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The smile that lit up her whole face was worth every single Cherry Coke in the world. In fact, if he could bottle them up and give them all to her right now, he would. He hadn’t missed how much she liked it the other day at lunch, and he planned to have them in his fridge for her from now on.
“How’d you know?” She beamed.
He kissed her mouth, deeply, slowly and sweetly. “I pay attention, Hales. Go wash up and I’ll meet you on the couch.”
She placed a soft peck on his cheek and then disappeared into the guest bathroom, closing the door behind her. He went into his bedroom, kicked his shoes off into the closet, stripped out of his suit in favor of jeans and a nice t-shirt, washed his hands and face in his ensuite bathroom, then hurried into the kitchen to get the Cherry Coke out of the fridge along with a couple of glasses from the cabinet.
When Hallie came into the living room, she’d pulled her hair up into a messy bun. He imagined that’s what she would do when she came home after a long day at her store, and he loved that she felt comfortable enough around him to be herself.
She placed her purse onto his recliner and joined him on the couch. When she sat down, she suddenly looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I should’ve taken my shoes off.” She went to stand but Caden caught her arm.
“No,” he said. “I mean if you want to kick those puppies off, by all means. I’ll even give you a foot massage. But you definitely don’t need to treat my place like a shoe free zone.”
“Are you sure?” She asked.
“About the foot massage? Absolutely.”
She giggled and it was quickly becoming his new favorite sound. Which made what he needed to talk to her about that much harder. But it had to be said, because he was never going to keep anything from her again. Especially when it involved her.
She kicked off her shoes and folded her legs under herself. They each took a slice of pizza and a napkin, and Caden poured them each a glass of the Cherry Coke. “So, there’s something I want to talk to you about and then we can go on with our night.” Hallie tensed, but he didn’t want to draw it out so he just continued. “My boss is adamant about me finding an explanation as to how you knew about Blake’s shooting, so I may have implied that you’re back under my surveillance.”
Hallie stared at him with big eyes. He worried she would run right out of his place and never want to speak to him again like she had after Orly and Luke’s party. “You lied to your boss?” Her words came out softly. “You could get in serious trouble for that if he finds out you’re not actually digging for info when spending time with me.”
Caden frozefor a moment. She was worried about him? Fuck, he loved her. “Hallie, if I told him the truth, I’d be in even more trouble because you’re still considered a person of interest, and for obvious reasons that means you and I can’t or shouldn’t -“
“I should go,” she said abruptly and stood upbefore Caden could stop her.
“No,” he said. “Please, just hear me out. As long as he thinks I’m spending time with you for valid reasons, I won’t get in trouble. In fact, it buys us a little time.”
“Time for what?” She asked, her voice going up half an octave. “Unless I tell him -”
“No. Out of the question. Neither you nor I are telling him jack shit. I don’t care if he believes it or not. I won’t risk him finding out and possibly exposing you. I promised you I’d figure this out and I will. I just wanted to tell you what happened today because I never want to keep anything like that from you ever again. You are the only one who needs to know why I’m here with you, and I don’t care what other people think. You and what you think, and what you know are all that matter to me. And absolutely nothing has changed for me. Okay?”
Hallie considered his words for a long moment. “I believe you. I just don’t like you risking your career for me like this.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I told you the other night. This badge asks for a lot. For everything. But the night I came back to you was the night I decided to draw a line. I won’t let it come between us again. And if I lose it then I’ll find another way to help people because I know it’s what I’m meant to do. But never at the price of losing you.” Hallie launched herself into Caden’s arms and he caught her, tightening his hold around her. “I don’t care what my boss or the rest of the world thinks. I just wanted you to know in case another agent says something to you or it somehow comes out.” Caden held her tight, needing this closeness with her more than he needed his next breath.
“Thanks for telling me. For trusting me. For risking it all for me. I don’t even know what to say.” She was plastered against him, her face pressed up against his chest.
Caden kissed the top of her head, letting the loose strands of her hair tickle his nose. “There’s nothing to say. I made my choice and nothing in this world will ever make me regret it. I’m with you, Hales. All the way. And that’s all there is to it.” He was looking her in the eye now, needing to make sure she understood.
When she nodded, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Now, let’s eat before the pizza gets cold.”
***
There was so much love in his gaze, so much desire and compassion, Hallie almost didn’t even know what to do with it. Never had a man looked at her with so much emotion she could feel it all the way down to her toes.
She placed a gentle kiss on his lips, grazing her tongue along the seam of his mouth until he opened. The moment she slipped her tongue into his mouth, he took control of the kiss, turning his head for a better angle. It was passionate and sweet, and everything she wanted from him at that moment.
They were nearly breathless by the time they pulled apart, and as if drawn together like magnets, their eyes locked on each other, hooded and filled with lust. “Now, I’m ready for pizza.”
Caden kissed the tip of her nose and they sat back down on the couch. Over the next two hours, they each enjoyed two slices of pizza and two glasses of Cherry Coke while watching a comedy. They laughed until their sides ached at the crazy antics and funny action scenes.
When the movie was over, Caden reached for the remote and Hallie stood to stretch. It wasn’t that late yet, but they both had an early day tomorrow and Hallie wasn’t sure about sleeping arrangements.
She walked around the room, stopping at a bookshelf in the corner. There were a few biographies, some horror fiction novels, and several books on social justice. Her gaze drifted to the top shelf where she spotted a photo partially folded over in an old metal frame. There were two young men in it. One of them was Caden, and the other one had to be his brother because they looked so much alike. She reached for the photo to get a better look and immediately saw an arm over Caden’s shoulder, but the person it belonged to was on the other side of the fold.
“That’s Ethan and me,” Caden said, coming up behind her. “Our mom took that picture about a year before he was killed.”
