“Then, he was naughty because he wasn’t listening.”
“That’s right.” Laughing, I reached up and gently stroked his cheek. “Did you have fun with Sam before the vicious tiger attack?”
“I guess.” Henry shrugged and kept petting Charlie. “He’s nice. He apologized for snooping into my life. He was just worried.”
“Yeah, Sam is a little worrywart. But you’ll get used to it. It just means he cares.”
“I know, he said that we’re family now.” Henry frowned and bit his lip before he looked at me again. “He said that his parents died and that he didn’t have a family. Until he moved here and found Jakob and the Rainbow Room.”
“Kind of like you, Cupcake.” I winked at him, and Henry blushed. Then he shrugged, but there was a smile on his face. “Only you have me and not Jakob.”
“I’m glad because he scared Charlie, and Charlie likes you.”
“I like Charlie, too.” Tapping his nose with my finger, I smiled at Henry. “And I like Charlie’s Little Daddy. A lot.”
“So, Sam was right.”
“About what?”
“He said that we’re together.” Henry swallowed and bit his lip. Gently, I reached out and freed it from his teeth. “I mean…I want to be together with you, but, um, I wasn’t sure if you are my Daddy, does it mean that we’re…you know…”
“A couple?” He nodded. “That’s exactly what it means, Henry. I thought I made myself clear when I told you that I want to be your Daddy.”
“But being my Daddy doesn’t mean boyfriend. You can be my Daddy without being my boyfriend.”
“You have a point, and I guess that can be true for other people. It’s not that way for me. If I wanted a Boy to just play with from time to time, I could go to one of the clubs in town. But that’s not what I want. I want everything. A Little Boy to spoil and a boyfriend to love.”
“You said it again.”
“What?”
“Love.”
“Maybe that’s because I’m falling in love with you.” I winked, and his eyes got huge—my sweet, sweet Henry. Leaning up, I softly kissed him before I sat back down again. “Now, boyfriend, are you ready to get back out to Jakob and Sam? The lasagna should be ready soon, and I need to finish the salad.”
“Yeah, um, can we eat fast so we can be alone?”
“The way Jakob was acting, he probably bled out, so lunch should be quick.”
For a second, Henry just stared at me, and then he burst out laughing. The sound scared Charlie because he jumped off Henry’s lap. But Charlie seemed to be just a bit put off but unharmed. Charlie went over to the daybed, jumped up, and curled up into a ball. Henry watched him for a second, and then he turned to me again.
“Let’s just hope that Jakob survives because I’d hate to see Sam lose his Daddy.”
“Me, too, Cupcake. Me, too.”
Even though Henry missed it, I didn’t. He just admitted that he cared about Sam. Mission accomplished. Henry got himself a new friend.
Chapter 17
Henry
Thankfully, Jakob hadn’t bled out while we were away. We made our way back into the kitchen. We found Sam had put some band-aids on the scratches. He used some cute ones with ducks. When I looked, I caught Jakob frowning at them. Served him right that he felt ridiculous wearing them. Jakob shouldn’t have touched Charlie. Caden pressed a kiss to my temple, but before I could look at him, he steered me in the other direction, right into a smiling Sam.
“Caden said the lasagna will be a while yet. I was wondering if you would show me around. Your apartment is cool.”
Blushing, I quickly glanced around. But everything was in order. I looked back at Sam, and he seemed to be excited to get a tour. Still, I glanced at Caden, who smiled and nodded. Turning back to Sam, I shrugged.
“It’s not much.”
“Are you kidding? This place is amazing.” Sam grabbed my hand and started walking back to the entrance. “An elevator right into your apartment. That’s so cool.”
“It was easier to integrate it into the alarm system.”
“Oh yeah, good idea. You’d need lots more cameras to cover a flight of stairs. Not to mention the servers you’d need for that. That would be a bummer.”
For the first time, since I’d met Sam, I caught a glimpse of Sam’s adult side. He was still cute. But at the same time, much more intense, and his gaze was critical. He walked over to the security panel. I followed his gaze in wonder as he scrutinized the security panel and the cameras. It was funny to watch how he shoved his glasses up his nose and tilted his head to the side. After a moment, Sam turned back around to me.
“Is this connected to nine-one-one?”
“No. It’s connected to a private company that installed it. I thought…” Sighing, I shrugged again. “I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself or this place, so I choose that option. If the alarm goes off, there is a silent call to the security company.”
“Good. That’s good. Once Jakob and I have set up our office, I can install a second silent call directly to us.”
“What?”
“Oh, Jakob and I are going to open our own private investigation company, and we’re going to work for Caden a lot, so it would only make sense. The silent call would go to both the security company and us.” Sam smiled at me. “Family, Henry. We keep each other safe.”
It felt still weird to hear him talk about family, so I choose not to respond and change the subject.
“Do you want to see the rest of my place?”
I showed him the guest bathroom, a little utility room with my washer and dryer, and then we were back in the central area—the open kitchen, leading over into the dining area and then into the living space. Sam admired the colossal cat tree and my working area. The only rooms
