Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kati

Exhaustion was supposed to ensure a person crashed when their head hit the pillow at night. Not toss and turn because a certain man's face kept popping into their head every time said person closed their eyes.

Yes, I'm talking about myself, and no, I'm not happy this morning.

After all the hell at the hospital yesterday, all I wanted was to fall into a blissful sleep as soon as I got into bed, but did that happen?

Hell no it didn't because a particular man decided he needed to sit outside my fucking house all night, so all I could think about was him.

Damn, Easton and his rugged good looks.

Since there was no point staying in bed and wallowing, I threw the covers aside and went in search of my son. Most mornings I had to drag his ass out of bed, so it took me a full minute to grasp what I was seeing.

Or better yet, not seeing. Lucien's bed was not only empty, but someone had made it. I wasn't saying that my son didn't know how to make his bed or anything, but usually that was a morning argument as we were running out the door.

"Lucien?" I didn't bother to hide the concern. Sure, we had a fancy new security system and the chances of someone sneaking in to kidnap my large teenager was slim to none, but none of that meant shit when I didn't know where Lucien was.

"In the kitchen, Mom!"

A sigh of relief fell from my lips. Then what he said sunk in. How long did I spend in bed, and how late was my son going to be because of it? I slid down the hardwood hallway in my fuzzy slippers and nearly fell on my ass when I got a good look at my kitchen.

Well, who was in my kitchen was more like it.

"Ummm . . ." This was twice now Easton was seeing me in less than stellar conditions. At least this time I had on shorts. Even if they were tiny, only barely covered my ass, and were currently hidden under my oversized shirt.

But. I. Was. Wearing. Some. This. Time.

"Good morning, Mom. I figured since Easton had to sit outside all night, the least we could do was offer him coffee."

I should be proud. Really as a mother, I should be proud that my son was a decent human being and thought about another person's needs especially when that person had spent the night protecting us. And deep down I was.

"That was nice of you." I plastered a fake smile on my face because really, what else could I do?

Easton was sitting at the island with a cup of steaming coffee in front of him, wearing the same clothes from the hospital last night. Yet, somehow he looked just as sexy now as he had when he stormed into my hospital room. It wasn't fair. I was the one who got to sleep in a bed, but if anyone had to guess, they would assume I was the one who spent the night in a car.

"I was just heading out." Easton drained his cup in one big gulp. "Hendrix is taking over for me but I'll be back later to go over the plan moving forward."

Guilt washed over me. With a sigh, I moved to the other side of the island. I might have felt bad, but I still needed that barrier between us. The attraction I had for this man was causing me to be abnormally rude and that wasn't something I wanted Lucien to see.

"Feel free to stay. I’m sorry, I was just thrown off-kilter when Lucien wasn't in his bed. Normally it's a fight to wake him up. With everything going on, I had a moment of panic."

The understanding on Easton's face only made me feel worse. This man had been nothing but nice and caring to me since the moment we met and here I was showing him every one of my horrible personalities in rapid succession. He probably thought I was the biggest bitch in the world.

"Hey!" Lucien sounded offended. "I'm fully capable of waking up when I want to."

I gave my son my full attention. "Oh really? I wouldn't know because you've never done it for me."

For Lyla? Sure. My best friend loved to brag that at least half of the mornings she watched Lucien, he would wake up without a fight. Me? Never. Not once. I used to think how great it was that he slept so well as a baby. Now as a teenager, it was a pain in the ass.

"Maybe I just like having you wake me up in the morning," he replied sheepishly.

I huffed. That smile of his was going to be the death of me. It was too charming for his own good.

"Did you eat breakfast or was coffee as far as you made it?"

Yes, my son had his own cup of coffee sitting in front of him. No, I wasn't proud of my parenting choices but there were some battles I would never win. Considering it took me two cups in the morning to be a functioning adult, I would be a hypocrite if I scolded Lucien.

I did try though. For months we fought every morning about it. Until I realized that he was more like me than I wanted to admit, so we compromised. He could have one cup in the morning but only under my supervision and none of that fancy stuff. Not that we had a place in town besides the cafe inside the bookstore that sold anything fancy, and it would be a cold day in hell before my son stepped foot in that place. He was allergic to reading, and I doubted romance would ever be a genre he willingly picked up.

"We were discussing breakfast options when you yelled for me."

"And what did you decide?"

"That you're overdue for a trip to the grocery store."

I dropped my head to the marble countertop with a groan. The problem with having a son who acted exactly like you is that I should've known what he would say before it came out of his mouth. I walked straight into that one, but that didn't mean I wanted Easton to know that some days my parenting skills weren't exactly great.

I couldn't look at Easton when I responded with sarcasm. "Your honesty is refreshing. We can stop at Wickedly Delicious on the way to school and I'll go grocery shopping today. Text me anything specific you want. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to take my first cup of coffee with me while I grab a quick shower."

I grabbed my favorite mug and poured myself some coffee before saying goodbye to Easton. I thought I managed to slip away without any further damage to my ego when Easton hollering my name stopped me in my tracks. I was tempted to pretend like I hadn't heard him, but the fact that I had been rude already this morning made me stop.

Turning around with the cup up to my lips, I bought myself a few extra seconds to gather myself.

"I'm sorry, I had no intention of coming inside this morning, but when Lucien came out and asked, I didn't want to be rude."

I waved the apology off. "It's fine. Like I said, I was just thrown off and I'm not a functioning adult until I've had my coffee. My son was right, you deserved to come in for coffee after spending all night out in your car. You deserve breakfast too, but as Lucien so kindly reminded me, I'm overdue to go to the grocery store."

"I'd say that's to be expected after the way your last few days have gone."

Why did this man have to be so nice?

"You're too understanding," I blurted out and immediately wanted to slap myself in the forehead. This was what happened when I didn't have enough coffee in my system. The filter to my mouth might as well have not existed.

The smile Easton gave me made the butterflies in my stomach take up flight. I couldn't even blame it on the lack of caffeine because past experience proved his smile did that to me on any given day.

"I've been told that before." Easton's gaze dropped to the floor. "I've also been told I'm too nice and I give good advice most of the time. Not sure I agree with that last one but I can't control what others think of me."

"So basically you're an all-around good guy and I've been nothing but a bitch to you."

Again, if the floor could open up and swallow me whole, that would be great. I've never been so embarrassed by how I've acted around a person in my life.

Easton's stare was intense when he answered. "I don't think you've been a bitch. I think our every interaction has been in less-than-ideal situations. But I'm hoping we can change that in the future."

Shock wasn't quite the right word for how I felt. Flabbergasted maybe covered it. I had to take another healthy gulp of my coffee because there was no way he meant what I thought he meant.

Of course, the universe decided I needed to choke on my normal life blood so hard that Easton was forced to step around me and pound on my back. I wasn't sure what it was about him that constantly had me on the defensive.

"I didn't mean to make you choke on your coffee,” he chuckled. “I was simply suggesting that things would get better for you, so when you saw me in town, it wouldn't be under stressful situations."

It was a good thing my face was already red from nearly dying because there was no hiding the embarrassment I felt. I knew he hadn't meant it the way my mind had interpreted it. This was what I got for trying to function on so little coffee.

"Yeah, of course. It would be great if things could go back to the way they were months ago." I cleared my throat. "I really should grab that shower so Lucien isn't late for school."

"Shit, I didn't even think about that when I stopped you. I could take him if that would be easier?"

There he went being the good guy again. I was destined to keep making a fool out of myself in front of this man at the rate we were going.

"I appreciate the offer but we're good. I'm accustomed to super-fast showers." There went the mental slap again. I needed to get away from this man pronto. With any luck, the next time we crossed paths, I would have at least half of my brain cells operating. I pointed my thumb back toward my room. "I better get going."

I didn't wait around to see what stupid thing my brain could come up with next. I hightailed it into my room and made good on my promise to take the fastest shower in the history of fast showers.

Barely ten minutes later, I was clean and dressed, with my teeth brushed and my hair was tossed into a messy bun. It was the best I could do with the time I had, and honestly, two of those things made me feel human again.

I didn't hide the relief when I walked back into the kitchen and found it empty except for my son. Thank goodness for small favors.

"You ready to go?"

"Yup." Lucien grabbed his backpack off the floor and was out the door before I could question his lack of questioning. My son wasn't the kind of person who just kept his mouth shut. I blamed Lyla. She was the only person he could've learned that from.

A different car sat in the same spot Easton had the night before. Only this one was a blacked-out Jeep with tint so dark you couldn't see if anyone was sitting inside. The only indication it belonged to Hendrix was when the window rolled down just far enough for the man himself to stick his tattooed arm out and give a quick wave. I would recognize those bracelets anywhere. Mostly because they surprised me just as much as the man who wore them.

I waved back before climbing into my own car. We didn't even make it out of the driveway before Lucien started in on me.

"Why were you so weirded out by Easton this morning? I thought you would want me to be nice to the guys protecting us."

"Of course I want you to be nice to them, and I wasn't weirded out."

It wasn't lost on me that my son knew I wasn't telling the full truth. The one downside of being an only child with only one parent meant we spent a lot of time together. If there was anyone who could read me, it was Lucien, and the look he gave me said it all.

"Okay, maybe I was weirded out, but I'm not sure how to explain it."

"What is there to explain? You find him attractive."

I whipped my head in his direction. "That's not true." The lie stuck in my throat and came out as nothing more than a pathetic attempt at a protest.

"Sure you do. I just can't figure out why you're fighting it so hard. Pretty sure he feels the same way."

I thought about what Easton said just before he left. "I'm not so sure about that." Lucien wasn't supposed to hear my grumble, but par for my morning, he did.

"Oh, he definitely finds you attractive. He's just fighting it the same way you are. Again not sure why. Grown-ups make no sense."

Lucien was right about that. Grown-ups didn't make sense because we had a tendency to overthink things. And right now I was doing a whole lot of that when it came to Easton and the feelings I had for him.