Chapter 11
Addie took the warm mug of hot chocolate from the lovely woman who handed it to her. She’d already gotten her an ice pack for her face. Which Cash kept putting back on her cheek every time she moved it.
Immediately, Cash took the drink from her.
She glared at him. That was her cup of hot chocolate. What did he think he was doing? He could get his own mug.
Although maybe she should let him have it after everything he’d done for her. He wouldn’t even let her clean his boots for him. He’d disappeared into a bathroom and done that himself when they first arrived.
“This looks hot,” he said.
“Hot chocolate usually is hot,” the girl replied. “It’s kind of in the name, you know?”
She was frowning. Her hair was pulled hastily back into a messy bun and she’d shoved a pair of glasses in there, and her sweater was on back to front and inside out.
Should Addie tell her that, or would she get upset? She just didn’t know. She wasn’t great at social things. Monroe would know what to say and do, Dotty would be too blunt, while Addie was too indecisive.
She really missed her sisters, and she was growing increasingly worried about them.
“Everything all right in here?”
Addie glanced over at the gorgeous man who stepped into the room. He had blond hair that was shaved at the sides and longer on top. His shirt had a few buttons undone at the top so she could see some of his sexy tattoos.
He was gorgeous.
Cash let out a strange noise, and moved closer, wrapping his arm around her. Ralen snorted, and she glanced over at him as the sip of water he’d just taken spurted out. He started to cough, and she jumped up to run around and whack his back.
He waved his hand through the air. “Thanks, I’m good.”
Addie suddenly realized that everyone’s attention was on her.
Cash held a finger up to her and then crooked it, pointing at the chair next to him.
She noticed that the gorgeous man’s eyebrows rose, and a look of amusement filled his face.
The woman who had handed her the hot drink still didn’t look very happy.
Should she go to him? Cash seemed kind of upset and maybe even angry. Perhaps she was better off staying next to Ralen.
Ralen grabbed her hand lightly and gave it a squeeze. “You should go sit by Cash.”
Cash grunted. “Let go.”
Let go? Of what? Of her? Was he upset because she’d gone to Ralen to pat him on the back? That seemed a little strange.
But Addie didn’t want anybody to be upset with her, so she headed back to her seat. Cash placed his arm back around her.
The woman put her hands on her hips and glared down at Cash. “You gonna pee on her, too?”
“Sable.” The gorgeous man groaned and rubbed his hand over his tired face. “You can’t say things like that to clients. What is going on with you? You’re not normally like this.”
Client? Was Cash a client?
“He’s not a client,” Sable said. “Plus, he got me up at five in the morning. I’m not a morning person. I need four cups of coffee before I even arrive at work. That’s why I’m grouchy this morning.”
They all gaped at her.
“Four?” the gorgeous man asked. “That’s not very good for you.”
The woman shrugged. “I get things done. Plus, I want to know how she got that mark on her cheek and the bandage on her hand.”
“Yes,” the man said with a frown. “I would also like to know that.”
A shiver ran through her at his cool tone.
“We didn’t fucking hurt her, if that’s what you’re implying,” Cash said heatedly.
Hmm, he seemed to be very grouchy. He probably needed a nap.
The gorgeous man raised his eyebrows and sat across from her and Cash, while Ralen was down at the other end of the table.
“What’s going on, Cash? Why are we all here?” he asked.
Suddenly, the door slammed open. Addie let out a cry and would have jumped from her seat had Cash not held her down. She put her hand on her chest as she felt her heartbeat skip.
Another man rushed in. His glasses were askew, and his hair was standing up on end. He still seemed to have his pajamas on, with a coat over top. His pajamas were pale blue with mathematical equations on them.
He was cute, but looked flustered and worried. “What’s the emergency? Why did I need to come in so early in the morning? He’s not very happy about it.”
He’s not very happy about it? Was he talking about himself? Why didn’t he just say, ‘I’m not very happy about it?’
Addie stared at him in confusion.
“Brody, you could have come in quieter. You gave Addie a fright,” Cash scolded.
What? He didn’t need to make a fuss on her behalf. Everything gave her a fright. She was a giant scaredy-cat.
“Oh, sorry,” Brody said, adjusting his glasses and staring down at her. “Who hit you?”
Addie sank into the chair. Why were they all so nosy in this place?
“We’re just about to find that out,” the gorgeous man said. “Sit, Brody. Hi, Addie, I’m Ink Callahan, and these are two of my employees, Sable and Brody.”
“First, Cash needs to give the hot chocolate back. He took it from her.” Sable pointed at Addie, then turned her glare back to Cash.
“Huh?” Brody asked as he fixed his glasses and took a seat. “Why did he take it from her?”
“Because it looked hot,” Ralen said, sitting back with a grin. He had his hands behind his head. He seemed weirdly happy right now. Especially for a man who’d nearly just choked to death. “You going to test the drink, Cash?”
“Yes, Cash?” the gorgeous man asked. “Are you?”
Cash glared at them all. “Shut up, you assholes.”
She gaped at him in surprise. What was he doing? He’d called all these people here at close to five in the morning, and now he was being rude to them, telling them not to give her a fright, and calling them assholes.
Reaching over, he picked up the hot chocolate and took a sip. “Yep, too hot. Addie would have burned herself.”
Sable glared down at Cash, pointing a finger at him.
“My hot chocolates are legendary, and they are not too hot. Addie looks like she needs the injection of sugar, not you. And maybe she doesn’t want you drinking from her mug.
” She turned to Addie. “You can tell them if you don’t want them to do that, you know.
You can tell him if you don’t want him crooking a finger at you or touching you. ”
“Sable,” Ink said gently. “Cash is just looking out for Addie. He wouldn’t harm her.”
“Right. Yeah, sure.” Sable’s shoulders slumped before she gave Cash a sheepish look. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for,” Cash reassured her.
The last thing she wanted to do was tell Cash not to touch her.
Even though she liked it a little bit too much.
And she didn’t really care if he sipped from her hot chocolate.
The crooking a finger at her, that part he could lose.
But she still wasn’t going to say anything in front of all of these people. Cash had done nothing but help her.
Not a lot of people would do what he’d done.
“Right,” Ink said. “I think we need to move on from ‘hot chocolate gate.’”
“I’ll take one of those hot chocolates, Sable,” Ralen told her.
She turned to him. “That charm doesn’t work on me, Ralen.” And then she turned on her heel and walked out.
“I would’ve liked a hot chocolate too,” Brody mourned. “They really are legendary. She puts whipped cream and sprinkles on them when it’s your birthday.”
Yum she wanted whipped cream and sprinkles on her hot chocolate.
“Okay, let’s get on with things,” Ink said. “As I said, I’m Ink. I own Callahan Security. This is Brody. He’s my IT specialist.”
Brody waved at her cheerfully. At least he didn’t seem annoyed at being woken up so early.
“Drat, I need my laptop,” Brody said. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He jumped up, whacking his knee on the underside of the table.
Addie jumped up and moved around to help him. “Are y-you okay?”
She managed to get the words out, even though they were quiet and her throat was still paining her.
“Yeah, thanks. I’m fine,” Brody said the last two words really loudly, and she stared at him in confusion. Did he maybe think she was deaf? Some people did.
But then a strange voice filled the room.
“Are you sure? Show me. Do you need Hack or the Surgeon?”
Brody shook his head. “No! All I did was thump my knee against the table. At worst, it’s going to leave a bruise.”
“This is what happens when you get called into work so early in the morning, isn’t it, Ink?” the voice said.
Who was that? And where were they talking from? And how did they know that Brody had hurt himself? Were there cameras in here? She glanced around wildly, wrapping her arms around herself as she backed up against the wall.
“Uh-oh,” the voice said. “And now we’ve scared the little mouse.”
Addie winced. She hated being called a mouse.
“You scared her,” Ink replied. “Some strange voice just came over a speaker because you’re watching on some camera that you keep replacing.
” Ink turned to her. “I’m really sorry. I should have made it clear that there is a camera in here.
Brody’s boyfriend likes to keep an eye on him to make sure he’s safe. ”
Brody sighed. “It’s not creepy.”
They all stared at him.
“I’m going to go get my laptop now.” He sent her a sympathetic look. “He’s only concerned about me. He’s not spying on you or anything. But I understand if you’d rather I wasn’t in the room.”
Addie stared at him for a moment. She didn’t really understand what was going on but there was something about Brody that put her at ease. And if his boyfriend was overprotective of him, well, it wasn’t Brody’s fault, and she wasn’t about to reject him. Addie knew what it felt like to be rejected.
She shook her head.
“Does that mean you don’t want me to leave?” Brody asked.
“Stay,” she managed to get out.
“Addie doesn’t say much,” Cash told them. “She has trouble talking when she’s anxious or scared.”
She could feel herself going bright red with that explanation, but to her surprise, neither man looked at all surprised. There were no weird looks or pretend concern. They both just nodded.