Page 12

Chapter Eight

Lauren put her laptop in her bag and glanced around her office, making sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind. Not seeing anything, she looped the strap over her shoulder, picked up her insulated cup and keys, and headed for the door. She winced slightly as she felt a twinge of soreness from the night before, still, the memory of how good Cypher had made her feel, both the night before and before he’d made her coffee and left this morning made her smile.

Cypher’s words about her safety when there was no one around echoed in her mind as she headed for the car, so she kept her keys in her hand and ready, just in case. She made it to the car without seeing anyone, and let herself inside. After starting the car and locking the doors, she took a deep breath and thought about what she needed to pick up at the grocery store on her way home. If Cypher was coming over, she’d need a few more things. She had no idea if he planned to stay for dinner, or if she could talk him into it, but she wanted to be prepared just in case.

By five, she’d done her shopping, made it back home and started her usual weekend chores. The hardest had been when it came time to strip her bed. She’d debated leaving it an extra day or two, because she didn’t want to lose Cypher’s scent on her sheets so soon. But she wouldn’t have time later in the week and couldn’t stand the thought of sleeping on these sheets for another week.

In the end, she’d forced herself to stop thinking about it and stripped the bed. She’d just started browning the ground beef for dinner when a loud rumble drew her attention. Checking outside, she found herself smiling to herself when she saw Cypher pull up to the curb in front of the house and pull off his helmet. She opened the door and called out.

“I’ve got dinner on the stove, but the door’s open.” She left it ajar and went back to the kitchen. She was standing in front of the stove adding seasoning to the pan when he came up behind her. Cypher’s arms slid around her waist and his face appeared over her shoulder, beside hers as he looked down at the pan.

“Whatcha making?”

“This will be a meat sauce. I’m debating whether or not to make lasagna or just throw some pasta in water and go with spaghetti. Do you have a preference?”

“Two questions,” Cypher said without moving or taking his eyes off the skillet.

“What?”

“You can make lasagna? And are you inviting me to dinner?”

She looked at him. “Yes to both.”

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He kissed her cheek. “I’d loved lasagna, but if you don’t feel like that much trouble, spaghetti is fine.”

Lauren nodded and continued stirring the meat.

“Lasagna it is. It’s what I want too, but I was afraid you wouldn’t like that much cheese.”

Cypher chuckled. “I’m not sure such a thing exists. Can I see your phone and watch while you cook? I found a way I can set it up so you won’t need to text that you’re okay after odd hours appointments, and you can still be safe.”

“Sure. My phone’s over there.” She motioned to the bar where she’d set it when she’d come into the kitchen to start cooking. She unfastened her watch and handed it to him. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to set it up so all you have to do is hit the side button three times, and it will send an SOS.” He kissed the side of her face again, then took her watch to the bar. “Mind if I sit?”

“Not at all. Want something to drink? I thought about picking up something for you while I was at the store today but didn’t know what you prefer.”

“What you have is fine. I wouldn’t mind a Mountain Dew, but I’ll get it. You don’t need to wait on me. Besides you’re busy.”

“They’re in the fridge.” Lauren glanced around and spotted her cup.

“You want one?” Cypher said from where he stood in front of the open refrigerator.

“I’m good.” She lifted her cup to show him. He asked for the code on her phone, and she gave it to him.

“How often do you meet with clients away from your office? Especially these odd hours appointments?”

“For official appointments, rarely. I will sometimes meet someone in a public place, but that’s rare, because of privacy laws and patient confidentiality.”

He grunted but didn’t say anything, leaving Lauren to wonder what that meant. She shook her head and finished with the meat, then added tomato sauce and spices.

“Hey, if I need to use that, who is it going to contact? You know there’s already an emergency system in it, right?”

“Yeah, but that goes to 911. The one I’m setting up won’t go to emergency services. It will come to the Warriors. It will signal me and whoever is on security duty, that’s all.”

“Security duty?”

“Usually our enforcers, sometimes prospects, depending on what’s going on. That way if I don’t get the message for whatever reason, someone will. I’m also setting it, so it sends your GPS coordinates. That will make it even more useful, you won’t be limited to only using it while you’re at your office. It’s a good thing this has service of its own. It would still work if it were Bluetooth only, but with service, you don’t have to be near your phone. It will send the message even if someone’s taken or destroyed the other device.” He worked with the phone and watch for a few minutes. She gathered cheeses and a couple of eggs from the fridge and started mixing the filling.