it to Gabe. He’ll ruin it just to spite me.”
“Clara doesn’t live in The Peaks. She lives here.” I pressed a palm against Caden’s chest. “You carry her with you every single day.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “I feel like I’d be betraying her if I leave.”
“She wouldn’t want you to be miserable for any reason. She’d want you to go out and live your life to the fullest. To be happy.”
Caden’s hands came to rest on my hips, pulling me closer. “It feels like I’ll lose a piece of her.”
“You won’t. I’ll make sure of it. We’ll keep her memory alive every day. There are a million other spots in and around Cedar Ridge where I have memories of her, so I know you do, too.”
“The secret spot at the lake…”
I grinned. “She was the first one off those cliffs and into the water.”
Caden chuckled. “How a ten-year-old talked more shit than Law, I’ll never know.”
“She put you all to shame.”
His fingers tightened on my hips. “You always have this way of easing the worst of it. How do you do that?”
“Because I see you. Even when you try to hide from me, I see you.”
Caden traced a finger over my lips. “I don’t want to hide anymore.”
“Good.” I closed my mouth around his finger and sucked deeply.
“Gigi…”
I nipped his fingertip.
He growled, pulling his finger from between my teeth and lifting me onto the counter.
I let out a surprised shriek as Caden shoved his computer aside and hooked his hands into my tank top.
He lifted it up and over my head, letting it fall to the floor and moving to my bra. “Missed you.”
“And whose fault is that?”
As my bra joined my shirt, Caden’s head bent, and he latched on to my nipple.
My mouth fell open in a stuttered gasp.
“I think I should make it up to you then…” His teeth grazed the peak, making me shudder.
“That sounds like a good plan to me,” I said between pants.
Caden’s hand moved between my legs, stroking me through my shorts.
I arched into his touch, wanting to be closer, wanting all of him.
“So damn pretty,” he murmured against my skin. “Look how you flush pink every time I touch you. Love watching that skin change colors.”
My breaths came faster as I gripped his shoulders.
Caden’s fingers deftly unhooked my insulin pump from my shorts and set it on the counter. Then he pulled my shorts and panties free in one jerk.
I loosed a startled sound as my bare backside hit the marble counter.
Caden sent me a quelling look as he let my shorts and flip-flops fall to the floor. “Let’s play a game.”
Everything in me twisted and tightened in desire. For Caden. And whatever he would give me.
“Think you can be a good girl and stay very still?”
My heart ricocheted around in my rib cage. “Yes,” I breathed.
A devilish grin spread across his face. “That’s what I like to hear.”
Gold sparked in those hazel eyes. “Hands behind you. Grip the counter.”
I swallowed hard but did as he instructed. The move thrust my breasts higher, and Caden tracked them with his gaze.
Caden moved the stool so it was right in front of me, the legs grating against the hardwood with a sound that echoed off the walls. Then his hands were on my knees, pushing them apart.
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from trying to shut them again, but I couldn’t stop myself from squirming.
Caden’s hands tightened on me, his eyes flaring. “Punishment or reward? What will it be?”
Blood roared in my ears. “Both.”
He chuckled. “Greedy. I like it.”
Four fingers whipped out, smacking my bare thigh. “That’s for moving when I told you not to.”
The sharp sting quickly melted into a smoky heat. Wetness pooled between my thighs.
Caden’s grin widened. “Liked that?”
I nodded.
He sat on the stool and leaned forward, his lips trailing up my thigh. He kissed and licked the spot where his fingers had been.
As he climbed higher, I gripped the counter harder. It took everything in me not to move.
“Such a good girl,” he whispered between my thighs.
The vibrations from his lips spread to my core, and I shuddered.
“I think you deserve a reward.”
Caden slid two fingers inside me, and the air left my lungs in a whoosh of relief. He curled those digits in lazy strokes that nearly drove me insane.
“Please…” The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
“What do you need, Gigi?”
“More,” I breathed.
Fingers slapped against my thigh again. “Be specific.”
“Your mouth,” I squeaked.
Caden grinned. “My favorite dessert.”
His head dropped to between my legs, and his tongue circled my clit.
I cried out, the edge of the marble biting into my palms.
“Love those sounds,” he growled against my core.
A third finger slid inside as Caden’s lips closed around that bundle of nerves at the same time his tongue pressed down.
There was no warning. I simply shattered.
The lights around me flickered, and nonsensical noises slipped from my lips.
All I could do was hold on to the counter and ride each wave of sensation.
Caden’s fingers wrung more and more from me.
Whenever I thought I was done, he somehow sent me cascading over the edge again.
By the time the final wave passed, my muscles shook, and I struggled to catch my breath. Caden grabbed my insulin pump and lifted me off the counter, cradling me in his arms as he strode down the hall.
“Wait,” I mumbled. “What about you?”
“That was just for you. My apology for shutting you out.”
My brows lifted. “If that’s the apology, shut me out anytime.”
Caden laughed, and that warmth swirled around me. “Noted.”
That gold in his eyes sparked again as he looked down at me, and I swore I saw love there.
I wanted to say those three little words so badly it hurt.
But I held them back. Because some part of me feared that no matter how good things were between Caden and me, that might send him running for the hills…