The cabin was deep in the woods, the kind of place where cell service goes to die and the trees look like they're whispering about you. It wasn't some cozy little Pinterest cottage either. It was all dark wood and sharp glass, looking like a box of secrets dropped in the middle of nowhere.
Caden killed the lights and the engine long before we hit the porch. He sat there for a minute, just listening to the woods breathe.
"Stay put," he muttered.
I rolled my eyes, feeling that familiar spark of "high-vibration" annoyance. "Yeah, okay, let me just run into the dark forest with a five year old and a stuffed unicorn. Great plan, Caden."
He didn't laugh. He never laughs. He just grabbed a duffel bag from the back and moved toward the house like a ghost. A minute later, the porch light flickered once, then twice. The signal.
I unbuckled Maisie, who was basically a pile of mushy sleep at this point, and carried her inside. The air was freezing, smelling like pine and old dust. Caden was already moving through the rooms, checking locks and closing heavy curtains like he was prepping for a siege.
"There's a problem," he said, appearing in the hallway.
"Just one?" I asked, shifting Maisie's weight. "Because I've got a whole list, starting with the fact that my life is currently a dumpster fire."
He gestured to the only open door. "The heater in the secondary room is shot. The pipes froze over the winter and I haven't had time to pull the data on the repairs. There's only one room that's warm."
I looked into the master bedroom. It had a massive fireplace and a bed that looked big enough to park a truck on. But it was still just one bed.
"Oh, hell no," I whispered. "You expect us to share? Is that part of your protocol too?"
Caden's eyes darkened, that jet black stare making my stomach do a slow, dizzying flip. He looked at the bed, then back at me. "It's forty degrees out there, Amara. You're still recovering from smoke inhalation and your kid is exhausted. I'm not letting you freeze because you're worried about my 'vibes'."
"My vibes are fine, it's your lack of them that's the issue," I snapped, though my heart was already starting that frantic drum solo against my ribs.
I laid Maisie down on the far side of the mattress, tucking Pinky under her arm. She didn't even stir. I stood there for a second, feeling completely out of place in my black dress, looking at the man who was currently stripping off his tactical vest.
Without the gear, Caden looked even bigger. More real. The shirt he was wearing clung to every muscle, and for a second, I forgot how to use my words. I saw the way he looked at me, his gaze dropping to my lips before he caught himself.
"I'll stay on top of the covers," he said, his voice dropping to that low, gravelly rumble that made my skin prickle. "You and the kid take the rest. I'm just here for the perimeter."
"Right. The perimeter," I muttered, kicking off my shoes.
I crawled under the heavy duvet, staying as close to the edge as possible. The fire was crackling in the hearth, throwing orange shadows across the room. Caden climbed in on the other side, lying perfectly still. He was so close I could feel the heat radiating off him like a furnace.
"Caden?"
"Go to sleep, Amara."
"Why didn't you leave us? Honestly? You could have just dropped us at a hotel in another state. Why take us to your secret fortress?"
The silence stretched out, long and heavy. I thought he was going to give me some line about "variables" or "extraction," but he didn't.
"Because I knew I'd keep looking for you if I didn't," he whispered.
I felt a jolt of pure heat go through me. No slang, no robot talk, just a truth that felt way more dangerous than any sniper rifle. I turned my head, seeing his profile in the firelight. He looked like a man who was losing a war with himself.
"Goodnight, Robot," I said softly.
"Goodnight, Amara," he replied.
I closed my eyes, and for the first time in years, I felt like I didn't have to keep my guard up. I had a man who treated the world like a mission and me like a glitch he didn't want to fix. It was messy, it was crazy, and it was definitely not what I planned. But as I drifted off, I knew one thing for sure.
I was falling for him, and there was no protocol in the world that could stop it.