He chuckled. “I can see that smile of yours, so I know you’re awake.”
With lazy slowness I opened my eyes.
Caine’s face hovered above mine, amusement visible in the little crinkles around his eyes. “Good morning.”
I groaned. “Why is it morning? We only went to sleep a few hours ago.”
His lips twitched at my grumpiness. “I’m well aware.”
I closed my eyes at his masculine satisfaction. “You can thump on your chest with smug pride later. For now let me sleep.”
“I would.” He squeezed my waist. “But Effie’s downstairs and she’s making us breakfast.”
“What?” I slammed upright and Caine pulled back just in time before my forehead cracked against his. I noted he was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants. “How long have you been awake?”
“Since Effie let herself into the apartment and I had to move fast to stop her from coming in here.”
I blanched at the thought. “She has a key.”
He snorted. “It’s Effie—what do you think?”
“I think she has a key and a spare,” I muttered.
Caine’s eyes were bright with mirth and my grumpiness dissipated at the sight. “I thought you loved Effie.”
“I do.” I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “I’d love her more, though, if she’d let me sleep a few more hours.”
“Her breakfast will make the tiredness worth it,” he promised, and grabbed my hand to gently haul me up. I winced and he instantly stopped. “You okay? Did I hurt you?”
Not exactly.
I slid gently off the bed. “I’m feeling a little sore, that’s all.”
He frowned, understanding. “Oh.”
Sensing where his thoughts had gone, I patted his arm in reassurance as I passed him. “It was worth every twinge, believe me.”
His arm shot out, sliding around my waist to stop me. I looked up at him in question. He still looked concerned. “You’re sure you’re okay? I got a little carried away last night.”
I grinned. I could still feel the throbbing between my legs as a reminder. “I know. I was there. And trust me … you can get carried away like that with me anytime.”
Caine’s hand tightened on my waist.
“Last night was amazing,” I insisted.
The tension leaked out of him and a smirk pulled at his lips. “Yeah, it was,” he agreed, his voice deep with satisfaction.
“Are you two kids coming down for breakfast or what?” Effie shouted from downstairs.
My eyes widened. “She has quite the pair of lungs on her for an old bird.”
Caine tapped his ear. “She also has superhuman hearing, so I’d cool it with the ‘old bird’ comments.”
“Right.” I pressed my lips together and looked around the room at my discarded clothes. An uncomfortable thought hit me. “I have nothing appropriate to wear.”
In answer Caine wandered into his walk-in. He came out a few seconds later and thrust a Red Sox T-shirt at me.
I stared at it, aghast. “A T-shirt. You want me to wear a T-shirt.”
With an impatient huff Caine rolled it up and then none too gently yanked it over my head. “It’s just Effie.”
Annoyed, I pushed my arms through the sleeves and jerked it down over my body. With my being tall, it only reached the tops of my thighs. I shot him a look. “Are you kidding me?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly pleased with himself. “It’s very sexy.”
Ignoring the familiar thrill that shot through me at his appreciative gaze, I retorted, “Yeah, and that would be fine if I were just having breakfast with you. But I’m not. I’m having breakfast with your pseudograndmother.”
“And she’s the least grandmotherly person I know.”
“Not true,” I argued. “She bakes and cooks.”
“Well, if that’s the qualification, every top male chef in the city is a grandmother.” He shrugged and moved past me. “Come on, I’m starving.”
“Don’t you have a pair of sweatpants I could borrow?”
He glanced back over his shoulder at me, his eyes hungrily roaming over my legs. “Nope.”
There was no freaking way I was going down to breakfast with Effie half-naked! Knowing exactly what his game was, I put my hands on my waist and cocked my hip. “Do you really want to chance getting turned on in Effie’s company?”
He stopped with a grunt and faced me with an arrogant quirk of his right eyebrow. “I’m a grown man, Lexie. As gorgeous as you are I think I can control my libido for a few hours.”
I tapped my chin in mocking retrospection. “I’m sure I’ve heard that somewhere before …”
“Lex—”
“But if you’re sure you’ll be fine …” I shrugged and lowered myself onto the fat armchair in the corner of the room. I slowly crossed my legs and the T-shirt rode up to the tops of my thighs, almost to crotch level. “I mean it’s just a little skin. And if I have to bend down”—I stood back up to demonstrate and the shirt rode up, revealing my ass in the high-cut panties—“it certainly won’t remind you of the way you bent me over your bed last night and had your wicked—”
“Fine,” Caine snapped, a telltale flush visible on his cheekbones. “I’ll find you some damn sweatpants.”
I grinned at his back as he wandered back into the walk-in. “A wise decision, Mr. Carraway.”
“Lexie, good to see you, sweetheart,” Effie greeted me warmly as I walked toward her wearing the Red Sox T-shirt and sweatpants that were held up at the waist with one of Caine’s ties. She wrapped her strong arms around me, enveloping me in her familiar sweet scent of vanilla and sugar.
“You too.” I gave her a squeeze and stepped back, my eyes automatically going to the dining table. It was covered with food. There were pancakes, maple syrup, eggs over easy, bacon, muffins …
My belly suddenly let out a hungry little rumble.
“Effie, this looks amazing as always.” Caine kissed her papery cheek and then immediately homed in on the table.
As he settled in at the head of it, I shot Effie an amused smile. “I guess I should learn to cook.”
She grinned back at me. “Somehow I think you’re doing just fine without it, but if you want a teacher I could show you some of my recipes.”
“I’d love that.” I followed her to the table and we settled at either side of Caine, across from each other. Feeling suddenly ravenous, I dug in with as much enthusiasm as Caine did. Effie’s pancakes practically melted in my mouth, they were so fluffy, her bacon was crisp and full of flavor, and her eggs were just how I liked them. I dipped my toast into egg yolk. “Your husband must have been a very happy man, Effie.”
She swallowed a piece of bacon and nodded, her eyes glinting. “Oh, very. We had a good life together. A great life.”
“You met at the theater, right?”
“There’s more to it than that.” She smiled mysteriously.
I was curious, but I didn’t want to intrude where I wasn’t welcome. “That sounds intriguing.”