Lost in Silence (The Lost Series Book 1)(30)

MR: Understood. What time do you have to meet Kingston?



HR: Noon but I want to go in early and see Sneak.



MR: I’ll be by around ten. You think she’ll be up by then?



I don’t have an answer for that question. Our sleeping patterns have been sort of sporadic. I wasn’t sure what Alice’s schedule is when there isn’t a job to get to. I know I can make sure she is up by the time Missy comes by, if it comes down to it. I can’t help wondering what she’s like first thing in the morning, after spending the night in a real bed.

A noise behind me startles me and I turn to see Alice walking into the kitchen, pulling the belt on her new robe tightly around her. She has a cautious look in her eyes and god-awful morning hair.

“Good morning,” I swallow, my voice vibrates a deep sleepy baritone. She nods and offers me a half smile. “Give me a moment and I will get the coffee going.”

She crosses the room to the coffee pot and hits the button. She already set it up before going to bed, I smile.



HR: She just woke up. I’ll make sure she’s ready for you by ten. See

you then and thanks.



Shooting the final text off to Missy, I set my phone down onto the counter. I watch Alice as she picks up our mugs from the rack and crosses to the refrigerator in search of the vanilla flavored creamer. She’s cute in the morning with her hair wild and her eyes still droopy from sleep.

“Did you sleep well?” I ask and she nods. I shift more aware of how much I’m alright with her standing in my kitchen like she’s done it for years and she belongs there. “Thank you for prepping the coffee.”

She nods again, turning back to the coffee maker. I want to say more, apologize for falling asleep on her last night but the words fail me. She tucked me in with a blanket, she straightened up the kitchen, she placed my phone on the charger and now she stood in the middle of my kitchen looking all kinds of cute, making me aware of the fear settling in my stomach. Fear that I might be getting too comfortable with her here. Fear that I’m going to miss her more than I’m willing to admit when she finally does go.

“I need to go into the office today,” I clear my throat and cross the room to sit down at the breakfast bar. “I asked Missy to come by and take you shopping while I am gone. Is that alright with you?”

Her brown eyes meet mine and I freeze. I notice how much the dark rings around her eyes have faded. How much her coloring has improved and what a few days of good food and sleep has already done for her. She looked more and more like the girl in the picture Detective Edwards showed me. She smiles at me and nods.

“I don’t know what time I’ll be back but I’m leaving a little early to meet up with Sneak. I should be back before dinner, maybe we can get some takeout. There are a few menus in the drawer. You can have Missy order something for us. She knows what I like to eat.”

She shrugs, making it difficult for me to gauge her thinking.

“She’ll be here around ten and I’m not leaving until she gets here,” she busies herself pouring the finished coffee into the mugs. She hands me one and smiles again. My breath hitches. Fuck, her smile lights up the room. I take the mug from her and take a slow sip, the hot liquid burning my tongue as punishment for staring so hard.

She mixes some creamer into hers and takes a sip.

“I’m going to hop in the shower,” she makes no move to stop me. I take my mug with me and head to the bathroom, briefly contemplating a cold shower.

Damn it Hudson, you shouldn’t notice things like her smile.

*****

Hudson

I walk into the modern office on a mission: talk to Sneak, straighten out this shit with King and head home. I need to gather as much information about Erik as I can before showing my cards to King. After meeting Alice last night, I don’t know what to expect from him.

“He’s not in today,” Annabelle, King’s receptionist, watches me from her spot at neat desk centered in the middle of the room. She’s isn’t simply a receptionist to the company, more like job-site mother. She cared for each of us more than her job required. She was also someone you did not want to fuck with. Her quiet, sometimes murderous stares were the only warnings you needed. Hanging my head, I approach her with a shy smile.

“He leave anything for me?” I ask hoping like hell I don’t get shit from her too.

“He did,” she smirks knowingly before handing me a thin manila folder. I sigh, there couldn’t have been more than a dozen pages in it. Her dark eyes watch me, missing nothing, and her smirk turns into a smile. “Disappointed cowboy?”

“You know me Belle,” I shrug, trying to play it cool, like I didn’t care. The problem was I did care, maybe a little too much. “Missed you last night at dinner.”