I don’t really know what to make of that so I slide out of the bed, reluctantly, and start to make it, pulling on the sheets and fluffing the pillows.
“Don’t worry about that, the housekeeper will be by later and she’ll just re-do it, trust me.”
“You have a housekeeper?” I ask, then realize how stupid my question sounds. Duh, it looks like he has more money than God, of course he has a housekeeper.
“Yes.”
“How often does she come?”
“I have her on retainer, she knows what I like and she comes as often as she needs to keep it that way,” he says while disappearing into his walk-in closet.
“But I didn’t see her the other the day when I was here,” I call out to him.
“Like I said, she knows what I like.”
He emerges from the closet, dressed in a black hoodie and chocolate brown pants, pulling a suit coat over his arms.
“Are you off to work now?” I ask.
“Yes. Are you going to be okay here with Gabriel? The nurse should be by in about half an hour and she’ll be here with him until tonight.”
“I’m going to go absolutely stir crazy. There’s nothing to do here,” I complain, screwing my face up at the thought of spending another day at Kaine’s apartment… without Kaine.
“You could work out. You’re welcome to use my gym downstairs.”
“Ahem, are you saying I need to work out?”
I glare at him, and he just shakes his head and gives me a look that starts at the top of my head and slides down my body inch by inch. I feel naked under the scrutiny and my face blares hot. Suddenly, I wish I was hidden under the bed sheets again.
“I want to go to work, Kaine.”
“Jade.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good ide-…”
“I’m not asking you, I meant to say, I’m going to work, Kaine”
I stare him down, and only look away when I think I’m going to drown in the crystal clear blue depth of his eyes. What is going on with me? Why can’t I shake these growing feelings I have for him?
“Fine. Be ready in 15 minutes. And I mean it, I hate tardiness,” he says over his shoulder as he leaves the bedroom.
“Why do I have to be ready in 15 minutes?”
“Because I’m taking to you to work and making sure you get there safely. And no, that’s not up for discussion,” he instructs from the doorway.
“But…” I start, my instinct to rail against his bossiness kicking in.
“Don’t test me, Jade,” he says. And the tone in his voice doesn’t leave me any room for argument. “So, go. You have 14 and a half minutes now, no dawdling in the shower!”
I resolve to let him win this time, but only because I don’t really want to refuse a ride to work in a comfortable car.
And time only with him.
***
He spends the entire car ride to work staring at his laptop.
I spend it staring at him.
If he knows, he doesn’t show it.
He’s still wearing the damn hoodie, but, and it could be I’m just imagining things, it’s not as tightly tied around his face. He’s pulled it over his head but hasn’t knotted the drawstrings, and I wonder how I could not have noticed the scar before. It’s not obvious at a quick glance but on closer observation, the crinkled rivulets of skin that start at his left temple are just visible even behind the shadow of his shield.
Maybe I hadn’t looked hard enough, or maybe he’d just done that good of a job hiding it. Or, maybe, it just hadn’t mattered at all what he looked like. Which is ironic, considering his chiselled cheekbones, the strong, angled jaw, and those eyes that change with his mood, he is one of the most compellingly handsome men I’d ever seen. Or, as I am thinking right now, looking at him in his work suit while his face is focused on his task, his legs, strong and muscle-toned, stretched out in front of him, and the memory of his bare, naked ripped stomach, he is seriously, fucking hot.
But the scar, the scar is both an integral part of him, and yet something that doesn’t matter in the slightest.
Physique aside, everything else I see, everything I know of him so far, I like.
What’s not to like? He saved me, he saved my brother. Virtual strangers. Why? I don’t know. I just know that when I want to know more, I will want to know everything.
“Ahem. Jade. We’re here.”
My eyes come back into focus and I realize I’ve still been staring at him, except that now he’s staring back.
“Hmmm?” I stall, as I try to recall what he said.
He gestures with his head out the window, and I see we’ve arrived at work.
“Oh! Okay, well, thanks for the ride. I guess, um, I guess I’ll see you tonight. I can come with a cab and pick Gabriel up and take him back to my apartment. Hopefully he’ll be up and about.”
“Shush,” he just says and gets out. I don’t move, trying to figure out what’s going on. He comes around to my side and opens the door for me. “Well, are you coming?”
“Coming where?”
“To work. I’m walking you inside.”
“That’s not necessary.”
He doesn’t move, just pushes the door open wider and waits.
And there’s something about him that tell me to just obey.
I slide out of the car and he grabs me by the hand and pull me towards the entrance, pushing past anyone blocking our way until we’re inside.
“Where’s your office?”
“I’m inside now, I’m fine,” I argue out on habit.
“Where’s your office, Jade?”
“Ugh! You’re so annoying.”
“And I’m going to be annoying all the way to your office.”
My eyes narrow and I huff as I lead him through the labyrinth of shelves and aisles until we’re outside my joint office with Harriet.
“Okay, you can go now,” I tell him, hoping he’ll leave. Immediately. Before…
“Hello, who’s this?” Harriet’s voice pipes up behind me.
Before that. Her. Ms. Nosy.
“Hello,” Kaine says to her, eyes still on me.
“This is… Mr. Ashley, he was just leaving,” I introduce her, glaring at him for putting me in this position.
“Oh, Mystery man!” Harriet exclaims, and now it’s her I’m glaring at.
“What?” Kaine asks, his eyes widening.
“Nothing. You can go now,” I lift my hand up to shoo him away, and only then realize he’s still holding it. I pretend to adjust my dress as an excuse to extract my hand from his. There’s a soft giggle next to me, and I know this is probably the best morning Harriet has had in a long time.
“What time do you finish work?” he asks, showing no sign of leaving yet.
“Why?”
“To pick you up.”
I begin to shake my head, before I feel a gentle kick, and Harriet barges in.
“She’ll be done by 6 p. m.,” she informs him before I can tell him not to come.
“Ok. I’ll be here at 5:58.”
I frown at him, confused about why he’s going out of his way… again.
“Don’t leave until I get here,” he warns me, already showing how well he knows me.
“She won’t!” Harriet promises on my behalf.
I stomp into my office, annoyed about the plans made without my input, ignoring him when I see him try to catch my eye before he exits.
“Why did you do that?” I yell at Harriet when she follows me into the office.