Before That Night: Unfinished Love Series: Caine & Addison, Book 1

by Violet Duke

  Now, she never had to worry about having enough food or money for field trips or really anything the children needed.

  Now, she never had to worry about them feeling unloved or unwanted—when she wasn’t working, Addison was spending her time with them, whether it was to help them with their homework or go to the park or just snuggle up under a blanket to watch a DVD borrowed from the library, she was there for them.

  She’d be damned if she’d let anyone say she wasn’t a good guardian for them and risk having them get taken from her, and each other.

  That brought her full circle to the Caine situation. Mutual interest or not, they had to just remain in the friend zone. With her life, she couldn’t possibly date him.

  So the man was ridiculously good looking, and criminally sexy. They could still be ‘just’ friends. She’d been doing it for a month now, after all.

  By the time she closed her eyes for the night, she was pretty sure she had herself convinced.

  Convincing the man who had practically devoured her with his eyes while he’d been drinking her special blend, however, was a whole different story.

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, Addison brewed double the amount of her special personal blend and waited for Caine to come in…so she could serve him Joe’s usual bland cup of coffee and see how he reacted.

  She expected a response of near biblical proportions.

  It was her way of re-amalgamating their ‘just friends’ friendship.

  And have a little fun in the process.

  Uneventful as her day-to-day life was, this little tiger-poking stunt she was planning was basically the highlight of her week. All morning, she’d been chuckling to herself imagining his face when he took his first sip. Which would lead to her wondering if he’d just glower at the green pot and make polite, teeth-grit demands that she pour him the good stuff, or if he’d simply stomp back behind the counter to pour himself a mug.

  Her money was on the latter.

  While he was pretty much like a big, gruff, usually-only-mildly-grizzly teddy bear with her, she’d heard him alpha out a few times outside of the walls of the diner and use his intimidating-as-hell cop voice on a few occasions. She'd even seen him take down a tweaked out, knife-wielding guy in ten seconds flat once.

  The man just wasn’t a guy you messed with.

  ...Which just made the whole thing she was planning so much more fun.

  Only problem was, he didn’t show up.

  The next night? Same.

  For a month, the man had come in for dinner nearly every night, and somehow, without her even noticing it, he’d become a mainstay in her day. The sneaky bastard. He’d been charming and unassuming the entire time. Friendly. And aside from the occasional innocuously pervy, mostly rather clever, and always darn funny comment he’d sneak in here and there, he’d never once hit on her.

  She liked him.

  Even more astonishing was the fact that she liked that she liked him.

  Thus, it was strangely unsettling to not be able to chat with him, or at least see him. Though it took her a lot of heavy introspection to admit it, her days felt just a tiny bit incomplete without him in it. And that was insane, really. They barely knew each other. Yet, somehow, the sneaky man had found a way past her defenses and into her life.

  Unbelievable.

  Sure, she’d known all the other diner workers for a lot longer, and saw them in larger doses every day. But she never truly considered any of them a true friend the way Caine was. Mostly because she never felt comfortable sharing her life with any of them.

  Caine, on the other hand…

  You trust him.

  It was true. She did. Of all the people in her life, if she had to pick one person to have watch Kylie and Tanner, there was no doubt in her mind that she’d pick Caine. And it wasn’t because he was a cop. She trusted him despite that.

  Figured the universe would deem it fit for her to start liking and trusting a man whose actual job it was to stop women like her from breaking the law.

  In spite of all that, by the time Day Three rolled around, with still no sign of Caine, Addison flat out started to worry. She’d even volunteered to run a big lunch order over to the station to see if she could catch him.

  Nothing.

  That is, until she was wiping down the counter before closing on Day Four and saw something a little off about the collage of Easter eggs she and the kids had drawn to put up on the wall nearest the register. It took her a minute to realize what it was.

  There was an extra egg in the basket.

  In the big easter egg basket with the eggs that had her name, Kylie’s, and Tanner’s, there was one added egg she didn’t put in there.

  No name. But she knew.

  Caine.

  When she went over to investigate, she found it was a white sticky note shaped more like a football than an egg, colored with what looked like department-issued blue and red ink pens, and a yellow highlighter. Grinning, she peered closer and realized that the faint traces of black ink carvings on the egg were actually due to writing on the back.

  She peeled the egg off the wall, and found Caine had left a note for her:

  Still can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me with that insanely good coffee all this time. That was just mean. Question—have you ever had a dirty dream about coffee before? No? Yeah…um, me neither. Miss talking to you. I’ll be back on my regular 12-8 shift hopefully in a week or two. -- C

  Laughing at that always playful, juust this side of improper sense of humor of his, and swooning a little bit over the ‘miss talking to you part,’ Addison turned around to survey the rest of the diner.

  Caine had stuck a new egg on each of the four other Easter baskets she’d put up on the walls.

  She felt her heart beat a goofy rhythm as she went around to pluck them off the walls, smiling over the creative ways he’d figured out to get out of having to do any drawing on the eggs. He’d mentioned the other day that drawing had never been a strong suit…something about disproportionate stick figure anatomy getting him into trouble back in grade school.

  Again, juust this side of improper.

  And always told with that ruggedly earnest Captain-America poker face.

  The designs ranged from ruler-lined stripes, to scattered confetti-like pieces in the exact shades of Post-It’s five-color variety pack. They all had a signature dude-deco office-supply-chic vibe going on, and were all the more ridiculously adorable for it.

  Best of all, there was writing on the back of each one.

  Now I see why they teach kids to use scissors in grade school. I must’ve failed those classes. Of course, if I had your phone number, I could text you instead of subjecting you to all these badly-shaped hearts. Just saying. -- C

  She chuckled. If he’d asked, she would’ve given him her number in a heartbeat.

  But now she was glad he hadn’t. This was way more romantic.

  So I broke down and tried putting ketchup on my eggs yesterday like you said you do. It was every bit as bad as I thought it’d be. You’re nuts. And I blame you for my hungry morning. -- C

  Aw. What a random and wonderful way of saying he’d been thinking about her yesterday morning. The silver-tongue fella.

  Finally took your advice and got one of those futon sofas. You’re right, it’s comfy as hell for a nap. But, there was one small side effect we didn’t foresee. The thing is a magnet for brothers in college who know how to break into your apartment. Friggin’ Gabe. If the futon conforms to his puny body over mine, I’m kicking his ass. -- C

  Shaking her head over Caine’s idea of ‘puny.’ Yes, he was bigger than his brothers, in the way that brown bears were bigger than black bears. He’d showed her a family photo once. They were all over six-feet tall, with broad shoulders and cut physique to match. had the sort of body that superhero Halloween costumes probably used as a mold to get the muscles just right,

  But the main reason why she wa
s smiling at the moment was because ever since she’d mentioned in passing that Gabe was cute—meaning the excited way he was holding up the fish he’d caught—Caine had developed a habit of pointing out how puny his little brother was. Whenever she made any sort of reference to Gabe’s cuteness.

  Which wasn’t...all that often.

  In case I don’t see you before Sunday, I got you a bag of the seasonal Reese’s Peanut Butter eggs and asked Shirley to hide it on the shelf under the register for you. I remembered you saying you like ‘em better than the regular Reese’s cups. Happy Easter, sweets. -- C

  Oh holy hell, the man wasn’t just sneaking past her defenses anymore, he was taking a battering ram to ‘em. And busting right through.

  He wasn’t even here but somehow he was shifting the tide in her ‘just friends’ friendship plan.

  At this point though, she wasn’t sure she had the strength to fight the tide.

  Addison gathered up the bag of yummy chocolate peanut butter goodness, along with all the egg-shaped notes Caine had left for her and tucked them in her purse for safe-keeping before scribbling a note on one of her waitressing order pad sheets and cutting it into the shape of an egg. When she was done, she flipped it over and decorated it simply with five yellow stars, each framed with a green laurel leaf wreath…the combined effect bearing a striking resemblance to the Creek Hills police badge. She tucked it behind a few other eggs in the same basket by the register and then closed up for the night.

  After checking to make sure the kids were asleep, and that the curtain separating the back of the van was closed good, she did her nightly task of velcro-securing the blackout curtains on the windshield and front windows, restocking the small cooler of milk and fruits she kept between the seats for the kids’ breakfast, and blowing up the dollar store pool float she laid across two front seats and cooler, as a pseudo mattress of sorts, to sleep on.

  Before she let exhaustion cement her eyes closed, however, she turned on the flashlight she kept in the cup holder and re-read the notes Caine had left for her. Her own note hadn’t been as romantic. She didn’t really have experience in that sort of thing. So she’d just gone with unfiltered honesty.

  Thank you for my eggs. I love them (both paper and chocolate). My number is yours if you want it. But honestly, I like this better. Don’t you dare get hurt on this new shift. I’ve left instructions for Shirley to make my special brew for you in the mornings…and to top your omelet with loads of ketchup (and a dash of sriracha—that ought to help you see the light). Miss talking to you too. -- A

  For the first time, maybe ever, she curled up under her tattered blanket with a smile as she drifted off to sleep.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  WALKING PAST THE ENTRANCE of the Creek Hills Annual Spring Carnival with the kids, Addison found her eyes gravitating right over to the police officer ‘Burgers and Deputy Dawgs’ food booth, where Caine was presently charming a small group of wide-eyed adoring kids with his burger flipping skills.

  The kids’ moms were similarly enthralled, though their cosmetic-perfect come-hither eyes and elegantly manicured hand-fanning whispers were more focused on…something other than his burgers. Sort of more in line with the big gun he was packing.

  Addison, frankly, felt young and frumpy in comparison.

  Kylie tugged on the sleeve of her shirt. “They’re all staring at you, Addison.”

  Huh? She followed Kylie’s gaze. “Who’s staring at me?”

  “All the mommies over there.”

  She looked back at the same group of sophisticated women now glaring daggers at her and discovered Kylie was right. How odd.

  “I think,” Tanner weighed in, “it’s because he started staring at you first.”

  She glanced over in the direction Tanner was nodding with his chin, and found a deep, dark set of intense, inky black eyes locked on her.

  Caine.

  “He’s been staring at you since his break started.”

  Addison had been so lost in thought for the past few minutes, she hadn’t even noticed he wasn’t working the grill at the police booth anymore.

  “Oh yay!” yipped Kylie, suddenly. “They have the swing ride! Can I go on it, Addison? Please? I think I’m tall enough this year.” Kylie lined herself up in front of the red height chart stand in front of each of the carnival rides. “See!”

  Sure enough, the squirt was now a few inches taller than the line. That growth spurt she’d had at the start of the new year was bigger that Addison realized.

  They were both growing up so fast. Frankly, Addison wasn’t sure how moms—present company’s M.I.A. mother excluded, of course—weren’t more emotional about their kids growing up. Teaching Tanner to ride his two-wheeler in the park, giving in whenever Kylie used to hold her arms up in the air in a bid to be carried around everywhere…that all seemed like just yesterday.

  Soon, they’d be getting to the age where it wouldn’t be cool for her to mother them at all.

  Almost as if hearing her melancholy thoughts, Tanner reached over to pluck the sheet of carnival ride scripts from her hands. “I’ll take her,” he volunteered, grabbing Kylie’s hand. Before she could mentally sniffle over that, however, he added, “That way, you can deal with him.”

  Wha— Oh.

  ‘Him’ was a hot-as-sin cop now walking over to her with a slow simmering smile that was doing ridiculous things to her insides.

  “Hey kids,” Caine called out, intercepting Kylie and Tanner as they were starting to head over to the line for the ride. “What’s on the carnival line-up for you two?” He fist-bumped Kylie and did the teen-approved cool-guy head-nod to greet Tanner.

  Lordy, she loved it that Caine always took the time to really talk to the kids. It was one of the things she’d first noticed about him when he started coming to the diner.

  When Caine crouched his tall six-foot frame down to Kylie’s height, she proceeded to give him an animated, thirty-second rundown of all the game booths she’d wanted to play after hitting her favorite rides. Meanwhile, Tanner just stood there with his arms crossed, eyeing Caine silently.

  Addison frowned. Tanner’s odd behavior toward Caine lately was starting to get more pronounced. She’d been meaning to talk to him about it, but just hadn’t had the chance yet.

  Just then, the operator for the giant swing ride pulled open the gate and started taking scripts for the next wave of riders, and Kylie stopped talking midsentence and proceeded to quickly drag Tanner to the line.

  When Caine got up and started to head Addison’s way, Tanner immediately did a forked two-finger motion pointing at first his own eyes and then Caine’s.

  …To which, Caine replied with a silent and very serious nod.

  What on earth?

  “What was that all about?” she asked straight away, as soon as Caine came up to her. “With you and Tanner just now.”

  The corner of Caine’s mouth kicked up a bit. “That was just man to man talk.”

  She raised a surprised brow at him. “Really? Since when are you and my little brother engaging in man to man talk?”

  “Since I sat next to him the other day and requested his permission to ask you out on a date.”

  She was pretty sure the top of her head just exploded. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  Sometimes, she hated that he had just as much experience being the oldest sibling as she did. The man knew exactly how to try a person’s patience.

  In her case, namely by waiting her out to see what exactly would come tumbling out of her mouth.

  “You asked for his permission?”

  “Yup.”

  “What would you have done if he’d said no?”

  His eyes, somehow, managed to get even darker and even more intense. “I’d have tried again the next day. And the next.”

  Wow. Good answer.

  “When did this all go down?”

  “Earlier this week.”

  Well, that explained Tanner’s strange behavi
or lately.

  Addison didn’t really know which bit of information to melt into a puddle over first. The fact that he wanted to ask her out on a date, or his thoughtfulness on asking the kids, or his keen understanding on how to deal with a protective teenage brother. “So…are you going to ask me?”

  Caine shook his head. “Can’t.”

  “Why not?” She frowned and looked up at her brother, currently airborne on the octopus-like swinging carnival ride. “Did he say no?”

  “He didn’t.” Caine nodded over at a tickled pink Kylie. “She did.”

  “What?! But Kylie adores you.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet. I adore the heck out of her too.”

  Criminy, one thing to melt over at a time. “I can’t believe she said no. Did she give you a reason?”

  “She did indeed. She said that I needed to take her and Tanner to the movies first so they could see if I’d be a nice date for you.”

  Why that little— “She’s extorting you.”

  “Yep, I do believe she is. Which brings me to the reason why I’m here.” He flashed her that lazy, lopsided grin of his that earned her a few more envious stares from the women around them who had two eyes and a pulse. “I wanted to see if I could take the kids out for the whole day tomorrow. Give you a chance to sleep in for a change.”

  She stared at him, the words coming out of his mouth sounding like a foreign concept. When was the last time she’d slept in? “The whole day?” she parroted, trying to wrap her head around that. None of the men who’d asked her out had ever expressed an interest in spending time with the kids.

  The precise reason why she’d said no to them all.

  “Just you and the kids?” Repeating it out loud, suddenly, she felt a little left out.

  “Yeah. I thought I’d take them out to breakfast and then over to that park they like so much down by Cactus Creek, and then out for a matinee double feature.”