Page 78 of The Scars of Us

Nodding, I followed her to the front door. She said goodbye to Kamden before we walked out. As we went down the stairs, she questioned, “What was that all about?”

“Just Kamden being protective, that’s all. Don’t worry about it.” I shrugged nonchalantly.

Rolling her eyes, she responded in irritation, “He acts like I’m a child.”

Chuckling, I replied, “He’s just worried about you—he loves you.”

“I know,” she sighed as a small smile took over her face. “He can be a little much sometimes, but he really is a great big brother.”

“Great for you; me, not so much,” I joked.

“Yeah, I’d hate to be in your shoes. He doesn’t like you very much,” she admitted with a light laugh.

“His opinion doesn’t matter to me—only yours does.”

We reached my truck, and I walked Kaiya to the passenger side. She turned to face me, placing her back against the door. “I guess you’re lucky that I like you,” she teased with a playful grin.

Tugging on one of her curls, I twisted it around my finger and leaned in to kiss her. As I pulled away, I looked into her eyes, letting go of her hair as I ran my knuckles down her cheek. “Yeah, I’m pretty lucky.”

Kaiya’s cheeks flushed as I opened the door. I helped her step into the raised cab before getting in on my side and starting the engine.

Kaiya rested her hand on my knee the whole drive to her work. She leaned over to kiss me when we reached her office and groaned when we broke apart. “I really don’t want to go to work.”

Pulling her back to me, I gave her another kiss. “I told you to call in sick, but you insisted that you had to come.”

She glanced up at the tall building before looking back at me. “Fine,” she moaned. Gripping the handle of the door, she cracked the door open. “See you later?”

“Yeah, baby. Have a good day.”

She smiled as she hopped out of my truck and shut the door. Blowing me a kiss goodbye, she waved and walked toward the building.

After I dropped her off, I went back to my house to sleep before I had to go to work. I had a busy schedule filled with training sessions and classes to look forward to, so I needed to have as much energy as possible to get me through the day. I couldn’t imagine having to get up early every morning like Kaiya did to go to work.

I woke up a little before lunch time, and I didn’t have to go in until a couple hours later. I decided to see if Kaiya had gone on her lunch break yet.

Me: Have you had lunch yet

Warrior: No

Me: Can I pick you up

Warrior: Sure :) my break is in twenty

Me: See you soon

Kaiya met me outside her office building twenty minutes later, and we decided to go to a deli around the corner to save time. After we were seated, I asked, “How’s your day been?”

She groaned unhappily, “Grueling. Mondays are the worst. We have so many meetings. How about you?”

“Good. I went home and slept for a couple of hours.”

“Must be nice,” she replied sarcastically.

“Eh, it was okay.” I shrugged. “I’d much rather have stayed in bed with you.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.

“Me too, but I don’t have the luxury of working after lunch time like some people.” She gave me a playful glare.

The waitress, a cute blonde with a heavy Boston accent, came to take our drink order. Once she left, we talked about one of Kaiya’s meetings until the server brought us our waters and wrote down our meals.

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