Page 69 of Somebody's Watching Me
“No, I’m more of a special friend who is a boy,” he replied, getting the ham and ignoring how Annabeth went tense at Theo’s comment. “A very special friend.”
“Special friend?” Samuel chuckled. “How does that work?”
“It’s like this.” Abe held a hand up as if it were a phone. “Hey, special friend, what are you wearing?”
“Nothing,” Samuel breathed into his own imaginary hand phone. “Are you ready for me, baby?”
Annabeth spun around, waving a spatula. Bits of eggs flew from its edges, and a lone cat darted out from God knows where to gobble them up. “You’re both about to get smacked!”
Wisely, the two grown men dropped their hands, leaving the only one laughing to be Evie, who had buried her face in her husband’s chest.
“Morning.” Liam came in and headed straight for the coffeemaker, pulling down two matching cups from the cabinet above. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Rowan said at the same time as Annabeth, and they turned their backs on the room to work. “Everyone’s a comedian this morning.”
“Even Samuel?” Liam popped a K-cup into the machine, and Rowan gave him a second look, noticing he’d shaved his beard off. “That’s weird.”
“Thanks for bringing these.” Ben came in from the side hall with Taylor following. “But you really didn’t have to drive all the way here.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” Taylor said, positively beaming. “Plus, I wanted to check on you guys. Yesterday must have been so scary.”
Rowan risked a glance over his shoulder to see how everyone was reacting to Taylor’s presence, but no one seemed to be even the slightest bit disturbed.
“Taylor, did you get that email I sent regarding San Antonio?” Samuel sipped at his coffee, protectively resting an arm across his wife’s shoulders. “With everything going on, I don’t want to move forward.”
“We’ll put it on the back burner,” Taylor replied, leaning forward to whisper a good morning to Harper and Theo. “But they won’t wait forever.”
Ben awkwardly gestured to the main hall. It was surreal for Rowan to see a man like him so out of sorts. “I’ll walk youto the door.”
“You can stay for breakfast if you’d like.” Simone stood on the opposite side of the kitchen, coming out of the set of rooms that belonged solely to her. She looked worse than Annabeth but better than yesterday. “We have plenty of food.”
Taylor’s smile dimmed at Simone’s arrival. “I’ve already eaten, but thank you.”
Rowan had to give it to Simone. Even in a robe and slippers, she still looked put together. “Perhaps next time,” she said. “My home is always open to Ben’s trustedemployees.”
“Oh, I’m sure it is.” Taylor tossed a wave over her shoulder on the way out. “Considering you used to be one.”
As Ben escorted Taylor to the door, Rowan braced himself, waiting for someone to say something about Taylor’s comment to Simone. But no one acknowledged it, and he considered that maybe he was overthinking the whole thing. Perhaps they all knew about Taylor and Ben and were totally fine with it.
Liam finished making two cups of coffee and then popped another K-cup in. “I’m guessing you need full strength caffeine this morning, Simone?”
Simone made her way over, laying a hand on every person she passed as if to assure herself they were all safe. “Yes, please.”
While she waited for her coffee, the lady of the house came to stand next to Rowan. Leaning a hip on the counter, she watched him and Annabeth work silently together for a moment. “Thank you for taking care of us. If not for your system,andyour actions, those people would have taken Jamison.”
He’d never known a human stare could literally carry weight, but Simone’s most definitely did. “It’s my job.”
“Mmm, yes.” Simone took her coffee from Liam and sipped. “But I heard you screaming through the speakers. Your concern over ourwelfare far surpasses that of a job or a mere casual fling with my daughter, doesn’t it?”
Distracted by what Simone was insinuating, his hand brushed against Annabeth’s arm, and they jumped apart as if jolted by electricity.
Simone grinned. “I guess touching each other is a new concept.”
“Mama!” Annabeth slapped a hand on the counter. “Don’t you need to go sit down?”
“I’m fine right here.” Simone took another sip, making a noise low in her throat. “But thank you for your concern.”
Rowan’s phone went off, along with Liam and Samuel’s devices.
