Page 39 of It's Going to Be a Chrome Christmas
He didn’t watch to see Mr. Wynn drive off. He rushed to the employee door and punched in his code. She was waiting for him on the other side. Cayden’s shoulders slumped the moment he saw her red eyes. Despite their phone sex, he’d had a feeling she had cried herself to sleep.
He took her into his arms, letting the door close behind him. She clung to him, fisting the back of his shirt. Cayden picked her up and walked them upstairs to her office. He sat them down in her office chair, cradling her close.
They stayed there in silence for nearly ten minutes. He was wondering if she’d fallen back to sleep when she took his right hand between her two on her lap.
He wasn’t sure how she’d take it, but he needed to say it. “So, apparently marriage is a sore subject with you.”
Her dry giggle lifted the boulder that had been sitting on his chest since Sunday evening. “I’m sorry.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead. “You keep saying that, but you haven’t told me why.”
She let out a long sigh. “Let’s just say that my family hasn’t had a good history with marriage.”
“Vague,” he responded. Cayden really was going to need more than that. He planned to pry the entire family history from her this weekend. They didn’t have enough time. “You thought I went upstairs to get a ring?”
She nodded against his chest. “I’m a total bitch. I’m so sorry for giving you the silent treatment. You deserved better than that.”
“I’m not happy about it, but please don’t call yourself that. You are the least bitchy person I know.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t act like one.”
“Look at me.” He waited for her to lift her chocolate eyes. “You and me, we got a lot of baggage to work through, but Imeanto work through it. With you. Trix, you’re it for me.” Her breath hitched. “I am not proposing so stop looking at me like that.” She relaxed slightly. “I just mean that I’m in this for the long haul. But,” he added, tipping her head up further, “I need to know that you are too. I need to know that the next timesomething scares you that you aren’t going to run from me. You need totalkto me. Otherwise, we’re doomed before we start.”
She nodded, though she’d dropped her eyes again. “I know. I messed up.”
Cayden rested his cheek against the top of her head. “Just a bit.” He took a deep breath before admitting, “But I did too. You went silent on me, and I panicked. It’s not easy for me to be forced to a schedule and curfew like I’m some fucking child. You wouldn’t talk to me, and I didn’t know if it was something I did or if something had happened to you and I just… Well, I’m sorry for all the phone calls and texts.”
Her giggle was a symphony to his ears. “So what you’re saying is we’re both not perfect?”
He snorted. “You’re the closest thing to it in my book.”
“Um, can I ask…” She paused. “If you weren’t going upstairs to get a ring, why did you go up?”
He raised an eyebrow though she couldn’t see it. “I don’t think that’s how this works. You mess up and you still expect a gift?”
Trixie slapped his chest lightly. “I’m just curious.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I think you owe me a present.”
“How about a pink slip?”
He gasped. “Ouch. I take back that not-a-bitch comment.”
She grinned. “Really? You’re not going to show me?”
Cayden shook his head. “Nope. Once you’re back in my good graces,maybeI’ll give you your present.”
Trixie shifted on his lap, straddling his hips. “I knowexactlyhow to get back into your good graces.”
The office chair wasn’t big enough for them to comfortably do this, so Cayden picked her up and plopped her bottom on her desk. He kept his hips between her legs and hovered over her. “Are you saying I’m easy?”
She nodded mischievously. “Soeasy.”
He met her smile with one of his. “You know this will be a first for me.”
Confusion crossed her face. “What will?”
He unzipped his jeans. “Make-up sex.”
