Chapter 9: Dinner and Distractions

Cadence used the ride home to attempt to clear her head. She’d checked in with Aaron several times throughout the day, like she always did, but she’d had to be brief; she didn’t want him to know there was anything bothering her until she was home and had a chance to talk to him in person.

They had recently had the upper-level of the building remodeled so that instead of being neighbors, their two penthouse suites were now one rather large apartment. It had been a huge step for Cadence, but she knew that she loved Aaron and that he loved her. She was certain that this was the right thing to do. After replaying the conversation she’d had with her mother in her head a million times on the way home, however, walking into their shared space made her wonder if she had made that decision herself or if she really hadn’t had a choice.

He had a fire going in the fireplace and dinner on the table for her, with candles, which was extremely sweet of him, especially considering he probably wouldn’t eat any of it. As soon as he wrapped his arms around her at the door, she forgot that she’d been secretly planning his demise for the last two hours.

“Hey,” Aaron said, “how was your trip?”

“Good,” Cadence replied, sliding her hands up his chest. He was wearing a dusty blue button down shirt, her favorite color on him because it made his eyes sparkle, and as he bent down to find her lips, she could no longer remember what she had been so upset about.

She returned the kiss, her hand sliding up his neck and tracing the line of his jaw. His hands began to wander, too, and when he started trailing warm kisses down her neck, her knees began to grow weak. “I guess you missed me,” she breathed into his shoulder.

“Oh, yes. Very much,” he said between kisses. He had found the sensitive area between her neck and left shoulder, and she began to fumble with the buttons on the shirt she now found to be a nuisance.

A knock on the door behind her brought them both back to reality.

“Damn,” Aaron muttered, releasing her.

Taking a second to clear her head, Cadence unwound herself from him and said, “I’ll get it.”

“It’s Jamie,” Aaron muttered.

With one hand on the doorknob, Cadence turned and looked at him, wondering how long he had known the Healer was on his way to their apartment. She opened the door only a few inches, “Hey, Jamie,” she said with a forced smile. “What’s up?”

“Oh, you’re back,” the doctor said, his smile nothing but genuine.

Slightly shorter than Cadence with spiky, dark hair with frosted tips, Jamie was one of the nicest guys Cadence had ever met, and she was so very happy to have him on her team. She wasn’t particularly happy to see him right now, however. “I am,” she said, same goofy grin plastered on her face.

“Is Aaron here?” he asked, glancing past her. “We were supposed to meet in a little while and…”

“Hey, Jamie,” Aaron said, stepping around her. Cadence opened the door wider, so that they could all see each other now. “Everything okay?”

“Yes…” he said, a question in his tone. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Nope, nothing at all,” Cadence replied, her hand instinctively covering the spot on her neck where she thought she may very well have a hickey. “Would you like to come in?”

“No, thanks. Aaron, I just stopped by to let you know that I need to change our meeting time. Would eight work instead? Christian has something he wants me to take a look at. He said it wouldn’t take long, but it seemed kind of urgent.”

“He’s still working on the re-Transformation project with Dr. Morrow. I think he was supposed to get some data in today. That’s probably what he wants to talk to you about.”

“I figured as much. I know you wanted to go over the labs I took from the new recruits sooner rather than later, so will that work?”

“What labs?” Cadence asked.

“Just some baseline results. We’ve decided to start monitoring the concentration of Transformation serum a week, a month, and six months after Transformation to see if it has anything to do with performance level,” Jamie explained.

“Sounds interesting,” Cadence managed, crossing her arms.

“And by interesting, do you mean boring?” Aaron asked, smiling at her.

“Precisely.”

“That time works fine, Jamie,” Aaron assured him.

“All right then. I’ll let you get back to… whatever you were doing,” he smiled smugly.

“See you in a bit,” Aaron said as he shut the door. “If only there was some way to get ahold of me without having to come to our apartment….”

Cadence laughed. “It never fails.” She had no idea why people insisted on stopping by when they could use the IAC but it seemed like, especially since they had moved in together, the rest of the team found it more convenient to swing by unannounced instead of using the nifty device they each had implanted in their eye.

The mood was ruined now, and Cadence realized she was starving. Avoiding the sexy man behind her, she made her way into the dining room. “What’s for dinner?” she asked.

“Not you… I guess,” she heard him whisper under his breath as he followed her into the adjoining room. “Chicken marsala.”

“Oh, yay! My favorite,” Cadence exclaimed, sitting down in her usual seat. He sat down across from her, and there was food on his plate, but she knew he wouldn’t take more than a couple of bites. Guardians didn’t have to eat much, though some of them ate. It seemed to Cadence that she actually ate more now than she ever had, even though she was told time and time again that she wouldn’t have to eat very much either once her body began to burn fuel differently. Apparently, her internal workings hadn’t gotten the message yet, just as she still needed a full seven hours of sleep to function, unlike most of her teammates. She wondered if her anomalies weren’t part of the reason for this new blood testing bit.

“This is really good!” she said between bites as Aaron topped off her wine. One of the perks to being non-human was that alcohol no longer had the same effects, which allowed her to enjoy more of her favorite beverages without growing a bit tipsy. “Did you make this?”

“Are you kidding?” he asked with the crooked smile that made her all tingly inside. “No, Mrs. Carminati made it.”

“Is there anything that woman can’t do?”

“She insisted. She said she wanted to thank you for helping her redecorate her workspace… or something.”

“Oh, she’s so sweet. She didn’t have to do that. I just helped her pick out a few new things, that’s all,” Cadence said, realizing her plate was almost empty already. “I didn’t eat much today,” she commented, a bit embarrassed.

“You don’t have to explain to me. I know you eat like a linebacker.”

Her eyes widened, but then she kicked him playfully under the table. “You’re so rude.”

“Do you want the rest of mine?”

“No, thank you,” she said setting her glass down. “I wouldn’t want Sean Lee jealous of my figure.”

“You know I have no idea who that is right?” Aaron asked, still smiling at her.

Cadence just shook her head. “How can I marry a man who doesn’t like football?”

“Well, there are other physical activities I do like,” he replied, reaching across the table and taking her free hand in both of his.

“You did miss me, didn’t you?” Cadence asked, feeling the heat rise in her neck.

“Why don’t we go in the bedroom, and I’ll show you how much.”

Cadence found herself caught in his eyes, and just as she was about to give in and let him carry her away, she remembered there was something very important she needed to discuss with him. It couldn’t wait any longer. “Aaron,” she said, pulling her hand back and clearing her throat, “we need to talk.”