Safe with Me (With Me in Seattle, #5)(9)

“Good morning, baby girl. Did you sleep well?”

“Yep!”

“Caleb made gross eggs,” Maddie informs me and hugs me tight.

“He did?” I ask with a laugh and glance up at Caleb. “What kind of eggs were they?”

“Gross,” Maddie shrugs and turns back to her food.

“Poached,” Caleb informs me with a grin. “Not a big hit.”

“Ah,” I nod. “We’re more the scrambled eggs type around here.”

“So noted.” He sets the girls dirty plates in the dishwasher and pulls a coffee mug down for me. “Coffee?”

“Yes, thanks, I’ll get it.”

“I can make you some eggs.”

“I’m good.” I shake my head and pour my coffee.

“Caleb, do you…” Maddie begins but I cut her off.

“Enough with the questions for this morning. Go upstairs and brush your teeth and get ready to go. The bus will be here in ten minutes.”

“Mom, don’t forget, today is dance class,” Maddie reminds me.

“I know. Stacy is picking you girls up from school and taking you.”

“Is this a once a week thing?” Caleb asks quietly.

“Yeah, Stace always picks them up and takes them. Sophie is in the same dance class.”

He nods and scoops eggs, bacon and pancakes onto a plate and digs in. His jean-clad hips are leaning against the countertop and his bare feet are crossed. I watch in fascination as the muscles of his arms flex as he raises and lowers the fork to his mouth and feel my panties go wet and my nipples pucker.

Damn, he hasn’t even touched me and I’m ready to strip naked and jump him.

“Mom, we’re ready!” Josie calls and runs into the kitchen.

“Okay, good. I’ll walk you to the bus.”

“I’ll walk you all to the bus,” Caleb informs me and sets his half-eaten plate aside.

“Eat your breakfast, Caleb. We’re fine.”


“I’ll walk you all to the bus,” he repeats, winks at me, and moves with easy grace into the living room to pull on a green jacket and his shoes.

Once we’re all bundled up, the girls pull their backpacks on and we walk up the long driveway to the road. Josie takes my hand in hers and Maddie reaches for Caleb. His handsome face looks surprised for a moment and then he smiles down at her as we walk.

Within minutes the bus pulls up and the girls climb aboard along with a few other neighborhood kids.

Caleb and I stand and wait for the bus to pull away before walking back to the house. As we start the walk down the drive, I shove my hands in my pockets, fighting off the chill in the air, and glance over at him. He’s on high alert, his eyes scanning the house, the trees, the bushes.

“What are you looking for?” I ask and follow his gaze.

“Anything that doesn’t seem to fit.”

Everything looks normal to me.

“Aren’t you guys being a little over cautious?” I ask and am met with an icy blue stare.

“No.”

“Okay.” I shrug and lead him back into the house. “Well, you survived your first Spanish Inquisition.”

Caleb laughs and pulls his jacket off, hangs it on the tree by the door, and takes mine to do the same.

“They’re really sweet girls, Bryn.”

“Thank you,” I nod. “But they ask a lot of questions.”

“Yes, they do.” Caleb shakes his head and laughs. “I almost think I’d rather be interrogated by the enemy. At least then all I have to give them is my name, rank and social security number.”

“Don’t say that,” I mutter and hug him around the middle tightly, surprising him.

“Hey, what’s this?”

“That’s just not funny,” I whisper and then back away, embarrassed. “I worried about you a lot.”

“Why?” he asks with raised brows.

I roll my eyes at him and sigh deeply. “Oh, I don’t know, Caleb. Maybe because you were constantly going God-knows-where, doing God-knows-what, and I knew it was dangerous, and I was on pins and needles until you came back home safely.”

He flounders for a moment, and I realize I’ve just shocked the shit out of him.

Does he really not understand how much I care for him?

“Don’t worry about it,” I shake my head and turn away, walking briskly into the kitchen. “I’m happy you’re safe. Just don’t make jokes like that.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I hear him whisper behind me, making me grin as I load the rest of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, put a tab of soap into the round compartment and start it.

“What do you have going on today?” He asks gruffly.

“I have errands to run this morning, then I don’t have anything until the kids get home around six. I’ll start dinner around five.”

“Okay, well let’s get ready to head out then. After your errands, we have someplace to go.”

“Where?”

His face is still sober as he watches me. Something has changed in his eyes, in his posture. He looks… confused.

“You’ll see,” he mutters and turns to leave the room.

***