Safe With Me

Chapter Nine

“What is up with the early morning questions?” I ask the girls as I dish them up some scrambled eggs.

“They ask questions any time of day,” Brynna informs me as she joins us in the kitchen, fresh from her shower. She stands next to me to grab a coffee mug and grins up at me. She smells like lavender and vanilla.

And my heart stumbles in my chest.

“You are beautiful,” I whisper down at her. She lowers her gaze, a rosy blush tinting her cheeks. I lean over and kiss the top of her head, breathing her in. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Coco Puffs, please!” Josie calls out and grins sweetly.

“Are you made of Coco Puffs?” I ask Josie and pull a cereal bowl down from the cupboard.

“No, silly.”

“I think you might be. You eat enough of them.” I wink over at Maddie and dish up my own breakfast.

All this sex I’ve been having leaves me starving.

I’m not complaining.

“Eggs?” I ask Brynna, but she shakes her head and sips her coffee.

“Mommy doesn’t like eggs,” Josie informs me. “Only Coco Puffs.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s true,” Brynna replies dryly. “Mommy just doesn’t want anything to eat yet.”

“Do you think your butt looks big in those jeans?” Maddie asks Brynna with a tilt to her head, and I almost choke on my bacon.

Brynna lets out a long, loud laugh and shakes her head. “Where did you hear that?”

“Mason at school said his mom always says her butt looks big in her jeans.”

“Well, I am just not hungry yet,” Brynna responds with a grin.

She better not think her ass is too big in anything. Her ass is perfect.

“I think we should get a dog,” Maddie announces and munches on her bacon.

“We’ve had this conversation,” Brynna begins.

“But mom,” Maddie interrupts. “We need a dog.”

“We do?” Josie asks, and Maddie elbows her in the side. “Yeah, we do! It would keep us safe and we would love it and feed it and you can pick up the poop!”

“I do not want to pick up any poop,” Brynna laughs. “I told you we’d talk about it in the summer.”

She looks up at me and shrugs. “They want a dog.”

“I see.”

“Who was the man at our house yesterday?” Josie asks and dribbles milk on the breakfast bar. I frown over at Bryn and back at the little girl.

“What man?” I ask her calmly, but my body is instantly on high alert. I set my plate aside and focus on Josie.

“The man who was looking in mommy’s mailbox when we got home from school,” Maddie responds.

“What?” Brynna lowers her mug. “There was a man looking in the mailbox?”

“Yeah. But we don’t ever have mail in that mailbox, do we Mommy?”

I turn my eyes to Brynna, raising my brow in question. She shakes her head slowly.

“No, sweetie, we don’t.”

“With me. Now.” I grip her hand in mine and pull her out of the kitchen to the living room. “Do you have a post office box?”

“Yes. That mailbox by the road never has anything in it. Even Nat and Jules’ mail has stopped altogether.”

“So it wasn’t the mailman,” I murmur and process everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours. “I need to get you three out of here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Brynna,” I grip her hands in mine and pull her close. “I have Matt running a more intensive background check on that f*cker at your job, but I don’t trust him. My dad got a weird phone call last night…”

“That’s why you freaked out,” she whispers but I keep talking over her.

“And now we find out that the girls saw someone snooping around here. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t love it either, but we can’t just leave.” Her brow is furrowed, and her hands shake as she holds on to mine.

“It’s Friday, Bryn. Pull the girls out of school, and we will get away for the weekend.” I lean in and kiss her forehead, trying to keep calm, to keep her calm, but my fight or flight instincts have kicked in and all I can think about is getting my girls as far away from here as possible.

As fast as possible.

“Okay,” she whispers and pulls away. “When?”

“Now.” My voice is hard. “The girls are dressed and ready. Run up and pack a bag for them and for you, and we’ll go.”

“Where are we going?” she asks.

“I know a place,” I respond. “Hurry.”

***

“Uh, Caleb?” Brynna asks dryly from the passenger side of my car.

“Yeah.”

“We are less than ten minutes away from the other house.” She frowns as I stop the car.

“Did you think I was whisking us all away on a European vacation?” I ask with a chuckle and push out of the car, opening the back doors for the girls to climb out.

“Is this your house?” Josie asks and holds her doll close to her chest.

“Yes, jellybean,” I respond and usher them all to the door, carrying our bags.

“Why are we at your house?” Brynna asks.

“Because no one would expect to look for you here,” I respond and pull the door closed behind us, locking it, as Brynna drops her purse on my couch and takes a circle about the living room.

“This is nice,” she murmurs and smiles over at me.

I shrug and glance about the place. It’s not messy because I’m never here long enough for it to get messy. The furnishings are practically brand new, although I bought them several years ago. There is nothing hanging on the walls.

It’s not even close to being good enough for her and her daughters, but it’s all I’ve got.

“It’s small, only two bedrooms.”

“That’s all we need.” She shrugs and flips her hair back over her shoulder. “How long have you lived here?”

“A couple years,” I shrug. “I just rent it.”

“It’s definitely a guy place.”

“A guy place?” I ask with a grin.

“Yep, no woman lives here, or has been here recently.” She raises an eyebrow in my direction, and I know exactly what she’s asking.

In the past I would have evaded the question like the plague, knowing that it was time to move along. But I am compelled to reassure her.

“Girls,” I call out, my eyes still trained on Brynna’s deep brown ones. “Why don’t you take your bags to the bedroom with the green comforter on the bed and get your dollies settled?”

“Okay!” Maddie exclaims and jumps off the couch where she had been testing it out.

“Let’s go!” Josie agrees and they are off. Their voices carry into the living room as they talk to their dolls, explaining where they are, and I grin at their beautiful mama.

She stays rooted in place as I move close to her and slide my hands up her arms, over her shoulders and pull my knuckles down her cheeks.

“I have never brought a woman here, Legs.” Her eyes widen and I know she’s about to tell me she doesn’t care, but I lay my finger gently over her lips, stilling them. “You are the only woman I want here.”

“Why?” She whispers from behind my finger and watches me closely.

I swallow and bend slightly to lay my forehead against hers.

“Because you’re more than a quick lay, Bryn. Even without the sex, at the core of it, you’re my friend. You’re my family.” She wraps her arms around my waist as I straighten and gaze down at her. I run my fingers through her soft hair and exhale slowly. “I can’t lose that.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Caleb.”

“We’ll see.”

“I’m not…”

“Mom! Caleb has a TV in his room! It’s really big. Come look!” Maddie hurries into the room and then stops cold, watching us carefully. “Why are you hugging Mommy like that?”

“I just needed a hug,” Brynna replies with a bright smile. Maddie comes running over and loops her arms around both our waists, squeezing tight.

“I want to hug.”

Running my hand down Maddie’s back, I’m reminded how fragile she is, how tiny, and exactly what this mission is. Keep the girls safe.

Stop thinking with my dick.

I pull away and turn my back to them abruptly. “Go get settled, Bryn.”

“I think we should…”

“Stay here,” I interrupt and turn to face her but can’t meet her eyes. “Do. Not. Leave. I have to go get food and other supplies. Get you and the girls settled and I’ll be back.”

“Caleb, we can’t be holed up in your house for days! We’ll all kill each other by tomorrow night.” She props her hands on her hips and stares at me like I’ve gone mad.

“Do as I say,” I respond and grab my keys. “And for Godsake, keep your phone on you.”

And with that I leave, emotions I have no business having swirling around inside me. God help me, I’m falling in love with two amazing girls and their mother. And I’m exactly what they don’t need. Broken. Hurt.

Another man who will end up leaving them, just like that p-ssy of an ex-husband of hers. What kind of a man lets his wife care for infant twins alone?

Yet here I am, knowing I can’t be with them forever. They deserve so much more than a f*cked up ex-SEAL.

But I’ll be goddamned if I can stay away.