Page 46 of Fragile Love (Fragile 3)
Alarmed, she bolted upright, looking frantically in every direction. The sun was happily streaming in from the window beside the bed. A glass of water sat on the bedside table. Her nightgown was draped on the pillow next to her.
“Cayden?” she called, projecting her voice so he could have heard it anywhere in the house. Having been jerked awake so suddenly made her mind spin in extreme directions. Did he go back to Los Angeles suddenly? Is it past lunchtime? Did something bad happen? Did he leave me? Where’s Andrew? He’s still alone at home! Oh, shit!
She pulled the nightgown over her head in a split second and ran through Cayden’s house, looking for him in every room. He was nowhere. Cayden can take care of himself. I have to go see about Andrew!
Flinging the back door open, she started to jump down the steps and run over to her place, but stopped. The day wasn’t just a nice, sunny day. It was exceptionally bright. And she was wearing this silk nightgown that barely covered her butt.
Now is not the time to look sexy, she told herself. Put on one of Cayden’s shirts.
There’s no time! yelled her other inner voice, and she listened to that one. What if Andrew had fallen and hit his head? She couldn’t waste time finding one of Cayden’s shirts to cover up her thighs!
Just make a run for it. Throwing all these thoughts aside, she slammed the door behind her and darted across the yard onto her back porch, her feet moving so fast they barely touched the ground. Without stopping, she pushed against her door with all her body weight and almost skidded to a stop.
Cayden and Andrew, in the middle of doing one of his stretches, stared at her, their eyes as big as dinner plates. Andrew was sitting on a gym ball, bouncing very slightly up and down. Both guys looked her up and down before bursting into laughter.
“Good morning to you, too,” Andrew howled.
Cayden let go of Andrew’s leg to cover his mouth as he laughed—and also to conceal the redness that was rising to his face.
“Did you sleep well?” Cayden hooted. Andrew slapped him on the back, almost crying from laughter.
Lillian couldn’t make herself move. Her eyes flickered back and forth between the two guys, who were half-blind from laughter and half staring at her nightgown.
“Lillian, I didn’t know you owned—”
“Don’t even go there!” she warned.
Andrew snorted.
Cayden’s e
yes rested on her chest. “I mean, not complaining or anything, Lil.”
“You’re more than welcome to join us for exercises!”
“Hey, man,” Cayden’s voice deepened, turning to look at Andrew intensely. “Quit staring at my girl.”
“It’s hard not to.”
The humor in Cayden’s eyes was obvious, but there was still a hint of seriousness. “Don’t make me kick you in the balls.”
“Cripple me further, why don’t you?”
“Is that a dare?”
The adrenaline finally kicked in and Lillian sprinted down the hall to her room. “Hey, Lillian,” Andrew called, “could you make some breakfast in that get-up?”
“Dude!” She heard Cayden boom, followed by some muffled banter. Feeling so embarrassed she was shaking, she collapsed onto her bed and closed her eyes, focusing on taking deep breaths until she had recovered enough to put proper clothes on.
At last she got the nerve to come out, and emerged back into the living room. The guys were finished with their fake arguing and were back to work on Andrew’s physical therapy. Cayden was deep into an explanation about how one of the stretches was good for the hamstring, but stopped when she sheepishly walked in.
“Don’t even say anything.” She held a hand up at him. “I’m just going to make breakfast for us like the good woman I am.”
“Don’t be sexist, Lillian,” Andrew said with a smirk. “You know I would make breakfast if I could.”
“Then consider this a special gift from me to you.” She walked into the kitchen and absentmindedly gathered a smorgasbord of breakfast foods onto a couple of trays. Her mind would not leave the nightgown incident; she was mildly obsessing over it, but the humor of it all was setting in. As she waited for the coffee to brew, she thought about what it looked like from a third-person point of view and giggled to herself quietly. Amelia would have found it hilarious. That’s like something out of a sitcom! she would have laughed.
Balancing one tray on each arm, she carried breakfast and coffee into the living room. Cayden stood and took one from her, setting it down gently on the coffee table. He and Andrew, too preoccupied by the food to make any more jokes about what had happened, thanked her and dug in.
