Chapter Four
Brayden
L ast night was…charged.
When Casey kissed the cat, I’d hoped she would kiss me next. But then, she sent me away, almost as if it pained her to do so.
It’s been killing me ever since.
I’m not crazy. Casey, for some reason, is attracted to me.
Why does Savvy have to work so much? I could really use someone to talk to. That person can’t be Dad, either. He’ll tell me it’s a mistake to crush over our neighbor and I’m sure he’ll have a multitude of reasons why.
She’s much older than me.
Her heart is freshly broken.
The woman is clearly going through some things.
But none of that bothers me. In fact, I want to talk to her about the things that have hurt her in the past. I’m a good listener and I think Casey just needs to talk.
So how do I get her to open up to me?
Meow.
Mo stands at the door at Gordon’s old unit, swishing his tail. I grin at the silly cat and abandon my trim work. Once outside, I scoop him into my arms.
“Want to go see our girl?” I ask him.
He purrs loudly, giving me my answer.
I close the door, and we set out on a discreet path to Casey’s, avoiding any areas that Maggie might see me with her cat. Once I reach Casey’s back door, I angle myself to keep Mo hidden.
“Brayden,” Casey’s eyes are wide as she takes in the cat in my arms. “What are you doing?”
I flash her a conspiratorial grin. “Mo wanted to visit. We’re on a clandestine mission. Let us in.”
She smothers a laugh as she hurriedly ushers us in. “Quick before she sees.”
After we’re safely inside, I pass her the cat. She’s all smiles as she cuddles him.
“I got you some presents today, Mo,” she says in a singsong voice.
Mo meows happily.
She sets the cat down and then leaves the kitchen. We follow after her up the stairs. In the bathroom, she’s set up a litter box and two small bowls. One is filled with water and the other has dry cat food in it.
“This is all yours for when you visit,” she tells Mo. “I have toys for you too in the living room.”
The cat sniffs at the litterbox. We take our cue to leave, letting him have his own space to do his business. As we exit, I glance into the guest room. What I see makes my heart ache for Casey.
It’s a nursery.
Unable to stop myself, I step inside, taking in the pretty shade of mint green on the walls.
“I know we’re not supposed to paint,” she utters quickly. “I’m sorry. I’ll paint it back white.”
I turn to look at her. “It looks nice. Don’t change it.”
Her eyes water and she looks down at her feet. “I might as well. It won’t happen. Not now.”
My gut twists as if I can feel the pain inside of her at this very second. Unable to stop myself, I approach her and tenderly stroke her cheek.
I just… I don’t know.
I want to make her happy.
Her sadness is so heavy. Maybe I can share it with her to lighten the load.
“You and Derek are over, but it doesn’t mean it won’t happen again for you,” I tell her firmly. “You deserve everything you want in this life.”
She gives me a watery smile but then bottom her lip starts to tremble. And, like a dam giving way under the weight of a river, she hunches in on herself and sobs.
I can’t stop myself and pull her into my arms. She’s warm and soft and smells like salty sadness. Can I hold her until she’s better? How long will that take? I’m a patient man.
At first, she’s stiff, but then she melts against me. I stroke her back, whispering sweet words of encouragement as she cries. She goes from leaning on me to clinging to me. It’s an honor to be able to give this to her.
“What can I do?” I murmur. “Tell me so I can make it better.”
“You’re already doing it. God, I’m so embarrassed, but I needed a good cry.”
She doesn’t need to be embarrassed. If anyone should be, it’s me. I’m so addicted to this woman who’s out of my reach, and yet, I swipe the air, longing for her anyway.
Maybe I’m a stalker.
“Thank you.” She sniffles and pulls back, lifting her chin so I can see her pretty, tear-streaked face. “You’re a good man.”
My chest puffs out a bit. I’m so used to being Reid’s kid that I forget sometimes people see me as my own man. Of all people I want to do this, Casey is at the top of my list.
Unable to keep from touching her, I reach up and use my thumb to swipe her cheek. Her lashes flutter at the gentle touch. I make note to do more of these things that seem to please her.
“Want to stay over for dinner? Maybe watch a movie?”
I flash her a crooked grin. “Hell yeah.”
We exit the room, and she shuts the door behind us. I stupidly let myself think of myself one day in that room, rocking our baby to sleep. It’s impulsive and crazy to think like that, but I can’t help it.
Casey is the ideal woman a man could want.
The woman I want.
She’s beautiful and has a job she loves. Sweet, kind, funny. I still think Derek was a fool to leave her behind.
Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.
And that starts with dinner.
I stare at the frozen lasagna she pulls out, frowning. “That might take a while. You want me to cook for you?”
She smiles. “Really? I hate frozen food but that’s all I really eat.”
This woman eats frozen crap and hates it. Luckily for her, I’m the cook at my house. Dad, too, would eat frozen if it weren’t for me.
“Let’s see what you have, ba—” Heat burns hot on my cheeks as I stop myself from blurting out babe.
Thankfully, she doesn’t act weird about it, instead moves out of my way so I can rummage through her fridge and cabinets. Since she doesn’t have much to work with, I have to get creative.
“I’ll run by the store tomorrow so I can make you something really good,” I tell her as I start cutting up some sausage. “I’ll improvise tonight.”
“Hey,” she says with a grin, “I’m just excited to see what you’ll make. Anything’s better than Stouffer’s lasagna.”
So that’s a sneaky “yes” to my also sneaky suggestion of another date.
Is that what this is?
Mo joins us when the sausage starts to sizzle on the skillet. I find some frozen streamable veggies, garlic bread, and an almost bad pre-made salad in the fridge. It’s not the best meal, but after I pull out the wilted pieces of lettuce and add some extra fixings, the salad will definitely work.
I can feel Casey’s eyes on me as I prepare our meal.
Even though my skin feels hot, I like her attention on me.
It’s strange to be interacting with a woman like this, but it also feels kind of natural.
I’ve been overthinking what I would say or do with her.
Turns out, all I need to do is just go by instinct.
Casey likes to be taken care of.
That much is plainly obvious to me.
Alternatively, I like to take care of her. After trying to be an adult for so long so as not to make my dad stress any more than he needs to, I think it’s sort of ingrained in me.
“Want me to make some tea or do you have something else you’d prefer to drink?” I ask as I wrap up cooking.
“I’m trying to behave,” she admits, sounding unsure. “Is water okay? If not, I can get you something else. I just—”
I interrupt her with a grin. “Water is fine, babe.”
We both freeze.
Dammit.
My smile falters and I quickly turn back to the stove. We’re both quiet as I plate up the food for us. At the table, she’s placed two bottles of water out for us. She sits down and I take a seat across from her.
There’s no avoiding it now.
“Sorry about that,” I say sheepishly. “It just slipped out.”
“It’s fine.”
Our forks clink against our plates as we eat, the only sound in the silent home.
“Did I ruin this?” I finally ask, meeting her stare. “Please tell me I didn’t.”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “What is this ? We’re just friends, right?”
Just friends?
How can anyone be just friends with Casey?
I want to be everything with her.
But that answer is a little too strong. If I scared her off with “babe,” I think I’d really send her running if I admit I thought about fathering her babies too.
“Friends,” I repeat, not loving the word. “How do you like the food?”
I purposefully don’t commit to that word. I’m not a liar and it feels like the biggest lie known to man.
“Oh, it’s great. I’m impressed you whipped that out so quickly. Me and Derek used to…” She trails off, face paling. “Sorry. Gah. I’m so sorry. I know you don’t want to keep hearing about him.”
I cock my head to the side. “You putting words in my mouth? I never said that. He was a big part of your life. It hurts now that he’s gone. Why would you want to hide those parts that make you you ?”
She blinks at me, stunned to silence for a moment. “You’re a lot more mature than I originally gave you credit for.”
“I get that a lot.” I shovel in a mouthful of food, taking the moment to just stare at her.
Why does she have to be so damn pretty?
It’s like staring at the sun. I should look away, but I’d rather go blind.
“You’re a very intense young man, aren’t you?” She sips her water and smiles behind the bottle. “Every expression you have is so…”
“Intense?”
We both chuckle.
“Yes. It makes me, uh, nervous,” she says, cheeks turning pink.
I frown at her words. “You’re scared of me?”
“No,” she rushes out. “Not like that. Just…” She closes her eyes for a moment, her long, mascara-painted lashes resting on her apple cheeks. “I have this visceral pull to you. After having gotten out of a long relationship that ended badly, this feels dangerous to me.”
She has a pull to me?
“Dangerous can be good when it’s safe.” I stretch my leg out, foot gently touching hers. “I’m safe, babe.”
This time, I say the endearment on purpose. It feels right. And I think she needs to hear it. Like I said, Casey likes to be taken care of, and I can already tell, taking care of her is my new favorite hobby.
“Babe makes me sound hot.” She giggles.
I arch an eyebrow up. “You are hot, babe .”
Mo rudely interrupts our flirting by jumping up onto the table and meowing loudly.
“Way to make an entrance,” I grumble to him as I pull him into my lap. “I was actually flirting without making a total idiot of myself. Now the moment is ruined.” I feed him a piece of sausage. “Thanks a lot Mo.”
Casey’s foot touches mine, making me jerk my head up to look at her.
“The moment isn’t ruined,” she tells me, flashing me a sexy grin. “And your flirting skills are far from idiotic.”
This feels surreal.
Am I really on an impromptu dinner date with the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known in person and she’s flirting back with me?
Hell, yeah, I am.