Page 15

“Babe, as long as I’m coming home to you, I’m lucky. I love you.” Cass gave Rebecca another kiss before tweaking her nose and walking away. She felt much lighter now that she and Rebecca were okay. A happy wife meant a creative mind for Cass Giles.

“I love you, too,” Rebecca replied softly, her smile slowly fading as Cassidy left. What the hell was her problem? Rebecca’s irritability had been running rampant lately, and she was having trouble reining it. That fucking consultation was messing with her head, and Rebecca was sick of it. “Time to work on my mood swings.”

“Rebecca.”

Rebecca opened one eye, annoyed at being interrupted during her meditation.

“Hello?” She listened for a few seconds, not hearing anything. “It’s all in your head, Rebecca,” she told herself. Closing her eyes again, Rebecca took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. Ellie said that humming was one of the best ways to calm her nerves fast and effectively. Though it made her feel silly, Rebecca did it.

“Rebecca.”

“Ugh!” Rebecca clenched her hands into fists. This was not helping her relax. “Cassidy? Are you home?” She checked her watch. Cassidy had only left thirty minutes ago. Had she forgotten something and come home? Again, Rebecca listened for an answer and got none. She reached over and picked up her phone, turning off the melodic meditation music to make a call.

“Hey, babe! Miss me already?”

“Cassidy, are you here?”

“Huh? Becca, you just called me.” Cass glanced down at her phone. Yep, she called me. “Are you okay?”

Rebecca frowned. “Yeah, I-I’m fine. I just thought I heard you….”

“I wish it was me. I’m stuck on the 405.”

Rebecca untangled her legs from her lotus position and got up. Grabbing one of the bats she kept near every door, Rebecca stealthily made her way upstairs.

“Becca?”

Rebecca jumped at Cassidy’s voice in her ear. “Yeah, babe, I’m here. Sorry to bother you. I’m downstairs meditating, and it’s quiet, so I’m probably just hearing all the noises we tend to ignore all the time.” She opted not to tell Cassidy about hearing her name. There was no need to alarm Cassidy while she was driving.

Cass, of course, was contemplating where to turn around and go home. Rebecca’s meeting last week hadn’t only affected Rebecca. Cass was also on edge. She had promised Rebecca to let it go unless the prick did something, but Cass certainly didn’t want to wait until Rebecca was in danger before taking action.

“I’m going to turn around, babe.”

“No, Cassidy. I checked the doors and windows. Everything is secure. Seriously, I think it was just too quiet in the house, and I’m not used to that. You know I need some kind of noise, even when I’m sleeping. This is probably why.”

“You hear ghosts,” Cass said softly. Those ghosts — one in particular — would always be with Rebecca. Cass would endure white noise at night to keep those ghosts away.

“I guess so.” Rebecca shook off the chill that ran through her body. “Okay, baby, get off the phone so you can pay attention to driving.”

“You mean sitting in this traffic? I would call it a parking lot, but cars move much faster in a parking lot.”

Rebecca chuckled. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Will do, buckaroo! Call me if you need some noise to keep you company.”

“What kind of noise will you provide?” Rebecca asked mischievously, then nearly dropped the phone when Cassidy let out a sexy moan. “Cassidy!”

“What?” Cass answered innocently. “You wanted to know!” She grinned to herself, knowing Mistress would file that one away for punishment later.

“Goodbye, Cassidy.” Though her voice held authority, Rebecca was grinning from ear to ear. Leave it to Cassidy to cheer her up and take her mind off whatever was bothering her.

“Honey, I’m home!” Cass snickered at herself as she tossed her keys on the side table. She picked up her mail and sifted through it as she made her way toward the smell of food in the kitchen. Cass sniffed the air, frowning a bit when she smelled something burning. “Babe?”

Cass jogged to the oven and shut it off before grabbing a towel and fanning the smoke that poured out when she opened the oven door. She slipped on an oven mitt and pulled what looked like lasagna out, setting it on top of the stove.

“Becca?” Cass called out. She ran to the living room, then to Rebecca’s office. There was no sign of her wife in either room. Cass took the stairs two at a time, slamming into their bedroom. “Rebecca?”

Cass was shaking with fear after looking in the bathroom, playroom, and Cass’s studio without finding Rebecca. She pulled out her phone and dialed Grayson as she bound down the stairs to their home gym, promptly forgetting about pressing send when she saw Rebecca there in the middle of the room, lying on her yoga mat.