Page 97 of Shadows of You

He grunted.

“Back to your talkative self, I see,” I groused.

Roan flipped us again, sliding out of me, his hand lifting to my face. “Never felt anything like that, what we just had.”

My heart stutter-stepped, and I struggled to breathe. “Me either.”

I opened my mouth to say something else, but a car door slammed outside. My gaze flew to the clock, and my eyes widened in panic. “Cady.”

29

ROAN

I had never seensomeone move with the speed Aspen did. She flew off the bed, frantically searching for her discarded clothes. “Oh, my God. I’m going to mother jail. What if we hadn’t locked the door? She could’ve walked in.”

I couldn’t help it. I chuckled.

Aspen glared at me. “This isn’t funny. Would you get dressed?”

My lips twitched, but I sat up, trying to figure out where my clothes had gone. “No one’s going to break down the door.”

“Men,” she huffed, pulling on her sweats.

A knock sounded on the front door, and Aspen jerked upright. “Crap, crap,crap!” She whirled on me as she tugged on her sweatshirt. “You get dressed. I’m going to hold off Cady.”

I nodded, pressing my lips together to keep from laughing. Aspen was talking about Cady like she was a tiny dictator.

She charged out of the room, and I quickly got dressed and slipped into the bathroom to pull myself together. By the time I finished, I heard voices in the living room.

“Who were all those people, Mama? Mr. Caden made me play a disguise game, and I put his coat over my head when we drove in. He’s so silly.”

My gut twisted at her innocent words, but I was grateful my sister’s fiancé had thought quickly on his feet. The last thing we needed was a photo of Cady getting out to the media.

“Mr. Grizz!” Cady flew at me, and I hauled her into my arms.

“Hey, Tiny Dancer. Did you have fun with G and Caden?”

She nodded her head enthusiastically. “The mostest! We got to go to the stables at the resort and go riding. On aschool day.” She sighed. “I wish I could do that every day. And then Miss Grae took us to get cheeseburgers and milkshakes. I got strawberry, and it was the yummiest.”

“Sounds like a pretty epic day.” I glanced at Caden. “Thanks for your help.”

He nodded, studying me as if I were an alien. “Of course.” He paused for a moment. “Crowd outside is getting bigger.”

I set Cady down. “Hey, can you get your new board game set up in your room? Then you, me, and your mom can play.”

She grinned up at me. “Totes.” Then she took off down the hall.

“Totes?” I asked.

Aspen shook her head. “Drew is teaching her all sorts of lingo.”

Caden snorted. “Might want to be careful there.”

She winced. “Hopefully, he’s mindful of little ears.”

Caden shifted, glancing from Aspen to me and back again. Aspen’s cheeks heated, and she twiddled her fingers. He cleared his throat. “If you guys need a more secure place to stay, you’re welcome to take one of the cabins at The Peaks. We have tight security, and no press is allowed onsite without explicit permission.”

“Thank you, Caden,” Aspen said softly. “I really appreciate that. But we’ve got the animals, and Cady has her routine. I want to try to keep things as normal as possible.”

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