Page 104 of Before and After

God, I hoped the girl who’d OD’d was okay.

The front door opened, and I spun.

Caden appeared, wearing workout gear.Yum. I was so used to seeing him in suits, but looking at him in a tight, black compression shirt and black shorts made my mouth water.

“Hi.”

He quietly closed the door. “Good morning. How’s Ollie?”

My mouth went dry. His tone was cool and his face was all closed down.

“He’s still asleep, but he’s fine.” I dredged up a smile. “Thank God everything worked out okay. Is the girl who overdosed all right?”

Caden nodded. “I called the hospital this morning and she’s going to be fine. She got lucky.”

Silence fell.

“So you hit the gym this morning?” God, that was lame.

He lifted his chin. “With my buddy from the military, Gunnar.”

“The man who was with you last night.”

“That’s him.”

“With everything going on, I didn’t get a chance to meet him.” This all felt wrong. We were talking like two strangers having a polite conversation about the weather. He wasn’t coming to me, touching me. I wanted to close the distance, but I got the sense he wouldn’t welcome that. Instead, he was cold, and I felt like there was a wall between us.

“You’ll get the chance to meet him,” Caden said. “Gunnar is going to be the new head of security for the Langston Windward.”

My heart stopped. “You…found someone for the job.”

“Yes. Now I can get back to my work.”

And leave.

I felt nausea crawl up my throat. “Caden, I wanted to thank you for finding Ollie last night.”

“He was missing because of me. I lost him.

“No,” I gasped out.

“I let Moreland take him. You knew last night that it was my fault. I didn’t protect him.”

“God, no, Caden.” I took a step forward and reached my hand out.

He inched back.

It was the smallest move, but it cut me deep. I let my hand drop and felt the yawning gulf between us. “It wasn’t your fault. You were busy saving that girl’s life?—”

“It was a distraction that Moreland planned.” Caden straightened. “This just…put things into perspective. You and Ollie don’t need anyone. You’re a unit, a family. That isn’t for me.”

I felt small bits of my heart crumbling to pieces. I was losing him. He was standing right in front of me and I was losing him.

“We do need you. We want you.Iwant you.”

He shook his head.

“Caden…” My voice was a broken whisper.