Page 79 of Caged

Three men delivered our sack lunches. After they left, Jaden grabbed them and brought them back. “I’ll test the chips for air leaks. If there aren’t any, I want you to eat.”

“What about you?” I asked.

“You first, you’ve taken the worst of it and need the calories more than I do.”

After a few seconds, the sound of the bag opening made my mouth fill with saliva.God, I’m hungry.

“Here, eat.” He trailed his hand down my arm to find my hand and pressed the bag into it. “Slowly.”

“Yes, sir.”

His chuckle filled the silence. Two heartbeats later, the crinkle of another bag opening joined my crunching.

“Do you like sour cream and onion?” he asked.

“I do, but if you want them, I don’t mind trading.” I held my bag out to him.

“Nope, we have the same kind.”

Our stomachs rumbled adding to the sound of the crinkling bags and crunching chips.

“The cookies are sealed, too.”

“Gimme,” I said before I could censor myself.

He chuckled. “Okay, just give me a sec to check for air leaks.”

I’d never wanted a cookie so much in my life, so of course it took forever.

“Here.”

I took a bite. “Oatmeal raisin. Yuck.” I kept chewing, spitting the raisins into my free hand. “Can you give me one of the bags?”

Jaden said he liked oatmeal raisin and offered to switch if his was different; it wasn’t.

The chips and cookies weren’t enough to please my empty stomach, but they took the edge off.

Now we wait. Eating was a calculated risk, but one worth taking. Our bodies needed the fuel to heal. Especially mine.

When Jaden came back from tossing the bags out of the cage, he sat beside me and said. “My turn.”

He asked me why I really left the FBI.Damn him.

Like he had done earlier, I took a moment to think about my answer.

I gave him the highlight reel. I’d dated a guy from a different Special Victims Unit team, Gavin. Things were great at first, and while we worked in the same office, we were on different teams so I didn’t feel like I was breaking the unwritten rules about datinga co-worker.

“When we applied for the same position, a promotion, he turned on me. Instead of earning it on his merits, he destroyed my reputation.”

Jaden’s growl echoed in the dark space.

“I thought I was falling in love with him, but he was only using me. He told everyone who’d listen that I offered to sleep my way to the top.”

His growl was longer and louder this time. It felt nice, him not only believing me, but taking my side, especially since it seemed like no one else had.Except Jones.In hindsight, I think that’s why he brought me to Weatherford last year.

“It wasn’t true-”

“Never doubted it.”

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