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But Blake had brought up some good points. Having feelings for Hallie wasn’t just risking his career, but his heart, too. This was exactly why he hadn’t fought Avery on the idea of keeping an eye on her. He knew his attraction to her was blinding him in some small way, but Blake laying into him like that… Caden wondered if he hadn’t fucked up in a big way.
From the beginning, Caden never saw Hallie as a threat. To make matters worse, Blake wasn’t the type to scare easily, so his visceral reaction only made it worse. Caden had hoped that getting shot would show his friend just how irresponsible his ‘throw caution to the wind' attitude was, but now it felt like Blake was making a complete one eighty, and was way over-reacting. Or at least that’s what Caden hoped was happening. He couldn’t fathom the idea of Hallie being anyone other than who he knew her to be.
Caden lost his appetite soon after the uncomfortable silence settled between him and Blake, and ended up taking more than half of his breakfast to go. He drove Blake home, where the other man mumbled a thanks before getting out of the car.
On a whim, Caden drove across town to Mocha Madness and picked up two medium sized blended crunchy caramel coffee drinks.
After the miserable late lunch he’d just had with Blake, he needed to see Hallie again, mostly to reassure himself that he hadn’t made the biggest mistake of his life by inviting her into his inner circle of friends. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to any one of them because of his inability to assess a threat.
***
“Oh, put that down. You can get it online for half the price and even get free shipping.”
Hallie’s eyes shot up from the book she’d been reading and landed straight on the woman standing in front of the fiction section. She’d recognize that voice anywhere. It was the same woman that had gone through her store a few days ago, telling her friend, or whoever that other woman was, that she could buy the same or similar things found in her store online for half the price with free shipping.
Hallie stood from her chair, in no mood to listen to this woman dress down her store like it was some kind of… Hallie couldn’t even think of the right word. She’d gotten less than three hours of sleep last night after her date with Caden because she couldn’t stop thinking about that stupid glimpse of glass shattering. She had no idea when it was supposed to happen or where or even why, and it nagged at her. More than that, it scared her. Every time the glimpse replayed in her mind, dread filled her so completely, she could hardly take a breath.
To make matters worse, Katelyn had called out this morning because she was behind on her schoolwork and had an exam she needed more time to study for. So, Hallie had to be up early, which she hated. The street was always quiet when the store opened at ten, but the mailman had already been there, so all the bills, ads, and even a couple of catalogs were scattered on the floor by the front door, making just getting inside a total hassle.
Then when her first customer came to the register to buy a greeting card and a book, the receipt printer was out of paper, so Hallie had to go hunting for it in her office among all the other boxes of overstock supplies and inventory. She came back to find the book and greeting card lying on the counter with the customer nowhere in sight.
“Did you know I saw this online the other day and the only thing different was the color. They had it for ten dollars less.” The woman’s voice penetrated Hallie’s thoughts and before she’d come up with exactly what to say, Hallie was moving toward the woman.
“Excuse me,” Hallie said, standing behind her as the woman put back the windchime she was holding.
The woman turned and glared at her. “Yes?”
“Do you always make it your business to come into someone’s home and berate their things?” Hallie asked.
The woman smirked. “I’m not berating anything. I’m simply stating the truth.”
“Perhaps you wouldn’t mind stating your truths elsewhere.” Hallie gestured to the door.
The woman looked utterly horrified. “Are you kicking me out of the store?”
“I believe she is,” said a familiar male voice from behind.
Hallie turned and nearly bumped into Caden who was holding two blended coffee drinks. “Here.” He offered her one. “Why don’t you take this to the register and I’ll be there in a minute.” Not wanting to deal with the woman anymore, Hallie gladly accepted the drink and walked away. She had no idea what Caden was going to do or say to the women, but she was intrigued to find out.
“Ladies,” Caden said in a tone that was both flattering and condescending, “I believe there is a lovely coffee shop about half a block down the street. I’m sure you will be much more comfortable gossiping there. What do you say?”
They looked at him with amusement. When they didn’t budge, he pulled back his jacket and revealed his badge. Their expressions blanked and both women exited the store without any further argument.
Hallie laughed. “That was great. She would’ve probably stood there arguing with me for at least another fifteen minutes. And my store definitely didn’t need any of her negative energy.”
Caden waved his hand like he was brushing a fly away. “How do you like the drink? It was their special of the day. A crunchy caramel flavor.”
Hallie beamed. “I love it. I can’t decide which one I like more. This one or the one we got last time. Thank you for bringing it and for coming. I was having some day today.”
“Must be in the air. I just had lunch with Blake and it went...weird.”
“Is he okay?” Her first thought had been that Blake was somehow worse.
Caden nodded. “He’s fine, and getting under my skin as usual.”
Hallie smiled. “Friends can do that.”
“No kidding. I thought I’d come by before heading back to the office. Aside from those ladies, did anything else happen today?”
