As we got back into Max’s truck a little while later, my phone went off.
Cane: I miss you.
Me: I miss you, too.
The sun had begun to set in the west, casting shadows across the back yard. Kari and I sat by the pool watching Max push a broom across the floor. After our hike, we had stopped for lunch at the Mexican restaurant where I had first met Cane.
I was in the same boat leaving Blanca’s as I was in the last time—quietly hoping for a call from Cane Alexander.
A light breeze tickled our skin as we sat stretched out on the chaise lounges. The sun was hidden by the acacia trees in the yard and I felt my body begin to relax.
I closed my eyes and listened to the pool swirl, the water splashing against the sides as Max pushed the pool broom across the floor.
“Why do you have an automatic pool cleaner if you have to clean the thing yourself anyway?” he asked.
“You don’t have to,” Kari said, tipping down her sunglasses. “You are just picky.”
“We need to move somewhere that doesn’t require having a pool for survival.” Max submerged himself in the water and came back up hot and wet, his tattoos glistening with water droplets.
“Move?” This was news to me.
“Not specifically.” Kari looked to Max for help.
“We have been talking about moving in together.” I could tell by the nonchalant way about his voice that he was testing me out, seeing how I would respond.
“Oh,” I said, a little surprised. “I didn’t know that.”
“We aren’t sure or anything,” Kari said hurriedly. “Just something we’ve been throwing out there.”
I looked at my sister and Max as they shared a smile. “I actually think that’s great.” I set my e-reader down. I couldn’t concentrate on Blake and Cam anyway. “Are you getting a new place or moving in here or Max’s or what?”
“We don’t know. I said we were just thinking about it,” Kari said laughing.
I watched Max work his way around the pool, his muscles pushing and pulling. “I have been checking out apartments online, too. I need to just pull the trigger on one.”
Max looked at me. “Have you talked to Cane about that?”
“I would have to talk to Cane at all before I could talk to him about that.” I raised my eyebrows, challenging Max to a response.
I watched him force a swallow before swinging his eyes to the side gate. “What’s up, Alexander?”
My breath caught in my throat as my eyes followed Max’s eyes to the side gate.
Looking rumpled and without the cocky swagger he usually had, Cane came around the corner. He flashed Max a little wave before his eyes found me.
He walked over with a determined look on his face, taking his sunglasses off and training his eyes on me. He bent down and buried his face in the side of my neck, kissing me lightly behind the ear.
“Hey,” he whispered.
He pulled away to study my face before sitting on the edge of my chair.
“Did you get Howard’s call?” Cane turned towards Max.
Max’s forehead creased as he stopped pushing the broom. “No. Why?”
“We had a boatload of copper pipe go missing from the Benjamin site sometime last night.” Cane’s face was awash in frustration.
“You’re kidding me.” Max shook his head, the laughter in his eyes from a few minutes prior now evaporated. “What the fuck?”
Cane shrugged. “I’ve been dealing with that today. Security makes rounds in two hour intervals, so someone must have been casing the joint or it was an inside job.”
“None of our guys are going to steal that shit. We’ve had the same guys forever.” Max disconnected the broom and hopped up, sitting on the side of the pool.
Cane shrugged again, his shoulders tense. “We filed a police report. They’ll notify the local pawn shops and shit to watch for it. But we’ll probably never find it.”
“Did you call Nick?”
Cane flashed Max a look, causing him to blanch. “Yeah.”
Max nodded, his knuckles white as he gripped the ledge of the pool. “Do you need me to do anything?”
“You did everything I needed you to do today,” Cane said, his voice softer. He looked down at me and smiled. “Now I’m taking my girl upstairs. Unless the fucking house is burning, I don’t want to be bothered tonight.” He shook his head. “On second thought, with the way shit is going, just let me burn with it.”
He chuckled as he stood up with me in his arms and carried me inside. Cane buried his face into my hair and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my head against his chest. I could hear his heart pounding inside his body and it caused mine to speed up, too.