Jeez, Allie, get a grip.
We reached the ice cream shop—Sunday Sundae—and Caden took a second to pull his T-shirt on. It was a crying shame. There was seating inside and outside, and it was busy, even with the cooler weather. We joined the line inside.
“What’s your flavor, Ollie?” Caden asked.
“Chocolate.”
“Good choice. I like chocolate, too.”
“You do?”
“Yep.” He glanced at me. “Allie?”
“Hazelnut.”
He nodded and ordered. Soon, I was doing something I’d never imagined when I’d first met Caden Castro—sitting in the sunshine, eating ice cream with him.
“You have the day off?” I asked.
He gave me a clipped nod. “I’ll do a few hours of work this afternoon.”
“It must be hard to switch off when you live at your workplace.”
“I like it. It suits me.”
“You live in a hotel?” Ollie asked.
“I do, bud.”
“That’s cool.” Ollie gave his ice cream a giant lick. He had chocolate all around his mouth. “So you live in Windward?”
“For now. My job takes me to hotels all over the world.”
“Oh.” Ollie stilled. “So you’ll leave?”
“Eventually.”
I gave my ice cream cone a long lick. When I glanced up, Caden’s gaze was locked on me.
Those damn tingles hit again. Then I did something I shouldn’t have. I gave my ice cream another long, delicate lick.
Heat flared in Caden’s eyes.
Oh God. My belly clenched.
“Have you always worked in hotels?”
Ollie’s voice cut through the tension.
Caden cleared his throat and looked at my nephew. “No, before I worked at Langston, I was in the Army.”
Ollie’s eyes went round. “Really?”
Caden gave him a faint smile before he took a bite of his ice cream. “Really.”
“Did you shoot people?”
I noticed a faint stiffening of Caden’s shoulders. “Ollie, you don’t ask things like that.”
