Page 52 of This Moment

I closed my eyes and thought back to last night, how I had laid in bed and thought about Cadie. Her lips, the way her pajamas hugged her body. And worst of all…how easy it would be to slip out of my bed and right into hers. I had jerked off to images of her and came so hard I thought I might black out. I didn’t even care I was under the same roof as Sally. It was no different than when I was a teenager looking at dirty magazines my best friend Declan Gallagher would sneak to me.

Shaking away my wayward thoughts, I forced myself to smile at Chuck. “Okay, yeah, if you could just let Janice know I’m willing to pay extra for labor if we can install it as soon as possible.”

Chuck raised a brow, looked at the house behind me, and huffed. “Right. I’ll pass along that message, Mr. Carter.”

He gathered up his tools, and I followed him to his truck. “Thank you so much, Chuck,” I said, hoping to get on the guy’s good side.

“Yep, sure thing,” he replied as he shut the back door to his van. He looked at me again and said, jerking his thumb behind him, “You could always sleep in that monstrosity of a house there.”

Glancing up to the house, I saw Cadie on the back porch. She looked to be bundled up in a blanket and drinking something.

I sighed. “I may just look at getting a space heater.”

Chuck laughed, climbed into his van, and said, “Good luck with that.”

I watched as he pulled out of the drive and turned right. “Great. Way to go and piss off the guy, Kian.”

Turning back to the guest house, I thought about if there was anything else I might need. I didn’t have much stuff, and most of it was at the main house. After Chuck’s reaction to my space heater comment, I figured the best bet was to suck it up and stay at the main house. With Cadie.

Sighing, I quickly made my way back to the main house. The first thing I did was find Sally.

She was in the kitchen, and the smell of bacon instantly made my stomach growl. Walking up to her, I kissed her cheek. “Morning, Sally.”

“Good morning. I see you got someone out here pretty quickly.”

“Yeah, I called Tom’s, and Janice said she would have someone stop by first thing. It wasn’t Tom, though…some guy named Chuck.”

“Tom and Angie are in Hawaii for their fiftieth anniversary.”

“Are they?” I asked as I took a piece of already-cooked bacon. “The repair guy did mention he was on vacation. I think I pissed him off when I questioned if he was sure about needing a new heater.”

“Language, Kian.”

I paused from getting the orange juice out of the fridge. “Sally, you do realize I am thirty-three years old. You can’t reprimand me for saying a bad word.”

Glancing over her shoulder, her brows shot up to her hairline. “Is that so?”

A part of me wanted to drop the juice and make a run for it, but the adult in me smiled at her.

“Don’t think you can charm me with that smile.”

Pouring myself a glass of juice, I replied, “You think my smile is charming?”

I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

Glancing out the French doors, I saw a fire in the outdoor fireplace, and Cadie was sitting out there. “Is she crazy sitting out in this cold weather?”

Sally glanced over her shoulder once again. “She is the sweetest thing. She started that fire alone and said the fresh air felt good. I brought her out a blanket and some coffee.”

I took a drink of the OJ. Without taking my eyes off of Cadie, I asked, “So what’s for breakfast?”

“Your favorite. Blueberry pancakes, bacon, and I cut up some fresh fruit.”

“Wow! I should have been coming up here for breakfast every day if I had known you would spoil me.”

A soft laugh came from Sally. “I’ve missed cooking for people. Now, get Cadie and tell her breakfast will be ready soon. She’s going to need to warm herself up.”

With a salute, I replied, “Yes, ma’am!”

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