It was everything he could do not to reach out and brush the stray lock of spun gold, tuck it behind her ear, and kiss the confusion off of her creased face. There wasn’t a shortage of moments that Ali looked perfect but topping the list for Kade had to be first thing in the morning Ali. Her face was just a tiny bit rounder than it normally was and that extra bit of puffiness did things to Kade. It made him want things he shouldn’t want. Things like waking up to that puffy face every day for the rest of his life.
“Technically, Ricky took it, but I asked him to. I didn’t think you’d appreciate waking up to find me next to your bed.”
A pink tint that rose on Ali’s china-doll cheeks did not escape Kade’s notice.
“Why did you have Ricky take my phone?” she asked, her voice sounding raspier than it had moments before.
“So you could sleep in. You needed the rest.”
All traces of soft puffiness were wiped clean and replaced with steel fury. “I needed rest?! You think you can show up after being gone for over a year and decide what I need?”
Fuck.
Mayday, mayday, this mission was going down in flames before he’d even made it to the drop zone.
“You have no idea what I need,” she continued.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he apologized and retracted his statement. “I don’t know what you need, but I asked the twins about your schedule and they told me that Friday’s were your catch-up day.”
Friday’s were her catch-up day. During the off-season she typically stayed home on Friday’s and caught up on household duties and finances.
“The boys and I thought it would be nice if you got a day off and we pitched in to help you with anything you needed to get done.”
“Speaking of the boys, what time did KJ leave for school?” she sidetracked. “If he gets another tardy he’ll get expelled.”
“I dropped the boys off at seven-thirty. I borrowed the truck so Ricky wouldn’t have to walk with his project, I hope you don’t mind.” He always used the Whisper Lake Rental truck whenever he was here. In this sleepy town, the loud roar of the motorcycle was not appreciated.
“KJ was up at seven-thirty?”
“No. KJ was up at five-thirty. Both the boys were.”
She let out a harsh laugh. “Bullshit.”
He grinned, he couldn’t help it. That was the Ali he knew and loved. No one else dared to call bullshit on him, and even though she was wrong and his shit was no bull, he still loved that she’d done it.
“We went on a run. I talked to them last night about conditioning and they said they wanted to join me for my morning run.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Wow.”
Ali’s lips made a perfect O and the image had Kade picturing her doing other things with her smartmouth besides give him grief.
“I don’t know what is more unbelievable, that KJ got up that early or that Ricky went on a run.”
Pride sprung in Kade’s chest but he squelched it. He hadn’t done anything remarkable. Not like Ali had.
He remained behind the dryer because he had another bit of information to divulge and he wasn’t sure how she would take it. He liked the idea of having a large, box of steel between them, just in case.
Treading so light he was sure not to break the eggshells he was walking on, he began, “I know that I don’t have any idea what you need, but after talking to the boys, we decided you deserved a day off. So Jess is going to be here in half an hour to take you out for a girls’ day.”
“A girls’ day? We’re twenty-eight years old,” she snapped back.
“You know what I mean,” he contended.
“And you know it sounds condescending.”