Page 16 of Caden

Nathan:Got the fucker.

Nathan:Can you ask Ruby to come down to the station for a statement later today?

“What’s going on?” Ruby asks in a sleepy murmur, her eyes still closed. A sated smile graces her lips. Every little thing this woman does makes it hard to concentrate. God, I love her.

Fuck. Iloveher.

“Caden?”

“They arrested him.”

Her eyes fly open, and she sits up. Gram grumbles from the end of the bed, but his tail thumps. “Anthony?”

“Yeah, the ass wipe. Nathan wants you to go down to the station?—”

“I guess I better get dressed then,” she says on a yawn.

“Or we could celebrate before you go,” I say, wriggling my eyebrows.

It makes her laugh, and dammit if that isn’t the sweetest sound. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to make this work, but I’m determined to find a way. I draw her in for a kiss, taking my time. Deepening it slowly as my hand slides from her neck and settles on one of her breasts. We didn’t bother with clothes when we finally collapsed from exhaustion.

“Maybe we should let Gram out first,” she says against my lips.

“I’ll take him,” I say, forcing myself out of bed. The last thing Ruby needs first thing this morning is to see the sight of her burned garden in the daylight. She’ll have to deal with that horror soon enough.

I scan the room for my jeans before remembering all of my clothes are downstairs. If I had boxers, I wouldn’t worry about pants. But the last thing I need to do is scandalize the neighborhood by letting Gram outside while I’m buck ass naked. No doubt there’ll be plenty of nosy neighbors eager for a peak at the backyard. “C’mon bud,” I say to the dog.

“Caden?”

“Hmm?” I ask over my shoulder at the doorway.

“Hurry back?”

“Always.”

I head downstairs, pull on my jeans and t-shirt, and wait on the back deck as Gram does his morning business.

The sight is worse in the daylight. The massive garden is nothing but charred remains. Blackness licks some of the fence planks, and a renewed anger burns in my chest. I’m relieved Nathan caught the ass wipe. He’s safer behind bars than with me. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make sure he never comes near Ruby again.

I leave Gram with his breakfast in the kitchen and head back to Ruby’s bed ready to take really good care of her this morning before she has to face the aftermath of last night. But when I reach her room, she’s already dressed.

“Ruby?”

“Grandma Judy’s here.” She nods at the window, her expression almost blank.

“Did you call her?”

Ruby shakes her head. “But I’m sure someone did.”

“You okay?” I ask, unable to ignore the defeated tone in her voice.

“Yeah.” She looks at me for a long beat before finally saying, “Guess the weekend is over a little sooner than we planned.”

“It doesn’t have to be over.”

The doorbell echoes throughout the two-story house, followed by Gram’s incessant barking. “We both knew it would come to an end, Caden. It was fun while it lasted. It’ll always be our little secret. But now, it’s back to reality.”

“Ruby—”

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