by Lexy Timms
Strange. She knew he was a grown man and she wasn’t his schedule keeper—although those jokes back in the day had been pretty funny—but he had been gone for a while. How closed his house looked to be was a little worrying to her. He wouldn’t have left already, would he? she thought. He’s supposed to leave the day after tomorrow. But he would have said goodbye, right?
Of course, he would have said goodbye, but based on how distracted he had been by his Los Angeles work life last night and today, she wouldn’t have put it past him to forget to say goodbye. When he focused he had tunnel vision, but he didn’t disappear into whatever was taking his attention. It had never happened before, at least. Not since she had known him. Even when he was deliberating whether to go to Los Angeles in the first place, he had seemed far from this level of stressed.
But he wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, right? The question repeated itself in her mind and she found herself staring into the mirror, wrapped in her towel, not sure what to do with herself until she knew for sure.
All at once a faint humming noise reached her ears. She didn’t even notice it at first, but after it kept going for a whole minute she realized it wasn’t a typical noise in her house. “What the heck?” she started, tuning into the noise that seemed to be not far from the bathroom window. Suddenly she realized what it was, and a breath caught in her throat.
It was the lawnmower.
Without thinking twice, she bolted out of the bathroom and through the house, following the noise. The lawnmower seemed to be in her backyard now, and sure enough, when she flung open the door, she saw Cayden pushing it just beside her back steps.
“Hey!” she called, feeling her lips forming into a wide smile.
Cayden looked up and his eyes glimmered. “Well, hey there,” he whistled, his eyes lingering on her towel.
Oh, crap. She looked down, mildly embarrassed that she had run out there in only her towel. “Whoops.”
“Au contraire,” he replied, raising his eyebrows at her.
“I thought you left,” she said, walking gingerly down the steps. “Your house looks like no one has lived there in months.”
“Actually,” he said, reaching out for her as she walked over to him, “One of my other clients changed the ticket. They need me back in Los Angeles early.” Cayden put his arms around her, playing with the edge of her towel.
“When are you leaving?”
“Nine tonight.”
Crap! Guilt filled her. She sort of wanted him to go, but not that much. She tried looking on the bright side. “That means you won’t need to be at the airport for a couple of hours!”
“Yep. So, naturally, I decided I would try to get a little time in with my yard. But for once it seems my attention is otherwise engaged.” He winked.
Lillian bit her lip. “Is that so? I would never have expected anything in the universe to have the power of grabbing your attention away from your precious yard.”
“I didn’t know there was a force strong enough,” he agreed, kissing her shoulder. Slipping a couple of fingers under the corner of the towel, he gently tugged.
“Hey, calm down, tiger!” She kissed him back and stepped away from him. “If you’re going to leave so suddenly, you’re going to have to make sure I’m well taken care of until you get home.”
“Oh, I can think of a few things that would definitely ensure that.”
Lillian turned her back and started up the steps again. Once safely by the door, her mind began to play with her. In the heat of the moment, she did something she never would have expected to do.
She dropped the towel, keeping her back toward Cayden. Then she glanced over her shoulder.
His jaw dropped to the ground and he froze. He looked so surprised she started to laugh, trying to keep it down so none of the neighbors would peek out their back doors to see what was going on. She definitely didn’t want Andrew to see.
“Are you tempting me?”
“Maybe.” Her body went from chilled goose bumps to burning hot in half a second. The smile wouldn’t leave her face.
“Well, you’re doing a damn good job of it.”
“What can I say?” she asked, giving him a nonchalant shrug. “You make me feel daring.”
His hands let go of the lawnmower. “I’ll show you what daring looks like.”
“Try me.”
Cayden burst into a run and hopped up all the steps at once until he had her in his arms, unable to escape. “I dare the both of us to go to your room and see who the real daredevil is.” His deep voice so close to her ear and his sweet breath on her neck sent a pulse of energy down to her toes.
“Challenge accepted,” she purred back.
Chapter 05
“WELL,” LILLIAN GRINNED at the road as they hopped into the car, “that was fun.”
Cayden, still a little out of breath, nodded.
“Do you feel all right?”
“You bet your boots I do.” He winked and leaned his head back on the seat. “I’m so sleepy now. You tired me right out.”
Lillian looked at the time. “Come on, it’s only six-thirty.” She winked. “I couldn’t have done that much damage.”
“Time has nothing to do with the climax of heavenly pleasure, my dear Lil.” Eyes still closed, he reached a hand over and lay it on her thigh. “I wish we could have gotten started earlier. A nap would be fantastic right now.”
“That’s what planes are for, silly.”
“Yeah, yeah. It just would have been nice to not have to rush. Lounge time afterward is very important, you know. Not just throwing our clothes back on and piling into the car in five minutes.” He sighed. “Anyway, I’ll make it work. So, are you adequately taken care of until I get back this weekend?”
“I think so. When do you get back, exactly?”
“Friday night.”
“I’ll pick you up.”
“If you’re picking me up, do it alone.”
She looked at him, confused. “Huh?”
“So we can find a secret place to park and I’ll show you how much I missed you.”
Lillian squealed. “Someone is feeling super horny today!”
“It all started with a woman who dropped her towel to seduce me.” Cayden shook his head in mock disappointment. “I succumbed.”
“You did what?”
“I—” he started to say again, but realized her lame joke. “You almost got me.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “So, what’s on the agenda for this week in sunny Los Angeles?”
He groaned. “I don’t want to think about it.”
“Why not? I thought you’d be happy to get back to work.”
“It’s just...” He trailed off and didn’t finish.
Here comes the distance again, she thought, and put her hand on his. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, it’s nothing. Janine just blabbed to all her friends that I found her a replacement trainer, and now all the other clients who were referred to me by Janine want me to find new trainers for them.”
“That’s not too many people, right?”
“Word spreads fast, and now some of Janine’s friends who aren’t even my clients want me to interview trainers and hire the best one.”
Lillian grimaced. “Ouch. How many people does that make?”
“Around fifteen, I think. I don’t know. I’ve lost count. I’m just kind of handling it as it comes.”
“Fifteen?” she exclaimed, her voice echoing through the car. “Cayden, that’s a lot of work for you to do in such a short amount of time.”
“I can’t get it all done this week. I maybe could do two this week. Maybe. And that’s only if I’m lucky. But the pay... it’s freakin’ amazing, so I can’t say no.”
Lillian thought about how long it would take for him to handle the rest of the clients and do all the hiring. “Do you think it will take months until you’re able to move back here?”
He shook his head.
“No way. Two or three weeks max is what I’m estimating in my head. I mean it, too, Lil. While I’m interviewing all these guys to be their trainers, I’m making notes on who would go well with which clients. I guess it’s like killing several birds with one stone.”
That makes sense. “Janine must know a lot of people,” she said.
“It’s not just Janine. I have a...” He chewed his lip and stared out the window. “Well, there are a couple of others, too. Katharina’s people, or her people’s people. I don’t even know what it will take to settle them.”
Seeing the stress on his face was slowly grinding away at her mood. She moved her hand to his head and scratched it lightly with her fingernails. “Don’t worry about it,” she told him, keeping her voice as soft as possible. “It will be over soon, and I’ll be here to help however you need me.”
He squeezed her leg affectionately. “Thanks, Lil. I need you to keep going with Andrew and your clients here. And keep your weekends free so we can have enough time together.”
“Of course. I told you we would have plenty of time together.”
“Never enough in my book.” He pulled a bottle of water out of Lillian’s purse and took a long drink. “I will admit, though, that we’ve had more time with each other than I thought we would with Andrew around.”
She nodded. “He sleeps a lot now, but he won’t be able to keep that up for very long. His appointments start this week and—” She sighed. “I can hear him complaining about the exercises already. He hates being kept still, but he thinks physical therapy is overrated.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. It’s really frustrating, hearing him say that.”
“I’ll change his mind.” Cayden’s voice deepened, sending shivers down Lillian’s spine.
They were quiet for a minute. She thought carefully how to word what she wanted to say. At last she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey.”
“Kiss me.”
“Huh?” he asked, taken aback.
“I said, kiss me. Real quick, since I’m driving. But make it sexy as hell.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” He leaned over and kissed the corner of her mouth.
Lillian kept her eyes on the road and made thinking noises for a moment. “Hmmm. Yep.”
“Yep what?”
She nodded again. “Just as I suspected.”
“You’re being weird, Lil. What did you suspect?”
“It’s just the same as the first time.”
Cayden chuckled. “Which first time?”
“When you kiss me, I still get butterflies. Just like I did the first time you kissed me.” She had never been more pleased that the car was dark, so he couldn’t tease her about her tomato-red cheeks.
“I do have that effect on people,” he boasted, puffing up his chest. “Oh, I’m in terminal one. This is the turn.”
Lillian parked the car in the temporary parking lot and rushed into the airport with Cayden. He knew exactly where check-in was; Lillian had to practically run to keep up with his long, hurried strides. He had no baggage, so in no time he was ready to walk through security.
They walked around to find the big screen with all the flight statuses displayed. “I don’t see your flight on here,” Lillian said, staring at the screen.
“They change all the numbers on here so fast,” Cayden grumbled. “I don’t even have time to look for mine.”
“Wait!” She grabbed his arm and pointed. “Is that it?”
Cayden mumbled the flight number to himself and nodded. “Yeah, that’s it.”
“It’s due to leave early.”
He grunted. “Well, that’s something new. I guess I’d better walk through now.”
“I don’t want you to,” Lillian pouted as they headed toward security.
Taking her head in his hands, he kissed her on the nose. “I’ll be back this Friday.”
“Text me the details, okay?”
“I’ll send them to you when I’m inside.”
“Are you staying with Janine tonight?”
“Obviously. She wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Lillian put her hands on her stomach. “I’m getting nervous.”
“Why? You’re not even flying.”
“Airports make me nervous. Seeing people off at the airport makes me even more nervous.”
“How about picking them up?”
“The excited kind of nervous, definitely.”
“Think of that, then.” He kissed her again. “No flare-ups. We can’t have you getting sick as soon as I come home this weekend.”
“No flare-ups,” she promised. “Well, I’ll do my best.”
Cayden let go of her and walked through the security gate. He pointed at her stomach, but to any passersby it would have looked like he was pointing at her in general. “No flare-ups!”
Lillian smiled and stood there, watching as he removed his shoes and went through the scanner. Finally, he had all his things back and, with a last look at her, waved and disappeared around the corner.
Hundreds of people were in the airport, all spread out, so it wasn’t too crowded, but enough so there were no empty places to stand or sit. Even with so many breathing bodies around, the energy of the place suddenly seemed so empty and dark. The last time she had been here with Cayden, it was when he was first leaving for Los Angeles. They were still together; she hadn’t sent the breakup text yet. Everything was fine because he promised he would back in no time. Janine had only wanted him for a couple of weeks.
Don’t get caught up in the negatives, she commanded herself. He’s coming back on Friday and I’m going to pick him up. He wants to come home as soon as he can. And he’s not taking new clients; he’s helping the ones he currently has. It was very sweet of him, doing what he was doing. Sure, he was getting paid, but the way he threw his heart and soul into what he did was one of the things about him that inspired her most.
I should tell him that one day, somehow.
She trudged back to the car, feeling lonely. The drive home was quiet since none of the radio stations were playing anything good. After what felt like two hours, she pulled into her driveway. A shape inside the house moved slowly and awkwardly in front of a lamp.
Andrew’s up, she thought, brightening up a little. At least she didn’t have to come home to an empty house—not that the cats didn’t count.
When she walked in, Andrew was standing at the counter, holding his hands over a steaming pot of soup as if he were presenting it in an infomercial.
“What have we here?” Lillian asked, setting down her keys. “It smells great.”
“Canned soup by yours truly.” His face fell, but only just enough that she barely noticed. “I’m glad you’re back, because I can’t figure out how to get it to the table safely.”
“Don’t worry about it. You sit down.” She took a ladle from a porcelain hook on the wall and filled their bowls. “I’m actually surprised you managed to do this much.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?”
“Oh, quit.” Placing the bowls on the table, she thumped the side of his head. “Have you been asleep all this time?”
“Off and on.”
Please don’t hint that you heard Cayden and me making crazy, steaming love in my bedroom.
He didn’t hint at it, much to her relief. “I read for a couple of hours, tried to get in touch with my parents...”
“Tried? Didn’t they respond?”
“Of course not.” He chuckled. “Which is all right with me, given that they don’t have phone service over there. I don’t even know what time it is where they are.”
“Me neither. My brain hurts trying to calculate it.” Lillian took a drink of water. “Come on, eat up.”
“They landed in Paris, right? Or was it Italy?”
“Paris was their first stop. I’ll have to look at their itinerary to see what comes next.”
/>
Andrew slurped a spoonful of soup. “I’m glad they decided to go, in the end.”
“Same here.”
“I mean, I’m not helpless. Plus, I have you.”
Lillian’s heart skipped a beat. It was only a few months ago that Andrew had confessed his feelings for her, but it might as well have been yesterday. He said he wasn’t sure if it was real or not, she reasoned with herself. It might be because I was close to Amelia, too. “Well,” she blew on her soup and stirred it around, “I can understand why they were hesitant.”
“If I think about it hard enough, I can, but you kind of gave the ultimatum, you know. There was nothing they could have done to change your mind.”
Unsure of what to say, she nodded.
“I’m glad I’m here. I guess that’s sort of what I’m trying to say. And I’m really glad you want me here, although I’m not entirely sure how I can thank you for doing this.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She tried to sound gracious, but it came out short. She took a breath. “We’re going to get you fixed up and back to normal. Speaking of which, your first physical therapy appointment is the day after tomorrow. You also have an appointment to get a brand-spankin’-new brace.”
“Brace?”
“Yes. Not a cast. The break on your femur is too low for a cast.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I am the All-Knowing Lillian. Fear me.” She gulped down more soup. “Hey, this is good. Thank you.”
“It would have been better if I could have chopped up an onion and put it in there.” He frowned at his bowl for a second and then started eating. “It’s not bad, I guess.”
“You’ll be able to chop an onion soon. Who knows, maybe it will be part of your therapy.”
“That’s my kind of therapy. Can I grill a steak while I’m at it?”
Lillian chuckled, glad the part of the conversation edging on his feelings was over. I’m probably just too oversensitive. He must not have meant anything by it.
“So, where’s Cayden? Did he get lost looking for that bag?”
“Actually, he already left. I was driving him to the airport.”
“He left already?”