Chapter 34 · License

"You're still here."

I said it like an accusation, because it was one. Cade Vane was standing in my kitchen at seven in the morning in yesterday's shirt, unbuttoned enough that I could see the line of his collarbone, and he did not look like a man who'd made a mistake last night. He looked like a man who'd won something.

"Coffee's bad," he said. "You should fire whoever sold you these beans."

"Get out."

"Maya's still asleep. I checked on her."

That stopped me cold, both hands flat on the counter. "You went in her room."

"She kicked her blanket off. I put it back." He said it flat, like it wasn't a violation, like he hadn't just walked into my daughter's room without asking, like the whole night hadn't already been more than I agreed to give him. "Don't look at me like that, Avery. I'm not going to hurt her."

"You don't get to decide what you are to her."

"Actually," he said, and reached into his jacket on the back of my chair, "I do. That's the whole point of this."

He put the envelope on the counter between us.