he rolled over in bed to find Katrina staring back at him with a beguiling expression.
“Good morning, sleepy-head,” she wryly offered. She could tell by the expression on his face that he was confused, which amused her to no end.
“Wha..?”
“Our bed,” she supplied with a soft voice. “No, it wasn’t a dream. No, you didn’t walk; I carried you. And finally, you’re welcome.”
He took a moment to comprehend everything that she said. For one, he couldn’t believe she had transported him to the bedroom without waking him. Never mind the thought of her carrying a grown man to bed seemed utterly silly, if not embarrassing. He imagined that Paige would tease him to no end about it, of course. Finally, he wondered what he was supposed to be grateful for.
“I’m welcome? For what?”
“Helping you get back to sleep, of course.”
“Oh. Thanks. I think.”
He squinted at his watch, noting it was almost nine o’clock, and yawned. “Well, I want you to stop carrying me to bed like some oversized rag doll,” he grumbled.
She affectionately kissed the tip of his nose. “What’s on your agenda for today?”
He pursed his lips. “Well, if it’s a nice day, I thought I might go for a jog. Otherwise, I’m pretty open to suggestions. Why?”
“No reason. Paige would like to spend some time with you, I think.”
“That would be great. You okay with that?”
“Well, she is your surrogate vampire and guardian, after all. So, yes, I’m okay with it.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, and he pressed, “Why do I get the feeling that you two negotiated the terms on this already?”
“Caleb, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
“Mm-hm.”
“Why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll see about getting breakfast ready.” She slipped from beneath the sheets in a single, fluid motion.
Before he could inquire further, she had dressed and was exiting through the doorway leading to the first floor hallway. He stared after her curiously for a few moments before finally getting out of bed.
He shaved, dressed, and went upstairs to find Katrina cooking breakfast for him while Paige sat at the kitchen counter watching her with a lazy expression. She immediately perked up as he walked into the room.
Not wanting to pass her by and seem rude, he exchanged a quick kiss on the cheek with Paige before hugging Katrina from behind. He breathed in the scent of sausage links and eggs as they sizzled away in a large pan on the stovetop.
“Good morning, Cookie,” he teased.
“Cookie?” Katrina paused with a spatula in her hand.
He almost winced from her tone. “Um, it’s just a historic nickname for the wagon trail cooks who used to feed the cowpokes on the cattle drives.”
“Let’s just stick with Kat, shall we?” she suggested.
“Right. Sorry, Kat,” he apologized. He rose up on his toes and kissed the back of her neck.
“Much better,” she responded, neatly slipping the cooked food from the skillet onto a nearby plate.
“I don’t know how you stomach cooking dead meat for him,” Paige bleakly observed while shriveling her nose. “The smell’s horrible.”
“I’m actually getting used to it in small quantities. Still, you do that when you love your mate. Sometimes the small sacrifices are the most meaningful,” Katrina said.
She glimpsed at Paige over her shoulder with a pointed expression.
Caleb discreetly peered at the two women as he filled a glass with ice water at the refrigerator.
“Yeah, makes sense,” Paige off-handedly conceded.
During breakfast, Caleb and Paige discussed their plans for the day. Once sunset arrived, Paige wanted to drive by a couple of local houses that were for sale. She also mentioned taking him out to dinner at a restaurant of his choice after they ran a special errand, about which she was tight-lipped.
It all sounded like fun to him, but he couldn’t help wondering what the errand might be. The last time she had taken him on a mysterious errand, he had been forced to interact with a vampire who had nearly beaten him to death. Granted, that meeting had turned out better than he had expected.
Katrina left the pair to their own devices and occupied herself with activities in her office. Caleb couldn’t help wondering if that might have been part of some arrangement between the two vampires, but he couldn’t say for certain. After breakfast, he talked Paige into joining him to play a medieval role-playing game on the console in the theater room. While he already had a character drawn up for use, Paige needed to create one.
Caleb queued up his iPod on the