Page 27 of Caden
He made his stop by his house, gathering clean clothes and a few toiletries, as well as making sure everything was good there and nothing needed attention, then headed to Olivia’s. There was something, or rather someone, who needed attention there. And Caden couldn’t wait to see exactly what she needed.
It only took her a couple of moments to answer his knock. She stepped back and let him in without a word. Once he was inside though, she pushed the door shut and turned to him. He didn’t have to be a mind reader to see she needed a hug at least. Caden held his arms wide, and she stepped into them, her own arms wrapping around his waist as she buried her face against his chest. He wrapped his own arms around her and held her a moment as she relaxed against him.
“Rough day?” he asked after a moment.
She shook her head, face still buried against him, but didn’t speak for a moment, then picked her head up and looked up at him.
“Not too bad, not really. I don’t know what’s wrong, but I needed that. A lot.” She started to pull away, but he didn’t loosen his hold on her.
“I needed it more than I knew too.” He bent and dropped a soft kiss on her forehead then let his hold on her ease. She leaned against him for a moment longer, watching him, then stood.
“How was your day at work?” she asked, catching his hand and tugging her into the kitchen with her.
“Fine. Nothing worth comment really. It was work.” He lifted one shoulder in dismissal. “How about yours?”
“Same.” She quirked one corner of her mouth in a token wry smile, then released his hand, waving hers toward the table and chairs, indicating he should sit. She didn’t join him but went to the fridge. “Hungry?”
“I could eat, but only if you’re fixing something for yourself. I’m not starving and can wait. Don’t think you need to wait on me.”
“I don’t.” She looked up to smile at him. “I usually eat after I get home. I’m cooking for me too. I’m just trying to decide what sounds good.”
“I’m not picky. I’m sure whatever you decide on will be fine.”
“That’s the thing. I hate deciding what to make day after day after day. It would be worlds easier if someone would just tell me what they want, and I could fix it.”
“Fine then, how about scrambled eggs?”
“I thought you don’t like eggs?”
“Scrambled are tolerable. What I really don’t like is when they look like yellow eyeballs staring up at you from the plate.”
She glanced at him for a moment, wondering at his description then stared into the fridge, tilting her head to one side then straightening and nodding. “Eggs it is.” She pulled things from the fridge and put them on the counter before pulling down a bowl. “Do you like cheese in your eggs? And how do you feel about meat in them?”
“Just make them however you like them. I told you I’m not picky.”
She turned and looked at him a moment, then went back to what she was doing. He watched her, enjoying being in the same room with her, even if they weren’t touching or talking. Just having her nearby made him feel good.
Olivia worked quietly for a few minutes, then after she’d poured the eggs into the skillet, spoke.
“What’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“Work, of course. But before that I need to swing by Cowboy’s shop and talk to him. I’m not worried about your mom and her thing about the Kings, but I need to warn him that I may have stirred a bit of trouble. Not that she’ll find anything on the club, but I want him to know that we may be under some extra scrutiny for a while as she looks into what I said.”
Olivia didn’t reply, just nodded.
“What do you have going on tomorrow?”
“Not much. I have to do some chores around here. Wednesday is my laundry day and I try to get it all done before work, then I don’t have to waste a day off with it. So if you’re going to go to see Cowboy, I’ll probably go ahead and do that.”
She finished cooking and they sat together at the table and ate, talking about their day while they unwound.
“Tell me again why you think I care if you’re seeing the Chief of Police’s daughter?” Cowboy glanced up from the sketch of a bike he was working on, then looked back down at the page. They were in the office of his shop and Caden had spent the last five minutes explaining yesterday morning to his president.
“Because it may bring more scrutiny to the Kings from them.”
Cowboy sat up, laid down his pencil and leaned back in his chair. He watched Caden for several seconds, until Caden had to fight the urge to twitch or stretch, but resisted.
“Do you think the Kings have anything to worry about if the police department watches them more closely than they have been?” Cowboy’s voice was even but something in his tone set off warning bells in Caden’s head, but he couldn’t say why.