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to try something. Because feeling like this wasn t tenable.
When Caden got to the apartment door, he knocked. Waited. Knocked again. He had a key, of
course, but given how he d left things on Tuesday night, he thought he owed her the respect of
knocking. When she still didn t answer after knocking a third time, he let himself in.
Everything was quiet and dark only the under-counter lamp in the kitchen threw off any light.
Caden heaved a deep breath. An ache ballooned inside his chest. An ache for Makenna. He missed
her something fierce. It felt like a part of himself had been ripped away, the edges still jagged and
raw. But that s what he was all jagged, raw, festering wounds from one loss after another.
And it didn t seem like a single one of them had healed.
He wandered through the darkness and into her bedroom. He sat down on the bed. Makenna s
scent was stronger here. Her vanilla skin lotion. Her strawberry shampoo. The coconut hand cream
she rubbed on before bed each night. He breathed those hints of her in, needing to carry some small
part of her with him.
Knock, knock, knock.
Frowning, Caden forced himself up and to the front door. A quick peak through the spyhole
revealed a delivery man of some sort. Caden opened the door.
Makenna James? the delivery man said. At his feet sat a huge vase of red roses.
She s not home, Caden said, staring at the flowers.
Would you please sign for me then, sir? He thrust a clipboard at Caden, who scrawled an
unintelligible line at the X. The guy retreated down the hall.
Caden bent down and grasped the crystal vase. Carried it to the kitchen counter, the door slamming
closed behind him. Placed it down. And stared some more at the little envelope sitting among the
fat, red blooms.
With a sinking feeling in his gut, he pulled the envelope free and opened it. The card read:
Take as much time as you need. I ll be here. And I love you. ~CH
CH. Cameron Hollander. Sonofafuckingbitch.
Without returning the card to the envelope, Caden slipped both back into the plastic holder, his
gaze glued to the other man s words.
Caden hadn t been able to deal with Makenna saying she loved him and hadn t been able to give
her the words back, yet here was Cameron giving them to her again and again. Which was exactly
what Makenna deserved.
Jesus Christ. Hands braced against the counter, Caden found himself having to breathe through a
sudden clenching tightness in his chest.
Makenna deserved& someone like Cameron. Someone whole, someone unbroken, someone with
his shit together. Caden was not that man. Hell, right now, Caden wasn t even the man Makenna had
met in that damn elevator. At best, he was a ghost of his former self, and that guy hadn t even been
fully squared away.
Maybe Makenna didn t want Cameron like she once did, but she deserved someone who could do
what Cameron could and what Caden couldn t.
And that was all Caden needed to know.
Disappointment and frustration and sadness and anger whirled inside him. He forced himself away
from those fucking flowers before he hurled them across the room just for the satisfaction of seeing
them shattered and broken a mirror of how he felt inside.
Not quite sure what he was doing, he stalked back to the bedroom. Flicked on the light. Stood
there. On the nightstand next to his side of the bed lay a military thriller he d been reading a few
pages at a time before going to sleep.
He grabbed it.
Suddenly, he was grabbing everything of his that was there. Uniforms. Clothes. Shoes. Toiletries.
He didn t deserve to be in Makenna s life, not when he couldn t give her what she needed, what she
wanted, and what she deserved. He had to do the right thing. For her.
His chest in a vise, he stuffed all of his belongings into a black trash bag.
Standing in the middle of the kitchen, he stared at the fucking flowers one last time. And then he
left a note and his apartment key on the counter beside them.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A little after ten o clock, Makenna finally made her way home. After leaving the firehouse, she d
driven to her favorite Mexican restaurant and had dinner sitting at the bar a table for one just feeling
more depressing than she could stand. Next, she d gone to the bookstore for a while, but finally left
when she realized she was browsing the bargain books for thrillers Caden might like.
Opening the apartment door, the first thing she noticed was that the overhead kitchen light was on.
As was her bedroom light. Caden? Her heart swelled inside her chest as an ocean of sheer relief
rushed through her. Caden? she called again as she hurried back to the bedroom.
But the place was empty.
She returned to the kitchen. Because the second thing she d noticed was a huge vase of roses
sitting on the counter. Among the blooms, she could just make out the words, I love you. ~C
Oh, God, she said, her throat going tight. Caden had been there. He d come to tell her he loved
her. And all the while she d been avoiding coming home.
Makenna pulled the card from the plastic holder. And her stomach dropped to the floor.
Take as much time as you need. I ll be here. And I love you. ~CH
CH. Freaking Cameron. Crap.
Makenna s shoulders sagged. Not Caden. Not Caden, after all.
And then she noticed something else.
A note next to the vase. Dread skittered over her skin as she lifted and read it.
You may not want him, but you deserve more than me.
It wasn t signed, but she didn t need it to be. Makenna recognized Caden s handwriting. And
beneath the note lay his apartment key.
Caden had been there.
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