the front door unlocked when you’re alone.”
Brooke started, hearing the voice. She turned around and saw Cade standing in her office doorway, looking as handsome as ever in another one of his tailored suits. His dark brown hair was a little mussed, presumably from being outside, and her first thought was that she wanted to sink her fingers into it and get him mussed even more.
She cleared her throat.
“I see you’re still sneaking up on people when they’re working,” she said. “And for the record, I’m not alone. Ian’s here, too.”
Appearing somewhat appeased by this, Cade stepped into her office and shut the door behind him. “I thought I’d see how things went with the arrest. Did everything go okay with Sergeant Ross?”
“Sergeant Ross was very professional and discreet. Thank you again, for that.”
“Why the need for discretion?” Cade asked curiously. He sat on the edge of her desk. “I would’ve thought you would relish the idea of publicly setting an example of someone who stole from the company.”
Normally, yes. “I heard the guy was sobbing. I’ve hung out with his wife a few times . . . I guess I just wanted to do something.” She leaned her head against the chair. “I don’t know how you hear these stories every day, Morgan. Clearly, I would make a terrible prosecutor.”
“Probably.” He reached out and ran his thumb along her cheek. “But I like your soft spot, anyway.”
Their eyes met and held until Cade spoke. “You look burned-out. Maybe you should call it a night.”
She looked at the clock, and then stared at him in bewilderment. “At six thirty?”
“At six thirty.”
He held out his hand.
“It’s not even dark out,” she said. “I can’t leave now, especially after the day we’ve had. It would be unseemly.”
Cade’s mouth curved at the edges, but he still said nothing.
She bit her lip, contemplating. “Can I at least bring work home for later?”
“Nope.”
“You expect me to leave my briefcase behind?” Impossible.
“Yep.”
Maybe she was out of sorts after having a rough day. Or maybe it was his matter-of-fact tone. But suddenly . . . going home sounded really appealing. “Okay.”
With that, she slid her hand into his, grabbed her purse, and left.
She made it all the way to the reception area before panic set in.
“I forgot to shut down my computer,” she remembered.
“It’ll be fine in sleep mode for one night.”
“I think I saw something in my mail inbox on the way out. It could be important.”
“It was just the new ABA Journal.”
Brooke exhaled as they stepped into the elevator. “Right. So, what’s the plan for tonight?”
“You’re going to relax and do nothing.”
She laughed, then saw that Cade was serious. “Oh . . . see, I don’t do ‘nothing’ so well.”
“You’re a smart woman. You’ll figure it out.”
She looked at him for a long moment. “Why are you doing this?”
“Why did you make me take the ibuprofen the other night?” he asked.
Still, with the ibuprofen? “Because you needed it. You were just too stubborn to admit that.”
With a satisfied smile, Cade held her gaze.
“Exactly.”
* * *
BROOKE STARED SKEPTICALLY at the rising water.
She was not a bath kind of girl, hadn’t been a bath kind of girl since she was, oh, about seven. Baths were so . . . idle.
And, apparently, they were also part of Cade’s “evening of nothing” plan.
She was not on board with this.
There was a knock at the door, then Cade stuck his head inside and saw her standing there in her bathrobe. “Oh. See, you’re supposed to get in the tub.”
Ha, ha. “Can I at least bring my phone in with me?”
“No. But you can have this.” He handed her a glass of wine.
“How long do you expect me to stay in there?” she asked.
Cade shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe twenty minutes? Now stop stalling and get in.” He smacked her rear on his way out the door.
Stop stalling and get in, Brooke mimicked to herself as she slipped off the robe and climbed into the tub. Pushy, bossy man, expecting everyone to just fall in line with whatever he—
Oh my God, the water felt good.
She set her wineglass on the edge of the tub, sinking in deeper. Okay, fine. She supposed maybe she could survive twenty minutes of this.
She leaned back and rested her head against the basin. The hot water wrapped around her like a cocoon, relaxing her muscles as steam filled the air in the tranquil, quiet room.
So this was what it felt like to do nothing.
Brooke reached out