Page 35 of The Live-In Temptation (Steele Brothers of Starlight Cove #2)

CHAPTER THIRTY

XANDER

This shift felt like it was never going to end.

I had things under control and was no longer fumbling my way through the days, but right now, I’d give anything for a night of full moon mayhem.

Hell, I’d even take another visit from the snack-raiding raccoon.

Something—anything—to keep my mind occupied because this quiet was driving me insane.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Emma and Chloe and the two of them at home without me when all I wanted was to be there .

With them. Watching Frozen a-fucking-gain and eating pizza for the twelfth time this month and staring in amusement as my two girls danced around the house to made-up, gibberish lyrics.

And just when the hell had that happened?

I had a little less than an hour left on my shift when a text from my mom came in.

Mom:

Emma’s staying with me tonight. Girls’ night with unicorn jammies, a movie, and popcorn. Chloe looked a little pale when she dropped off Emma.

I didn’t even finish reading before I texted Chloe.

Xander:

Everything okay at home, chaos?

It took an eternity for a response to come in. As soon as my phone buzzed with an incoming text, I snatched it off my desk.

Chloe:

Just my uterus being a complete asshole and doing its monthly death spiral.

Nothing some Midol and a little blanket burrito action won’t fix.

Should be human again by morning in time to grab Emma if you get called in.

Like that was why I asked. Like I was checking because I might need her on deck for Emma and not at all because my brain had been stuck on a constant Chloe loop all damn day—all damn month —and the thought of her hurting made my chest tight.

Xander:

You need anything?

Chloe:

Nah. I’ll survive. Don’t worry about me, Chief.

As if there was any realm of reality where that was possible.

Hell, I wasn’t so sure I hadn’t been worrying about her every fucking day since she’d stumbled out of that smoke-filled shed and blazed her way into my life.

The next hour felt like an eternity as I waited for my shift to end, all while knowing Chloe was at home, alone and miserable, and I couldn’t do anything about it. Since it was an exceptionally quiet day, I used my time to do some research and make a list of items to grab on the way home.

When my shift was finally over, I tore out of the station so fast, several people shot me double takes, but I didn’t care. They could draw their own conclusions about what I had going on. I needed to focus.

I hit the drugstore like I was prepping for a natural disaster—but from how Chloe sounded even over text, I was pretty sure that was exactly what I was doing.

Midol. Ginger and chamomile teas. Peppermint and lavender essential oils. Five different kinds of bath bombs. Epsom salt. Microwavable heating pad. Chocolate-covered almonds. Fuzzy socks with foxes on them. Anything I saw that I thought Chloe would remotely enjoy went in the basket.

Once I was done there, I picked up her favorite noodles and dumplings from The Lucky Chopstick and swung by the bakery to grab one cupcake. Instead, I bought one in each flavor because I wasn’t sure which she’d like best. Better to be overprepared than under.

By the time I got home, it was just after seven. The house was still and dark, with only the blue glow from the TV illuminating the space. Chloe was on the couch, wrapped up like a burrito, the hood of my sweatshirt pulled up over her head.

She glanced from me to the overstuffed bags I carried and raised a brow. “Did you rob a CVS?”

“Needed a few things.” I toed off my boots and headed toward her, my gaze assessing every inch I could see.

Even in the dim light, her skin looked pale, her normally sunshiny disposition AWOL, and that bright smile that felt like a sucker punch every time she aimed it at me was nowhere to be found.

I unloaded the items I’d purchased on the coffee table in front of her, her brows inching up with each item I pulled out of the bag.

“ You needed a few things, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh-huh.” She reached over and grabbed the package of Midol, giving it a shake. “You use these for your mantrums?”

“Sutton taught you that, didn’t she?”

“Please, I taught her that. And don’t avoid the question.”

“You mentioned it in your text, so I grabbed some.”

She hummed, her lips pursed to the side as she eyed everything else. “You hate tea.”

I shrugged. “It was on sale.”

“Right,” she said, skepticism heavy in her tone. “And you’re suddenly into essential oils now? And how many bath bombs does one person need?”

“Can never have too many.”

“And you just so happened to grab these chocolate-covered almonds?”

“Those are actually for me.” I grabbed the package out of her hand.

She stared at me, her mouth hanging open in shock. “Seriously? Those are my favorite…”

I opened the package before handing them back. Then I stood, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and murmured, “I know.”

“Oh, you’re good,” she mumbled as she grabbed a handful before tossing them into her mouth.

“Gonna change. Eat your noodles and dumplings before they get cold.”

“Noodles and dumplings?”

“Don’t forget the cupcakes.”

I didn’t know why her gasp made me feel ten feet tall, but I wasn’t going to question it. I was tired of questioning things when it came to Chloe.

After I changed, I headed back downstairs to find the couch empty and the door to the bathroom closed. While she was in there, I tossed the heating pad in the microwave and prepped her a cup of chamomile tea.

By the time she came out, the heating pad and tea were ready for her, along with her dinner, and I was sitting in her spot.

She froze as soon as she saw me. “What are you doing?”

I eyed her from head to toe, noticing the subtle hunch to her shoulders and how she couldn’t seem to keep her hand from her lower abdomen. Then I patted the spot between my legs. “C’mere.”

She narrowed her eyes at me, as if she couldn’t quite figure me out, then she grimaced, her face creasing in pain, and shuffled over.

With a sigh, she dropped into the space between my legs, and I wrapped the blanket around her.

Then I grabbed the heating pad and tucked it under her blanket, directly over her stomach, and settled my hand on top. Firm. Anchoring.

Slowly, her body melted into mine until her back was pressed flush against me, her head resting on my chest. “You’re being dangerous right now.”

“Noted.” With my other hand, I reached for the noodles and held them in front of her, the chopsticks poking out of the container. “Eat something.”

“Bossy,” she murmured but accepted the container.

She ate slowly at first, but once the first bite hit, her whole body sighed like it had been waiting for it all day, and I ignored the warmth that settled in my chest at being able to give her that.

I found her favorite reality TV show and let it play in the background. Chloe ate her dinner, gathering noodles on the chopsticks and passing some back to me every couple bites.

With her eyes on the screen, she said, “You couldn’t pay me enough money to go on national television and expose all my shit. All while hoping someone picks me.”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “Feels like emotional Russian roulette. But with a lot more crying into wineglasses.”

She huffed out a laugh and passed me another bite.

“The part that always gets me is how loud this is without actually saying anything. Sure, they choose the other person, but that’s out of obligation.

It’s expected. It’s the whole purpose of the show.

But I always wonder if there are any quiet moments where they choose each other too.

When no one’s around to see, no one around to perform for. ”

There was something in her tone that had me instantly on alert. Something soft and mournful…full of yearning.

“You probably think that’s ridiculous,” she said, her voice low. “It is ridiculous.”

“No.”

The firmness of my single word seemed to surprise her, if the look she shot me over her shoulder was any indication.

“No?”

Chloe didn’t share much about her life or what led her here…what led her everywhere. And if this was my chance to learn a bit more, I was going to take it.

“If you’re feeling it, it’s not ridiculous.”

She huffed out a surprised breath, her gaze darting over my face before she set the empty noodle carton on the coffee table and settled back against my chest again.

“I was the oops baby, you know? My brother—the middle kid—was in college to be an astrophysicist before I hit kindergarten. My sister got a PhD in, like, everything. They were exactly what my parents wanted. And then I came along, this…well, me …and upended their world.”

“You mean brightened. You brightened their world.”

Shaking her head, she blew out a humorless laugh. “That’s not what they’d call it. They had this full life that I didn’t fit into.” Her voice dropped, and she murmured, “They didn’t even try to fit me into it.”

“You were alone?” I asked, my voice sharper than I’d intended because she sure as hell didn’t deserve my anger. But her shitty family did.

“Not alone. I was included. But it was obligatory, you know? I was just rarely noticed the rest of the time.” She shrugged against me, her fingers tracing over my hand still palming her stomach.

“So I got really good at being me. Loud, quirky, and chaotic. Because if I couldn’t be important, I could at least be entertaining, right? ”

“You are important,” I said, my voice harsh. Harsher than she needed right now, but I couldn’t seem to stem it.

She went still for a moment, her entire body frozen. Then she glanced back with a teasing smile. “For sure…whatever would you do without the shoe orphanage?”

“Don’t,” I said firmly. “Don’t do that. Don’t discount what you are. You’re not just important to Emma.”

You’re important to me.

I didn’t say the words. I didn’t know why, just that they sat frozen on the tip of my tongue, and I swallowed them down before I could admit something I couldn’t take back.

Quiet settled around us then, and we sat like that through half another episode where Brantley and the woman he was on a date with were in a hot tub in the mountains, spilling all their childhood traumas.

“This is dangerously close to intimacy, you know,” she murmured.

I pressed a kiss to her temple and lowered my face until my lips brushed her ear. “Not quite, but the bath I’m going to run you just might be.”

“A bath, huh? Are you going to add one of those fancy bath bombs, or are we savages?”

“Bath bomb and some lavender oil. Maybe we can summon a demon while we’re at it.”

She tipped her head back to stare up at me, something soft and vulnerable in her gaze. “I’ve never had anyone do this for me before.”

That made my chest tighten with an uncomfortable emotion I couldn’t quite name. I hated the fact that she’d never had anyone look after her. Look out for her. And I wanted to do shit like this for her every day until the surprise in her voice was gone.

Until she began to expect it.