“He doesn’t know yet but he apologized this morning like he personally dragged the whole thing to my door, which is very Kade and also very stupid.” I press my thumb into the crease of the box until the cardboard gives under it. “He kept stopping between kisses to say he was sorry. It was a little hard to take the apology seriously after the third time he said it into my neck.”
Priya’s brows go up, but she manages to keep most of the smile off her face. “I’m trying very hard to be concerned and not ask follow-up questions.”
“I appreciate your restraint.”
“I don’t. It feels unnatural.” Her expression softens again as she reaches over and takes the ruined box before I can crease it further. “And what did you tell him?”
“That I’m not blaming him. I’m scared, obviously, and I hate that someone might’ve looked at me and seen a way to hurt him, but I don’t blame him.” My mouth pulls despite everything, because the memory of Kade’s face in the nest this morning still warms me in places fear hasn’t managed to reach. “I also told him I have two men trying to protect me now, so apparently I’ve upgraded from one terrifying problem to a full security plan.”
Priya watches me for a second, then laughs quietly enough that it does not feel like she is laughing at me. “Two men.”
“Don’t make that face. You look like you are mentally rearranging my entire life.”
“I did that three days ago, baby. Keep up.” She leans a hip against the table, arms folding over her apron. “So Kade is officially a thing.”
“Kade is very much a thing.” The words come out softer than I mean them to. I pick at the edge of the pastry box so I don’t have to look directly at her face while I say the next part. “It feels like he was always a thing and I was just standing there in the hallway pretending I didn’t want him to be.”
“And the detective?”
Skylar is harder to place into words. “He’s getting there,” I say. “I think he wants to get there and doesn’t know what to do with that yet.”
Priya’s face softens in a different way. “That can be scary.”
“Yeah.” I fold the next box carefully, corners clean this time. “Kade says we can go slow. Skylar looks like he might run if anyone says the word feelings too loudly, but he came over with donuts two days ago and let me kiss his cheek, so I’m choosing hope with mild supervision.”
“That sounds like you, trying to make something sound reasonable because you’re afraid of how much you want it.” She reaches out and squeezes my wrist once before letting go. “I’m happy for you. Scared, because someone hurt you and I’d like to do something very creative with a vegetable peeler, but happy too.”
A laugh slips out of me before my throat can close around it. “That is a concerning amount of detail.”
“I care deeply.” Her eyes stay on me, warm and serious under the threat. “You deserve people who show up, Em.”
My phone rings before I can answer, Kade’s name filling the screen.
Priya sees it and points toward the back hall. “Take it before you start glowing through my labor budget.”
I take the call near the shelves of flour and sugar, where the bakery is quieter and Priya can pretend not to listen from fifteen feet away. “Hi.”
There’s a pause, and I can hear the smile in his voice when he answers. “Hi, sweetheart.”
My face goes hot fast enough to be embarrassing. “Everything okay?”
“Yes.” His voice lowers. “Baxter called. The charge is fully dropped. I’m no longer a suspect in the assault.”
For a second, I forget how to breathe. I grip the edge of the shelf with my free hand and stare at a bag of flour until the words settle into something I can understand. “You’re not a suspect.”
“No.”
“They dropped it all the way.”
“All the way.”
“Kade.” His name comes out too soft and too cracked, and I turn farther toward the shelves because Priya has stopped pretending to wipe the counter. “You’re done with that part?”
“With that part,” he says carefully. “There’s still work to do. We still need to figure out who attacked you, why that first call came in early, and what they were trying to get from my company. I don’t want you thinking this means there’s no danger.”
“I know. But they’re done looking at you like you hurt me.”
His breath shifts. “Yes.”
