Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
But Seth looked like he was about to drop. And maybe he needed some space. To get out of the house.
He was becoming far too possessive of Cate.
“Yeah, get some sleep. I’ll go. I’ve had a few hours’ sleep already. I’ll tell Rhodes in the morning.”
“You know, when we started this job, I thought Cate might be an issue. But so far, she’s been a dream. Thanks, man.”
A dream, yeah.
His dream. For sure.
13
God.
She felt awful. Cate rolled over, her head thumping.
Buh-bump. Buh-bump.
With a moan, she opened her eyes and checked the time.
Nine-thirty!
She never slept until nine-thirty.
This was completely out of her routine. She should be up and working by now.
Wait. It was Sunday. She didn’t always work on a Sunday.
The panic eased slightly.
She still didn’t like sleeping in when she could be doing something productive.
That was such a waste of a morning.
Although this headache was probably going to take some time to get rid of. And she wouldn’t get much done if she tried to work through it.
Perhaps Ethan would like to read by the pool with you.
That thought made her groan. Cate didn’t know what it was about him that interested her so much. But she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
And then last night, she’d acted like a complete idiot and ran off on him when all he’d been trying to do was make her a nice dinner.
Her stomach grumbled at the memory.
When was the last time someone besides Mrs. Sanders had made her dinner? And it was lasagna.
Rhodes had to eat pretty clean, so their meals were usually very healthy. Don’t get her wrong, it was a good thing.
But once in a while, a girl just really needed some cheese and carbs.
Would there be any left in the fridge? Would it be rude to eat some today when she’d refused some last night? It wasn’t her usual bagel, but then, her entire morning was off.
Was Ethan already awake? He didn’t seem like the type of person to sleep in. He had a good work ethic, which she admired.
Eventually, she forced herself out of bed, glancing down at Lady in surprise as she fell onto the floor.
When had she brought Lady into her bed? She couldn’t remember.
Sitting on the side of the bed, she rubbed at her still-aching head. Shit. Did she have an episode last night?
But Rhodes hadn’t been here. Just her and Ethan. So hopefully not, as that would have been a disaster.
She couldn’t remember anything happening. Not that she ever really remembered one of her episodes. Rhodes had explained to her that sometimes she screamed out in terror from a nightmare and after, would regress quite young. She’d grab Lady and demand ice cream.
Which would be utterly humiliating if she’d done that in front of Ethan.
Getting up, she stumbled into the shower. Washing herself, she didn’t have the energy to do much with her hair. So she just ran a brush through it before dabbing some moisturizer on her face.
When she made her way out into the kitchen, she realized the house was pretty quiet. Was she alone?
Maybe.
It felt like she hadn’t been alone in ages. But it wasn’t like she needed Ethan or Seth to be with her all the time.
When she reached the kitchen, she saw that she wasn’t actually alone.
“Morning, Cate.” Seth was sitting at the island, drinking a coffee and looking at something on his phone.
“Why are you here?”
Jesus, Cate. Could you be any ruder?
He gave her an amused look.
She sighed. “I meant, good morning. I wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”
Seth studied her with interest. She hadn’t spent much time with the dark-haired man, but she got the impression that his easygoing appearance was an act.
But she was likely wrong.
“You don’t remember us coming home last night?” Seth asked.
Shit. What happened?
“Rhodes came back last night?” she asked.
Surely she hadn’t slid into Little headspace.
Please. Please.
But she might have had a bad dream.
“Uh, yeah. I think Ethan was worried about you, but he didn’t say why.” Seth eyed her curiously. “He talked to Rhodes, and then your brother decided to come home.”
Oh no.
“Rhodes has gone to breakfast with Samantha. Ethan accompanied them.”
Why had Ethan gone with them and not Seth? Was it because he wanted to get away from her? Because she’d done something idiotic last night?
“Right. I’ll talk to Rhodes when he gets home.”
“Can I get you any breakfast?” Seth asked.
“Oh no. I can do it.” She slid a bagel into the toaster and drew out some cream cheese and jam.
No lasagna for her. She needed familiar things. She felt so out-of-sorts. Having Seth here instead of Ethan was enough to make her feel off-balance.
After pouring herself a coffee, she stood awkwardly in the kitchen. She usually ate at the kitchen island.
But Seth was sitting there.
In her seat.
You can sit in another seat.