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“Do you love Aspen, too, Papa Flint?”
Her question catches me off guard, and I study her face intently, swallowing the lump forming in my throat.
I thought I did, but do I really know her?
Pike returns then, saving me from answering. “Go to Zoe, darling. Papa Pike and I have to talk about grown-up things now.”
She climbs off my lap and runs to hug Pike quickly before leaving us alone in the room.
We stare at one another for a long moment, unspeaking.
“Okay.” Pike clears his throat, flopping onto the chair in front of me. “Now what do we do?”
CHAPTER 20
Caden
I can’t believe Flint’s reaction and Pike’s lack of reaction to the devastating news we received about Aspen. Just looking at her face, I realized there was so much more to the story than what we heard, and I’m determined to hear it.
“Aspen?” I knock on her closed bedroom door gently. “It’s me, Caden.”
“I want to be alone.” Her voice is raspy and barely recognizable.
“No, you don’t.” I open the door, uninvited, and find her curled up on the queen bed in a ball, sniffling. Standing at the threshold, I wait for her to order me away, but when she doesn’t, I venture closer, shutting the bedroom door in my wake. “Aspen…”
“Really, Caden, if you’re here to tell me I’m fired, I already figured it out,” she sniffs without turning. “Just give me a few minutes to get my stuff together.”
“I’m not here to tell you that you’re fired.” I sit on the side of the bed. My hand reaches out to touch her hip and gently turns her toward me. Hastily, she wipes her face, peering up with sad eyes.
“I don’t want Lily to see me like this,” she mumbles, and my love for her doubles.
Even now, she’s only thinking about Lily. There’s no way she’s some kind of fraudster. I don’t care what that credit report says.
“Lily is making cookies with Zoe. You won’t see her until she’s bloated and full of sugar,” I reassure her. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Aspen bites on that luscious lower lip, and I have an urge to kiss her, but I don’t. Instead, I lie beside her, stretching out to the length of her body, and pull her against me. She shakes but hides it well as I pull her tighter.
“Aspen, it’s all right,” I tell her softly. “You can tell me what’s going on.”
“I wanted to tell you so many times,” she moans quietly. “I wasn’t trying to hide it, but you’ve all been under so much stress.”
A rap on the door silences her.
“I don’t want to see Lily,” she mumbles in a panic.
I untangle myself from her and rise to answer the door, determined to give my lover the few minutes of peace that she needs. But to my amazement, Pike and Flint stand on the other side of the door.
“Can we come in?” Flint asks.
“That depends,” I reply protectively. “Are you going to behave yourselves?”
Flint exhales as Pike appears mortified by my question.
“Of course!” Pike agrees.
“You were right. We didn’t listen to what she had to say.”
“Wait here. I’ll see if Aspen wants to see you,” I tell them, ready to close the door in their faces.
