Page 52 of My Favorite Hero

“It was the least I could do. Once again, I apologize.”

I hated formal Casey. Laced-up, upset Casey.

“If I’d known you’d bake me cookies, I would have told you about it sooner.”

“You didn’t tell me. I found it,” she protested, sounding more like herself.

“Maybe I knew you would,” I teased.

“Whatever, Thorne,” she scoffed.

“You know, a coffee would go great with these cookies.”

She stepped back. “I can make you one.”

“Great.”

I followed her in and looked at the armoire. “It does look better there,” I said. “But how are you going to hide this door?”

“I’ll paint the wall and put a little table here.” She indicated the space to the left side. “I ordered a cool little lamp that works on batteries I’ll hang over it. I’ll put a long piece of art or something in the middle of the door. I don’t expect many visitors anyway. It’s just me.”

We walked into the living room, and I laughed at the sight of Miller snuggled with his best friend. “He’ll want access.”

She shrugged. “He’ll forget about it.”

She headed to the kitchen, and I trailed behind her, stopping at her computer. “What are all the hieroglyphics?”

“Code. I’m writing some new software for a client.”

I studied the screen. “I don’t understand it.”

She laughed. “I’m not surprised.”

I sat at the table, astonished how comfortable I was in her kitchen. She handed me a coffee and sat down with one of her own. With a wink, I offered her a cookie. “I think these look delicious,” I teased. “I picked them up this morning.”

She smiled, relaxing a little, but she didn’t take a cookie. I did and bit into it. “Chocolate chip,” I grunted. “My favorite.”

We didn’t talk for a moment, and I ate the cookie with gusto. It was thick and dense, yet chewy. Laden with chips. No nuts, which was good. I didn’t like nuts in my chocolate chip cookies.

When I finished, I rested my elbows on the table. “Casey…”

She looked up, frowning.

I held up my hand. “I’m not upset. I realized last night was a set of unfortunate instances.” I paused with a chuckle. “Something you seem to excel at.”

“Only around you,” she protested. “Normally, I’m pretty low-maintenance.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Silence fell again, and I cleared my throat. “I have a favor to ask.”

“Okay.”

“The probie is on my next two shifts,” I started to explain, but she interrupted me.

“Miller can stay with us.”

“Great.”