After Aiden left, Claire made her way to Colton's room.
In all honesty, she wanted nothing more than to sleep with him. She had controlled her excitement when she saw him earlier because she knew him all too well. It would have saddened him.
Thanks to a series of past events, Colton would always feel guilty and mad at himself when Claire felt sad or unhappy. It didn't matter if it was because of something he did or not. And although a happy reaction to his return was supposed to warm and please him, like any other person would feel, Colton would focus on the fact that her excitement or happiness to see him was only born from her missing him.
It was a very pessimistic mind set that Claire never succeeded in helping him get rid of it.
She slowly stepped inside the room and closed the door behind her. It was dark, but her eyes quickly adjusted. Taking quiet steps, she made her way to the empty side of the bed and slipped under the sheets. She did her best not to wake him as she inched closer to him.
Colton was laying flat on his back. Since his left side was facing the edge of the bed, which was the side with both of his limbs in casts, Claire was laying on his right. She wiggled under the sheets until she found his hand. Thanks to their difference in size, she grabbed three of his fingers with practically her whole hand and sighed. On the outside she was keeping it together, but the truth was her head had been a mess the past few days.
In her mind, she was thanking Aiden for giving her the excuse to come sleep with Colton. It was something she would always do when stressed or when he came back from long work trips.
He was her rock in more ways than one.
She was lost in her thoughts when she felt Colton tightly grip her hand, making her jolt in surprise.
"You seriously suck at being sneaky." Colton's low pitched voice was heard. His voice was so clear and alert that any person would think he was wide awake. But Claire easily noticed he had just woken up and was as tired as when he arrived.
"Sorry." She said in a low and apologetic voice. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"Aren't you too old for slumber parties?" Although he said that, he intertwined their fingers and brought their hands up to his chest with a smile spread across his face.
Claire felt her eyes water a bit. She needed that line more than she needed him to tell her he was okay. She smiled as she shifted closer to him. Pressing her forehead against his forearm she replied. "And aren't you tired of asking me that?"
--------
As soon as Aiden got inside the car, he indicated his driver to head towards his estate. After, he sent a few messages and made a phone call.
"Sir." Jacob answered at the first ring.
"I need everything finished by tonight. I'll be personally inspecting in the morning." It was a simple command that left no room for questioning. Not that Jacob needed to.
"Consider it done." Aiden hung up after he heard his reply.
The drive was a silent one as he was lost in thought. Hopefully, everything would go smoothly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the city's center base.
Lily woke up to the smell of breakfast. The strong savory scent of bacon was mixed in the air with a another sweet scent that made her immediately get out of bed. She hastily went through her morning routine of using the bathroom and brushing her teeth before she dashed out of her bedroom.
Claire was in the kitchen taking something out of the oven when she heard two of the bedroom doors open at the same time making her chuckle.
"Like moths drawn to a flame." She mumbled to herself as she turned around to see both Lily and Anna making their way towards her. "Well good morning sleeping beauty's." She greeted them as she placed the tray of freshly baked muffins over a wooden base on the countertop.
Lily quickly made her way to her side and hugged her leg while looking up at her. Claire couldn't help but smile at her. Her little flower was hugging her with a very messy bed head and firmly holding on to her favorite bunny plushie. She picked her up and peppered her face with kisses earning herself some sweet morning giggles.
"Good morning indeed." Anna said as she looked for the things needed to make coffee and tea. "Bacon, eggs and your famous cinnamon and pecan muffins? Best alarm clock ever." Just like Lily, the amazing smells woke her up and made her drool even before she was able to open her eyes.
Claire noticed Lily wasn't wearing her hearing aids so she cleared a space on the kitchen's island countertop and sat her down. 'Good morning Sweetie. Stay here while I get your ear trumpets.'
Hearing aids have many nicknames. 'Ear trumpet' was Lily's favorite. It was born out of an invention from the 18th century where people would literally place a small trumpet like device in their ear to improve their hearing. Lily found the idea of it so silly, that it always made her smile. Because of that, the nickname stuck. Now every time they talked about her hearing aids, they used that nickname instead.
Claire fetched the devices to help Lily put them on. But before she did, she turned and spoke to Anna. "Can you go get Colton please? I had planned to have us accompany him for some breakfast in bed to avoid moving him, but he insisted on having it out here and not cooped up in his room. I already helped him do his morning routine so you just have to help him out."
Anna was in on the surprise. So when Claire purposely didn't let Lily read her lips she didn't find it odd.
"He should be trying to crawl out by now." Anna said after she nodded. After placing two different kettles on the stove to heat up, she made her way to his room. "The smells must be killing him."
Claire could see Lily was confused as to why Anna was going into her uncles room so she gave her a reason before she could ask. 'She's going to get something.'
------
Anna walked inside the room and immediately felt her mouth go dry.
Colton was sitting in bed leaning against the headboard. He was wearing nothing but sweatpants and a pair of reading glasses as he typed into the laptop he had on his lap. His ashy red hair was messy, his torso was wrapped in bandages and he was only using one hand to type. But even so, Anna couldn't help but think he was sexy.
His chest muscles were pronounced, his shoulders were wide and his serious face while struggling to properly type made him all the more alluring to her. Not to mention how rare it was to see him wearing his reading glasses. They were like a secret weapon that would make any woman's panties drop to the floor.
"No need to just stare." His husky voice snapped her out of her daze. "You can join me anytime you want Buttercup." He lifted his gaze and saw how she was unaffected by his endearing nickname. Something he was used to. "I wouldn't mind in the least."
"Good morning to you too Sir." She replied with the most professional smile she could muster while emphasizing the word 'Sir'. "Your sister asked me to come get you for breakfast. And you should be thankful that she did, if she had caught you working just now there surely wouldn't be any homemade muffins for you."
As Anna explained the reason behind her being there, she moved his IV drip bag from the stand next to him, to the one attached to the wheelchair she had already moved towards him. Colton on the other hand closed and set aside the laptop as he watched her. She could act as professional and unattached as she wanted. It didn't bother him in the least.
Especially right now. She was a sight to see. Something she obviously hadn't noticed yet.
Anna could feel his gaze on her but ignored it. She focused on getting everything ready to get him out of bed. She knew Claire didn't offer to help her this time for the sake of not making Lily suspicious, she was always a curious child. So she had to make sure that things were in place to help him move on her own. Even if he was double her size, she had to make it work somehow.
After getting things in order, she finally looked down at him. She noticed he was starting at her intently. Following his gaze, she realized why he had kept quiet while she finished.
Anna had gone into his room without changing out of her nightwear. She was sporting a maroon satin pajama set that consisted of shorts and a spaghetti strap camisole. Although it wasn't anything scandalous, and she had a a matching robe on, it show cased her body perfectly for him to look at.
Anna hastily covered herself with the robe and tied the fabric belt tightly around her waist. She could feel her face starting to heat up at the realization that he had been looking at her in that state since she walked in. Wanting to literally run away from the embarrassing situation she created for herself, she awkwardly cleared her voice and spoke.
"Here." She said as she offered him both her hands. "They're waiting for you so let's hurry up."
Colton stared at her in silence for a moment before he grabbed one of her hands with his good arm. But to Anna's confusion, he made no attempt to get out of the bed. He simply laid there, staring at their hands joined together.