CADEN

She pauses, gauging where to go where we’ll be able to hear one another. I drop my gaze and watch her hips sway as she decides that outside will be better.

My memory didn’t exaggerate. Myers is exactly as I remember. So damn together, she exudes power without trying and despite how much she’s chewing her lips and glancing back to me. People are making way for her like she’s got the Secret Service asking them to move.

We walk about ten feet from Sweetwater’s entrance, patio tables packed with people under umbrellas and heat lamps that warm the air near us, too. Every breeze brings heat.

Turning to face me, Myers blinks a few times.

“So, what’s up? You just fly up for a visit? This something you do often?” I demand, tone harsher than I meant it to be.

“No, I…” A frown drops to the sidewalk. “Gwen invited me. I had a couple days off, so I accepted.”

“Huh.”

We lock eyes. “You like the hospital? Nice staff?”

“Yeah, they’re good people. Everyone seems friendly. A lot of talent here.”

We stare at each other. She nods, tucking hair behind her ear as she looks at the sidewalk again. “I can see you’re making friends. That’s nice.”

“You mean Arya. I can read between the lines.”

“Is that her name?”

“Yes.”

“Pretty.”

“She’s very pretty. And I could give a shit.”

Elizabeth’s eyes dart up, licking her lips. “You’re not here together?”

“As friends, yeah. We came as a group. First time I’ve joined them.” Glancing back to the glass I can’t see anything but a reflection of the patio. “They’re probably eating my fries.” Staring at her mouth I grumble, “Okay, enough with the small talk.” Locking eyes with her, I demand, “What the fuck are you doing here? For real. That you’d just show up in Chicago after—”

“—After you don’t answer my texts?”

“After what happened between us. I almost replied to those, by the way, hundreds of times, but I was so pissed I didn’t know what to say to you!”

“I can understand that,” she sighs, so beautiful it’s killing me. “I’m sorry, Caden. This was my fault.”

“Obviously! Why did you send me away? Were you really that invested in this?” I motion between our hearts. “Did this scare you that much? Because if you’re showing up now, missing me and wanting to make something happen, I don’t think I can! I need a woman who’s a little braver than that!”

Myers blinks, head tilted with confusion. “Braver? What does courage have to do with this? I didn’t send you away. Oberhan did!”

“You chose Janet over me. You made that decision! He was looking to you for who to keep on, everyone knew you were the deciding factor. I risked it all by crossing the line with you doing what we did, because I knew if it went south you’d have me tossed on my ass! But I went for it anyway!”

Stepping closer she asks, “Why?”

“Why would you toss me on my ass? I don’t know! You did it. Answer your own question!”

“No.” She touches my chest. I glance down to her fingers as shocks dive from them into me. “Why would you risk everything?”

Panting, I stare at her. “Because I was drawn to you. I like you.” Pacing further away from the door, I rub my face as her clicking heels follow. Under my breath, I say in disbelief, “You sent me away, made me lose my family, and now here I am confessing this? What the fuck is wrong with me? Am I losing my mind?”

“Caden!” She rushes in front, searching my face as she touches my cheek. “I like you, too.”

I rasp, “Then why?”

“I’m trying to understand. Please help me. Do you think I went into his office and directly asked Oberhan to send you here?”

“Yes!”

She softens, shoulders melting with regret. “No! He made that decision before I got there. It was based on my reports of everyone’s performance. He chose Janet because I’d written that she never cracked.”

“I didn’t crack!”

Elizabeth smiles, “Your temper, Caden.” As my eyes drop, she hurries to add, “I told Chief that your emotions were your strength! That I wanted you to stay because you have empathy where she does not. He wouldn’t listen to me.”

I blink at her. “You asked him to keep me?”

“Yes! I argued with him!”

“Was that before you told me?”

“Of course! It was right when I found out. I told him he was making a mistake, that we need someone like you on staff. I could only go so far without revealing more, because if I did, he never would have listened to me, thinking I wanted you to stay because of our affair.” She searches me. “No wonder you didn’t answer my texts. You thought I went in there and asked him to transfer you? I would never have done that. I haven’t even asked him to get rid of Dr. Gilroy and I’m so angry it’s hard to look at her!”

“You lost me. Why are you angry at her?”

Elizabeth takes a deep breath, raking her hair back as she starts to explain what she found about Janet. At the end of her story, she sighs, “And here I just thought you were competitive!”

On an ironic laugh I shove my hands in my pockets to admit, “I am.”

Elizabeth insists, “She knew that. She fed into it on purpose. Kept you scrambling so that you couldn’t maintain your equilibrium, Caden! Here I thought…remember when I found out Dev hadn’t invited her to that baseball thing? I thought she was being bullied!”

“She wanted you to think it.”

“And it was the other way around. She’s a cunning girl. But Janet knows I’m not fooled anymore. I told her what I thought of her.”

Curious for several reasons, I step closer. “What’d you say?”

Elizabeth notices the diminished distance between us, and her gaze flicks to my lips. “That you don’t have to hurt people to get ahead.”

“And?”

Her voice is breathy. “Be a more valuable member of the team and you’ll never have to worry about your job.”

“Did you come here to see me?”

Lips parted, she says nothing.

“You nervous?”

She nods.

“I liked it better when you were ordering me around.”

Her breath hitches. “Then fucking kiss me sometime this century, would you?!”

I pull her warm, sweet-smelling body against mine. “God, it’s so good to see you!”

Her arms slip around my neck as she ventures a smile, the weight of everything in her eyes as we stare at each other, lips poised. I close the distance and feel her soft mouth yield under my rough and hungry kisses. My zipper is shrinking—her soft moans making it unbearably tight.

I’ve been hanging by a thread, work and calls to family the only thing that kept me going. Even the trip home for Christmas didn’t fill the void Elizabeth left. I tried to ignore how much I want her in my life, and now I don’t have to.

Pulling her head back I deepen the kiss and grab her thigh, forgetting where I am.

Applause breaks out, and we look over to a patio of strangers, all college kids, many standing up to clap and holler.

Under the racket I thickly ask her, “Where are you staying? With your friend?”

Her eyelashes are heavy as she answers, “Hotel.”

I take Elizabeth’s hand and walk her to the door, holding it open and calling to our audience. I jog my chin to the loudest among them. “That guy’s our manager! Pay him for tickets to our show.”

Laughter floats around the smiling faces as he holds his hands out to them. “Pay up! Plant it right here! They just taught you how fighting is done! You see that kiss? Ah, come on, it’s worth more than a two dollar bill!”