Large garbage bags and antiseptic wipes made cleaning the living room and kitchen much faster. When it was time to look at the bathrooms and bedroom, I braced myself, but they weren’t as bad as I expected. The bedroom had clothes everywhere, and his sheets were hanging half on the floor. I made quick work of the bathrooms, while Kaidan stripped the sheets and shoved them into the washing machine.

“Er . . . Anna?” he called from the hall. I found him staring at the dials. I’d already decided that I was not going to do everything for him. The boy had stacks of dirty clothes in his room because he chose to buy new ones instead of washing them. I showed him, pointing and explaining, then watched as he did it himself. My heart bloomed every time he wore that cute grin of accomplishment.

I showered after that, grimy from the day’s events, which already felt far in the past. His bathroom smelled of yummy boy products, and I smiled to myself, still disbelieving I was really there with him, no matter how unromantic the circumstances.

I headed back to the kitchen to make meals. I wanted to fill his freezer. Every burner on the stove was boiling, sautéing, or searing something and the counters were filled with ingredients. I stood there, staring at it all with my hands on my hips, working out the exact timing in my mind. And then the air thickened around me.

My eyes hesitantly went to the doorway where Kaidan stood, taking up way too much space and oxygen. As he loomed there, his eyes became rolling clouds and his red badge expanded.

My heartbeat thumped so loud in my ears that it drowned out sounds of sizzling pans and bubbling pots. Kaidan took a predatory step toward me and I instinctually stepped back. In that slow way he stalked forward until I was against the sink. The intensity of his face charged me, and I swore to myself I’d kill any creature that tried to come between us this time. His hands reached out and gripped the sink on either side of my waist, and without a word his hot mouth covered mine.

My hands went straight to his hair, fingers tangling in the silky waves. This was a kiss unlike any we’d experienced so far—possessive and consuming, tapering off into the sweetest, most tender pecks and then back to possessive again. His hands never loosened their grip from the edge of the sink. In fact, while I wiggled and pulled him, his entire body remained still as if only his mouth had been given permission to participate. When my hands moved down to his forearms and felt the absolute rigidness there, I knew he fought to maintain control. I leaned back against the sink and with much effort broke the kiss.

We searched each other’s eyes, mere inches away. I felt light. Sensitive.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

“You’re cooking,” he growled.

“Yeah?”

“For me.”

“Um . . .” I bit my lip. “Is that okay?”

He seemed to wrench himself away and took a step backward, hands in his hair. The fire in his eyes had not settled. At all.

“I need another bleedin’ shower,” he said in a gravelly voice. And with that he ghosted from the kitchen.

I stood there a moment before breaking into a smile and touching my lips until the timer went off and the packaging of homemade meals for the freezer called my attention.

After Kaidan showered and threw his dirty clothes in the pile I put him on trash and recycling duty. I was downright silly with happiness to find that he’d moved his bedding to the dryer all on his own and started a new load while I’d been cooking. I pulled the warm sheets from the dryer in the hall and made his bed. The cotton ivory bedding must have had the highest thread count imaginable, because it was heavenly soft. I smoothed down the sheets and switched the load from the washer to the dryer, deciding to start a new load while I was at it. A crinkle caught my attention when I was about to toss his shorts in. I pulled a folded paper from the pocket. It was the one he’d snatched from the coffee table earlier.

My heart sped up. I shouldn’t read it. It wasn’t my business. Yet, I found myself opening the paper. It was a gasoline receipt with a note on the back. Pretty handwriting.

K—Thanks for having everyone over last night. You know you could have told me a long time ago that you left someone behind in Georgia. At least she has a cool name. Let me know when you’re ready to move on. I’d love to pick up where we left off. I promise not to be all weird at work.

xoxo Anna

My throat had gone dry and my heart pumped in hard, erratic spurts. I flipped the receipt over to see the date. Two days ago, Thursday. He’d told her about me. But how far had they gone?

I was bolted to that spot in the hall when Kaidan came around the corner from taking out the trash. His eyes went from my face to the note, and back to my face. He paled.

“I heard a rumor,” I began, needing to stop and swallow in order to wet my throat. “That you’re not working. Is that true?”

“Mostly,” he answered, sounding hoarse. “I work if whisperers come around and when my father gives me a task, but even with Marissa’s nieces it’s not usually sex.”

Because those girls were more valuable as virgins. I fought a wave of nausea and kept my voice steady. “Were there whisperers here when you had people over?”

His head moved back then forth. “No.”

He hadn’t been working. I crumpled the paper in my fist and continued to load the washing machine, picking up clothes from the floor and shoving them in.

“Anna.”

The water came on, loud, when I pushed Start, and I measured the liquid detergent, then poured it in. My hand shook and I couldn’t see straight. A tear fell and I wiped it with my shoulder. Well, it looked like my tear ducts were back in business.