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23
AMBER
Kaden’s hug is just what I need to collect myself enough to go back inside with my mother.
“Thank you,” I say, letting go of him and wiping my tears, “I’m so glad you showed up when you did. I need to go talk to my mom now.”
I open the door to find my mother still sitting on the sofa, tears rolling down her cheeks. I rush over to her, cradling her hands in mine.
“It’s okay, Mom. Kaden came and took care of it. He got you a restraining order against them, so they can’t come close to the property without getting into trouble,” I tell her, hoping to ease her mind.
She breathes a sigh of relief. “Oh, Kaden! Thank you so much!” she says. He hugs her, and we say our goodbyes. I follow Kaden home while thinking about how disrespectful my aunt and uncle are.
As soon as we’re in our driveway, Kaden parks and walks over to open my door. He grabs my hand, helps me inside and takes me to the kitchen. He pours me a glass of expensive red wine, and I can’t help but smile.
He grabs the bottle and pulls me to the bedroom, tucking me in and climbing beside me. We spend the rest of the night talking and laughing, but in the back of my mind, I can’t stop worrying about Alicia and Ted returning to my mother’s.
“Honey, don’t worry about them. Amber, they don’t deserve your sympathy. Plus, your mother doesn’t need the stress of them showing up unannounced,” Kaden says, reassuring me as he rubs my back until I fall asleep.
The next morning, I wake up to the smell of waffles and bacon entering the bedroom. My eyes slowly open as Kaden sets a lap tray across me. I sit up, smiling and excitedly looking at the plate in front of me as he slides it up.
“Awe. Thank you so much! This looks amazing. But, isn’t it making you late for work?” I ask, grabbing the fork. He shakes his head and climbs into bed beside me.
“Nope. I’m taking the day off. We’ll have a lazy day together and get your mind off yesterday. So, breakfast in bed is the first part of our very relaxing and pampering day,” he says, sliding his own tray over his lap and grabbing the TV remote.
I instantly feel bad. “No, Kaden. You can’t do that! I’ll be fine, I promise. Please don’t skip it for me. I don’t want to be the reason you lose money. Plus, I have to work on my LTD Company report.”
He scoffs. “My account will continue to add zeros to the end of it, even if I’m not there, honey. It’s okay, I promise. I can pamper you while you work,” he says teasingly. It takes a weight off my shoulders, but I can’t stop myself from playfully smacking his chest.
We laugh and tease each other through breakfast, with the TV filling in the silences as we eat. He grabs the trays and takes them into the kitchen when we finish eating. He does the dishes, and I start helping him clean up.
“Um, what part of pampering don’t you understand?” He laughs, pushing me out of the kitchen.
I laugh and sit at the bar instead. “Um, all of it. I haven’t gotten pampered much. I’m usually the one pampering everyone around me.”
“Well, not today, Amber. You’re getting all the pampering done today.”
I can’t help but smile at his kindness. Part of me feels weird letting someone take care of me like this, but the other part of me loves that someone’s going through the work of doing it.
When he finishes the dishes, he walks me into the bathroom. To my surprise, I find the tub covered in rose petals and surrounded by candles.
“I was going to make it extra special and already have it filled. But I know how hot you like the water, and I knew it would be too cold by the time we got in here!” He laughs and turns on the faucet, letting the water pour into the ceramic tub.
“This is so sweet. It’s like everything I’ve ever dreamed about after watching a chick flick.” I giggle.
His pearly white smile appears, and I watch his lips as he tells me to enjoy my time in the bath. I want to suggest that I would enjoy it more if he climbs in with me. But I don’t want to ruin a good thing, so I thank him again as he pours me a glass of wine sitting on the counter.
“I’ll be out here if you need anything. But, take as long as you want.” He walks out, shutting the door behind him, and I happily climb in.
After over an hour soaking in the hot water, I appear in the living room. My skin is pruned and warm as I sit beside him on the couch. He smiles at me, shifting his focus off the TV.
“Feel relaxed?” he asks sweetly.
I nod, noticing a stack of papers on the table. “So relaxed! Are these my files?”
“Yeah. I know you needed to work on them. So, I thought maybe you could work on them out here with me, and I could rub your feet?”
“That sounds amazing!” I grab the stack of files from my LTD Company sales report and start combing through them as he grabs both of my feet, setting them on his lap.
