Page 24 of Before and After

“Yep. Yes. I’m fine. Really fine.”

Caden stopped in front of us, giving me an up-close view of his slick chest. I almost whimpered. I’d guessed he was fit, but had no idea he was hiding all of this under his suits.

He took the earbuds out. “Hey, Allie.”

“Hi, Broody.”

His lips quirked. “I have a real name.”

“But Broody suits you better. You run?”

“Yes.”

My gaze started to drift lower before I jerked it back up. “A lot.”

“Yes.” His gaze dropped to Ollie.

Get your brain cells functioning, Allie. “Um, Caden, this is my nephew, Oliver, Ollie, the Ol-ster.”

“Al-lie,” Ollie complained.

“He usually just goes by Ollie. Ollie, this is Caden. He works at the Langston Windward.”

Caden crouched and held out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Ollie gingerly took his hand and shook. “You work with Aunt Allie?”

“I do.”

My nephew cocked his head. “In housekeeping?”

Caden rose, a tiny smile on his rugged face. “No, in security.”

Ollie’s eyes went wide. “Security. Cool. So you stop bad guys in the hotel?”

“Sometimes. My job is to keep everyone safe. The guests—” his gaze hit mine “—and the staff. Your aunt.”

Those words shouldn’t give me tingles.

“What are you two doing today?” Caden asked.

“We’re going to get ice cream. Wanna come?” Ollie looked up at Caden with hope in his gray eyes.

Hell, I knew he missed his dad. Here was a prime male specimen with a cool job. I was pretty sure that body didn’t consume much ice cream. I tried to imagine Caden holding an ice cream cone… Nope.

“Caden’s probably busy, Ollie, I?—”

“Ice cream sounds great. My treat.”

I blinked at him.What the hell?

Ollie beamed.

I blinked again, my heart squeezing. I hadn’t seen him smile like that in a long time.

Then he did a little skip in the direction of the ice cream shop and motioned for Caden to follow. Caden froze for a second, then he fell into step with Ollie.

The pair walked ahead of me and for some reason, seeing him walking with my nephew was just as hot as seeing his bare chest and abs.