Chandler pulled out three sets of chopsticks. “Here.” Handing two sets to his brother.
“I can’t use chopsticks,” I admitted.
“I can. I am quite the expert. I won’t let you starve,” Cayden replied.
Chandler glanced at Cayden. “Hey, I thought you were going to take a shower?”
Cayden shrugged in reply.
“Still wearing your fashion statement I see,” Chandler said to me.
Cayden held up my left hand and moved my fingers with his. “She said yes.”
Chandler looked at the ring, stared oddly at it before he looked at me almost pained. I think he was stunned, but it was hard to tell because he may have been pissed. Chandler pulled his gaze from my face then stared at Cayden for a long time. “I’m unsure of what to say.”
Cayden and I took our seats at the table.
“You could say congratulations, Cayden and Winter. Is that not standard?” Cayden snapped.
“But how?” Chandler stopped talking. He sat down quietly, still staring at his brother.
“I asked Winter to please marry me, and she said yes, that’s how.”
Cayden was obviously becoming more than irritated. Chandler clarified himself. “I mean, how can it work?”
“I love her, and she loves me. That’s how it can work,” Cayden replied rather peevish. Chandler huffed. Cayden’s eyes narrowed. “You are really pissing me off, Chandler.”
Chandler seemed to lose his cool saying, “Cayden, you are terrified of someone hurting her if people find out you two are together, and she is terrified of the same, someone hurting you.”
Cayden looked at me then back toward his brother. “Did you tell her?”
Chandler glanced down at the table for a moment. “I had, too.” A strange look crossed over his face. “I told her about Cheryl Lynn and the threat last year.”
Cayden’s fist hit the table. The boxes from The Jade Palace bounced.
“You do not need to scare her, Chandler!”
“Cayden, please,” I said.
“Plus,” Chandler continued his husky voice getting louder. “Winter is worried about your career and your image. You are worried about her privacy and the invasion of it. We are all sneaking around like idiots now. How are we going to explain that ring? It’s not inconspicuous!”
Chandler’s fist hit the table in return.
“Stop,” I whispered.
Cayden stared into my eyes for a long moment. “We will make this work.”
“Your brother is right,” I said in a low tone, diverting my eyes.
Cayden picked up my chin, forcing me to look at him. “No. We are right together. Nothing matters here but you and me, everything else is secondary.”
“If someone would hurt you because of me,” I whispered but found it was hard to even say the words to Cayden. “If someone would send you death threats or try to harm you, I would die.” I cried. “I can’t lose you. I would never live through it, Cayden.”
“Winter stop, don’t cry,” Cayden said. He placed his forehead to mine.
“I am sorry,” Chandler said. “Cayden is right. We will find a way to make this work.”
“Those people today, your fans. They were able to touch you. What if someone wanted to hurt you, what if they had a weapon?” I whispered.
“Winter, no one is going to hurt me, I promise.”
“There are some things you can’t promise, Cayden, because you can’t control them.”
“Winter, I will be fine.”
“But you think someone may hurt me? Threaten me like they threatened Cheryl Lynn. Does that scare you more than the invasion of my privacy?”
“Both things worry me,” Cayden admitted.
“Then can you not see why I would be worried for you?”
Cayden was quiet for a long moment. He brushed his thumb across my temple. “Yes,” he replied.
“Maybe love, no matter how strong, no matter how unbreakable maybe it is just not enough. Maybe my world and your world were never meant to touch. Maybe I was never meant to be here. Maybe we are both asking for pain.”
My tears ran down my cheeks.
Cayden’s angel face looked pained. “Never say that and never think that. I know you are part of my world, and I am part of yours. You are mine, Winter. I am yours. We are supposed to be together, and you know it. Together we will make our own world. To be without you would be more pain than I could take.” He was holding my face between the palms of his hands. “Love is all that matters here.”
“Listen,” Chandler interjected. “We will just deal with this. We need not say anything about the ring. Let the press think I gave it to Winter, who cares at this point. Cayden you have two more films to complete per your contracts. Finish them, when you are done filming walk away. It is what you have always wanted to do. Marry Winter. I know how much you love her. Move back to England like you have dreamed of doing and live your lives.”
“What?” I said, confused.
“Winter, you know I never intended to be an actor forever. Chandler and I own property in England. We inherited it from our parents. And you know we lived there with our aunt for many years. I have always wanted to write or perhaps direct, and I have always wanted to start a production company and move back to England. If you can handle this craziness for a year, I will be done filming. One year, baby, then I can announce my retirement. I won’t be as interesting when I leave the spotlight, settle down, leave Hollywood behind. We will be free then. Who cares what the press write or what they say. There will be no more studio and no more worries about constant press coverage. No more worry about your privacy and mine. No more worry about your safety or mine. No more screaming crowds, no more cameras flashing. No more crazy hours, long days away from you and no more of what I have never wanted, no more spotlight. If I take myself out of the picture, sooner or later my name will fade, and the press will leave us alone. We can get married, move, and live the lives we were meant to live with each other.”
This all made sense to me, whether it was because I desperately wanted it to, or because I needed to lie to myself I was unsure, but the idea of leaving everything behind, moving to England where I would be living my life with Cayden was beyond tempting. I pictured it. I wanted it. I wanted Cayden. I would handle a year. Sneak around, lie, and hide out if I needed to. Cayden loved me, and I loved him. It was enough. It had to be enough. Nothing else mattered. Not my fears, not my own insecurities and not even my disbelief this could all be real somehow.
“Winter,” Cayden whispered in my ear. “Please, tell me what are you thinking about?”
“You, always you,” I muttered.
“Can you find a way to handle this for one year? Can you?” Cayden asked, pain and questions breaking over his face as if he was unsure or afraid of my answer.
“Yes,” I said quietly.
Cayden’s face changed, a smile finding its way back to the corners of his perfect lips. “You will stay with me, marry me?”
“Yes.”
He pulled me up onto his lap, knocking back my chair as he did so. “I love you. You are more than I deserve, more than I could hope for and more than every dream I could have. I could not live without you, Winter. You are the beating of my heart.”
Funny. Cayden was describing how I feel about him.
“Enough of the mushy stuff, I am going to lose my appetite.” Chandler chuckled wickedly.
“Now, I think I promised not to let you starve, baby.” Cayden smiled then he pulled open a box, took the chopsticks into his hands, and precariously picked up some noodles, placing them to my lips. “Open those beautiful lips,” he instructed me. I opened for him. He winked, sliding the noodles into my mouth. The oversized bite filled my mouth. Some sauce dripped down my chin. “Oops.” Cayden leaned forward and licked the sauce from my skin, making a low groan as he licked. “Good noodles.”
Chandler guffawed. “You have got to be kidding me!”
“What?” Cayden s
aid, looking at his brother with one eyebrow rising.
“I still cannot believe what you can get women to do,” Chandler mused. “I mean, most women like to enjoy their food and don’t want some guys tongue slobbering up their face while they are trying to eat. How totally uncivilized.” His laugh filled the room.
Cayden gave his brother a rude gesture.
Chandler looked at me, still smiling like a goofball. “Winter, you do disappoint me. I thought you had better sense. Would you let me do that?”
I gave Chandler a fiery glare of my own.
“Uh, no,” I returned emphasizing the “no.”
“See what I mean. Only you could get away with such behavior, Cayden. And where did such behavior come from? I know you were raised with better manners than that.”
Chandler was still chuckling.
Cayden smiled an impish grin. “Sucks to be you, Chandler.” He placed another bite of noodles into my mouth, lifting one noodle from my lips with his tongue then he sucked it from my mouth into his. “These are the best noodles I have ever tasted.” Cayden looked back at his brother quite smugly. “And by the way, my manners are fine.”
“Oh yeah, what would Aunt Elsbeth say?”
Cayden shrugged. “She’s not here, so it’s a moot point.”
“Umm….” I licked the sauce from Cayden’s chin. “You know I believe you are right. These are really great noodles. Here, babe.” I pulled some more noodles from the box with my fingers. “Open up.” Sauce dripped from my fingertips. I placed the noodles to Cayden’s mouth. “Mmm…,” I murmured when he sucked them free from my fingers.
“Yuck!” Chandler replied with a smile then reached for another box.
Chandler stuffed a large won ton into his mouth and chewed it loudly. Then he flung a spoon full of rice, hitting Cayden in the chest.
“Hey!” I protested, picking up a spoon full of rice of my own, flinging it back toward Chandler. “Don’t pick on my man. I may have to kick your ass for that.”
Cayden laughed and touched the tip of my nose with his fingertip. “Awe, thanks baby.”
I softly kissed his lips. “Anytime, babe.”
Cayden’s face was beaming with a large evil grin. He placed his fingers into the sweet and sour sauce then rubbed it red and sticky down my throat. “Oh sorry,” Cayden said, trying hard to keep a straight face.
“Nice my brother,” Chandler interjected smugly. They gave each other a high five.
I looked at Cayden with a large smile breaking across my face. Cayden smiled back. I placed my hand on my hip. We smirked at each other. “Cayden, babe…you did not just do that?”
“Yes, Winter, I believe I did.”
“And after I was defending your honor,” I replied, indignant.
I felt a large piece of something hit the side of my cheek then heard Chandler’s booming laugh. “I think you have some broccoli on your face, snowflake.”
I peeled the green sprouts from my cheek while glaring at Cayden then at Chandler. “I see how it is. You are both pretty darn sure of yourselves thinking I can’t kick both your asses cause I’m a girl.”
“A girly girl,” Chandler interjected, still laughing.
“Oh, it’s on,” I said, smirking.
“Bring it on,” Cayden teased.
I stood up from his lap in time to join into an all too childish, all too ridiculous, and all too major food fight between the three of us.
Chapter Seven
Happiness
After some major destruction to the dining room, a lot of elbow grease to clean it up, which included me perched upon a chair on my tiptoes, stretching up while Cayden steadied me so I could peel noodles from the chandelier, I finally made it into the shower. I was a soiled mess. It took quite a long time to wash all the debris from my body and even longer to wash it all out of my hair.
Once I was squeaky clean and dressed in my nightclothes, I gathered up Cayden’s dirty clothes along with mine and took them to the laundry room to wash. I passed Chandler inside his office. He was tucked behind his glass topped mahogany desk, reading something.
“Hey, Chandler, I’m going to wash these clothes. If you give me yours, I’ll wash them for you.”
Chandler smiled his eye-crinkling smile. “Really, you would do that for me?”
“Sure.”
Chandler really looked at me and started laughing. In fact, he laughed so loud he snorted. “Nice PJ’s, snowflake.”
I rolled my eyes and kept going. He was still laughing when I entered the laundry room. I started on the clothing. They were thoroughly grubby and more than likely ruined. I rummaged through a cabinet until I found the stain remover and applied it to the numerous red splotches as well as covering a plethora of greasy spots.
Cayden’s delicious cologne wafted in before he did so I knew he’d found me.
“Looks like you got all the goop out of your hair,” he commented. He leaned in behind me and sniffed. “I love how your hair smells.” He rested his chin on my right shoulder.
“Thanks.” I set the shirt along with the stain remover on the edge of the washer. “It looks like you got all the goop out of your hair, too.” I combed my fingers through his silky strands. “Your shirt may be ruined,” I said, dropping my hand and returning my attention back to it.
He brushed my hair back over my shoulder and kissed my neck. “It’s just a shirt. Don’t worry about it, Winter.”
I threw the clothes into the washing machine, dumped in some detergent, and put the lid down. “Yeah, but that was an expensive shirt, and it looked good on you,” I complained.
Cayden let out his low even laugh. I twirled around. Cayden’s blue-eyed gaze appraised me with a large smile stretched across his face.
“Well, Hello Kitty.” He emphasized the hello chuckling wickedly. “Come here, pretty kitty,” he said, crooking his finger at me.
I was decked out in my Hello Kitty T-shirt and matching shorts. I love my pink bowed kitty. She was adorable and holding a teddy bear. I’d bought them on a whim while shopping with Q, actually. I thought they were cute. Besides, until recently no one would have seen me or cared what I wore to bed.
“Babe, are you making fun of me?”
“Me?” he replied with mock innocence. “I want to pet my little kitty.”
I huffed off when Cayden scooped me up into his arms, twirled me around so my back was tucked into his chest, and tickled me. I may be older than Cayden, but he was much bigger than me. He overtook me in a minute, not that I put up much of a fight. He had me almost helpless. His poking fingers found all my hot spots. I jittered, wiggled, and squirmed, laughing nonstop, trying to catch my breath.
“Stop.” I squeaked, still laughing. Cayden knuckled my ribs then went for the more tender spots. “Cay….” I couldn’t even finish speaking his name. I was squirming and giggling so hard I thought I might pee my pants, but he held assured.
“What are you doing to her?” Chandler asked. “I heard her actually squeaking. I had to see what the hell would cause her to make that noise. I wondered if we had mice.”
“Don’t need your help, bro. I have things under control,” Cayden said as he pinned my arms. In one quick move, he heaved me over his shoulder, again.
“Very caveman of you, babe,” I said. I wiggled one arm free and slapped his butt.
“Ooh yeah, do that again, baby,” he said, teasing me.
I squeezed his perfect ass before my hand probed his back pant pocket. I pulled out his worn leather wallet. It looked like it had been through a war. “Well, well, what do I have here?” I flipped it open. I wiggled my other arm free. “Sexy picture on your driver’s license,” I commented, still giggling. Cayden slapped my ass in retaliation. “Oh my God! You have a membership to Blockbuster Video.” I continued to laugh.
“Snoop much?” He bounced me playfully.
“Hmm…we have one, two, three platinum cards. Shop much, babe?”
Cayden’s fingers poked my ribs, sending me in
to another round of giggles and wiggles.
“And what else do we have?” I continued. “A receipt for….” I unfolded a paper, “McDonalds?”
“What? I like Egg McMuffins,” he countered before he made me squirm with another well-placed assault to my ribs.
“And three hundred and twenty-two dollars in cash and….” I couldn’t breathe any longer I was laughing so hard.
“Listen here, woman,” Cayden joked. “Step away from the wallet and you won’t get hurt.
“You are so bad,” I said.
“I am,” he admitted.
One hand held me over his shoulder while his other hand brushed across the arch of my foot, sending me into a complete fit of giggles.
Chandler hadn’t left. “The laundry room even….” Cayden took his foot and shut the laundry room door on him. “Hey!” Chandler yelled through the door.
“Cayden, put me down,” I protested. His hands still moving, fingers still tickling.
“Nope.”
His hands went to the soft spot behind my knees.
I squealed again. Cayden chuckled, but continued his tickle torture. I tucked his wallet back into his back pocket. “Okay, I surrender, your wallet is safe.”
A few minutes passed with Cayden tickling me and let’s face it, in truth he was also copping the periodic feel when he must have heard my stomach growl.
“We better eat something,” he said. “I can’t let my woman starve.”
Leaving the smell of laundry detergent behind us, he opened the laundry room door and toted me into the kitchen.
“Um, babe, you can put me down now,” I suggested. “I feel like…me cave-woman.” He guffawed. “Yeah, you clubbed me over the head and are dragging me off to your caveman lair.”
“But this caveman so enjoys the view.” Cayden nibbled at my shorts with his teeth.
I felt his nose move the bottom edge of my shorts up. “Stop.” I sniggered. He didn’t. He licked my right butt cheek. I squirmed. He bit me. I wiggled. He kissed the bite. “You are so bad.”
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