Love in the Light (Hearts in Darkness, #2)(34)

Makenna rushed out of her bedroom, wearing a pair of jeans and a blue sweater and the most beautiful smile. “There you are,” she said, rushing right up to him. She flung her arms around his neck. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” he said, reveling in the press of her soft heat against all his cold hardness.

Loosening her hold, she pushed onto tiptoes and kissed him in a soft meeting of lips that quickly deepened to more. “Really missed you,” she whispered.

Caden managed a little chuckle as he slid his hand into all that gorgeous red hair. “I can tell.”

Makenna pulled back and gave him a smile. “Are you feeling better?”

He nodded, because what else was he going to do? And being with her did make him feel better, so it wasn’t really a lie. “What smells so good?”

“I made spaghetti sauce and meatballs. All I have to do is cook the noodles and dinner will be ready. You hungry?”

“I could eat,” he said. He’d kept down the small cup of corn chowder he’d eaten for lunch at the firehouse, so he was hopeful that his body would let him have this.

“Good,” she said, slipping away to the stove. She turned on the burner under a big pot. “Make yourself comfortable. Everything will be ready in less than fifteen.”

“Okay,” he said, heading for the bedroom. He changed out of his uniform into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and then he sagged down to sit on the edge of the bed. Exhaustion settled over him like a lead blanket. God, what was wrong with him?

You know what’s wrong, Grayson.

Yeah, he probably did. Goddamnit.

But for the next few hours, he was going to let all that go and just be with Makenna. If that was possible. He hauled himself off the bed and returned to the kitchen to help get dinner ready. Soon, they were seated at the table with mounding servings of spaghetti, sauce, and meatballs. Crusty, warm garlic bread filled a little basket, and Caden took a big piece for himself.

“This looks fantastic,” he said.

“Good. Eat up. There’s tons left,” she said.

They dug in and ate in silence for a while—which was really unusual for Makenna. She’d always been the one initiating conversation or keeping it going. The talkative yin to his quiet yang.

Looking at her, he asked, “How was your day?”

“Oh.” She looked up. Gave a little shrug and a nervous laugh. “The usual,” she said, waving her fork.

Since he was the king of nervous awkwardness, he recognized it when he saw it. “Is everything okay?”

She scoffed. “Yeah. Of course.” Her smile was just a watt too forced.

He arched an eyebrow and nailed her with a stare.

“Okay, fine,” she said, setting her fork down. “I have some things I’d like to talk about, but I was trying to wait until we were done eating.”

Caden didn’t love the sound of that. He set his fork down, too. “What do you want to talk about?”

She heaved a deep breath, like she was bolstering herself for what she had to say. A boulder parked itself in his gut. “So, I have an idea. We’ve pretty much been living together for the last two-plus months, right?” He nodded, wariness clawing over his skin. “And I’ve been wondering why you’re keeping your place because you’re always here—which I love, but it’s a waste of money, really. But when I was at your house the other night, it occurred to me that if we were going to think about fully moving in together, it would make more sense to move into your house since it’s bigger. And then I’d get rid of this place.” The words spilled out of her in a rush.

He stared at her for a long moment, his brain struggling to catch up, to process. “You want to move into the townhouse with me?”

“Well.” Makenna gave a shy little shrug, one that revealed just how much she wanted it. “I’ve just been thinking about it.”

Caden swallowed around a constriction in his throat. She wanted to move in together. Permanently. For a moment, it felt like maybe there wasn’t enough air, but he forced a couple of deep breaths. The idea wasn’t that big of a deal since they’d pretty much been living together. Right? Though, it took things to a whole other level. And it also took away his ability to retreat into his own space if he fell apart like he had this weekend. That realization sunk tension deep into his shoulders.

“Makes sense, I guess,” he managed. “Let’s think about it and decide what’s best.”

She twisted her lips. “Okay,” she said. “It just doesn’t seem to make as much sense to keep a smaller place when you have such a nice house right by where you work.”

He braced his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. And tried to ignore the pool of anxiety threatening to bubble up inside him. “Although it’s further away from yours.”

“True, but I don’t mind,” she said, her hands fidgeting on the table top.

“Well, like I said, let’s think about it. Your place is a lot homier than mine.”

Makenna smiled and waved a hand. “That’s just because you haven’t decorated much. But once we moved some of my furniture in and maybe did some painting and hung some pictures, your place would be homey, too. Your townhouse is great, Caden.”

Tightness parked itself in the center of his chest. Why was she pushing on this right now? And why did it make him feel like the walls were closing in on him? “Okay,” he said, picking up his plate and getting up from the table. “Dinner was great, by the way. Thank you.” He walked into the kitchen, needing space so he didn’t flip out when his stress really had nothing to do with her or her idea. He was just in a bad f*cking place to be thinking about permanence, which made him feel like an *.