Hidden Desires (40 page)

"Oh yes, she wanted to thank you for taking care of her when she was sick. Brooke dear, she doesn't seem rude to me." Harriet said, sitting down next to Brooke.

"She wanted to... really?" The blonde asked in amazement.

"She was very pleasant, but I sense a sadness."

"Mother, what did you say to her?" Brooke wondered nervously.

"I didn't say anything!" Harriet answered defensively.

"Then where did you get that idea?" Brooke raised an eyebrow.

"Its just a hunch. Sweetie, I think Cayden is afraid of love, and getting hurt. Your father said that to me but I didn't believe him. You're going to have to go slow with her."

"Ma, everybody's afraid of getting hurt. That's nothing new."

"Trust me. She knows she's difficult and doesn't want to get involved for fear of getting hurt." Harriet explained.

"How do you know all of this? Mom! You didn't question her did you? Oh no!" Brooke panicked.

"No! I did not. She just mentioned something about animals loving unconditionally and I just figured..."

"I can't believe you could deduce something like that from a simple statement about animals."

"It was the
way
she said it honey."

"Wait a minute, she had a decent conversation with you? She wasn't unnecessarily abrupt?"

"No, not at all. Quite charming."

"Hmph. Go figure." Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Shame on you for not inviting her over here, but don't worry I took care of that." Harriet smiled proudly.

"Oh no... no way. She's not being subjected to you in person! It was bad enough you played analyst on the phone."

"Brooke, I'd like to meet Cayden." Bert piped up.

No!" Brooke answered quickly, then thought a second. "I'm sorry dad, I know you're only looking out for me."
Hmm, so she was downright charming to my mother? It may be a very good thing to invite her over here then... she can't get obnoxious with me in front of them...
"I'll think about it, alright?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Harriet said excitedly.

"I haven't said yes yet!" Brooke waved her arms around.

"Well, do call her back honey, she expects your call."

"I will, ma."
How strange. Cayden called to thank me, has a lovely little chat with my mother.... accepts an invitation... what's going on? I need to think.
"I'm going to take Fred out for a while."

B
ROOKE WALKED SLOWLY with Fred, she had a lot of info to digest. She went over the conversation in the diner with furrowed brows, then what her mother had said. No matter how she looked at it, it was obvious, Cayden was afraid.
Afraid of me... afraid of love...
Brooke sighed heavily.
I need to make her comfortable with me. She needs to know there's no pressure for anything serious. I have to make it all about having fun.
Brooke nodded to herself, pleased at her decision, then she giggled at her next thought.
She wants me, I don't have to worry about that, I just need her to relax when it comes to us. Us. What us? There isn't an us.
Brooke pursed her lips, then raised an eyebrow.
There's definitely sex, she's hot for me for sure, but sex isn't an option right now... that's going to take a while... isn't it? Hmm.
The blonde started walking back to her mom's place with a slow smile spreading across her lips.
Not really, it's certainly there. We get so carried away with a kiss... given the opportunity, there's no telling... yeah right. If I can keep her in front of me after the damned kiss. WAIT! I got it... Cayden's uptight about sex! Why didn't I think of that?
Brooke's eyes widened.
That's the problem here! She only runs when sex becomes involved. Ooo, she needs to loosen up about sex, and THAT I can handle.

 
*  *  *

Cayden appeared to be going about her day, but if you looked closely, you'd notice she hadn't strayed more than two feet from the phone. She even took it to the bathroom with her, giving La La the excuse that you never know who's going to call and offer her a million dollars to eat a bug. With no incoming calls by dinnertime, Cayden began pouting her way into the kitchen. She stuck her head in the freezer and narrowed her eyes at the food as if it was the food's fault that Brooke didn't call. She picked up practically everything and put it down again, finally deciding on a cheeseburger and tater tots, with a healthy helping of pickles to make her feel better. She noticed that the burgers were fused in one hunk, Wade apparently threw them together when he put them away and try as she might, she couldn't pry them apart. She growled now, having no choice but to cook two burgers. "Well Wade, you get dinner by default." In her sour mood, she briefly thought about burning his on purpose but then sanity made her realize it wasn't his fault any more than the frozen burgers which she was banging rhythmically on the counter. If Brooke didn't want to talk to her, it was her own damned fault for acting like an ass. She threw the meat one more ugly look as she put it in the microwave to defrost, then sat and stared at the phone until the oven beeped.

Wade ran in the door, eye's wide and tongue hanging out. "Did you call? What happened? Do you have a date? Did she fall down in a faint when you thanked her and then hit her head and now she's in the hospital with a big white bandage?"

Cayden snorted. "You're so funny I just wet myself."

"Well?" He yelled as he ran into his room to change out of his work clothes.

"She wasn't home, I left a message with the mother." She speared a pickle out of the jar.

Wade snatched the pickle and began to eat it. "You spoke to the
mother
? What was she like?"

"Actually, she wasn't that bad. Oh, she questioned me, but there was no inquisition."

Cayden moved away from the counter and Wade noticed two plates of food. "Oh my my! First breakfast and now this!" He feigned shock.

"You sabotaged the burgers, I had no choice." she shoved a plate at him and sat down with her own.

"You have more pickles than me." He pouted.

"I'm allowed. I cooked." Cayden said, trying to discretely locate the phone.

Wade sat down, then jumped up, pulling the cordless out from under him. He raised an eyebrow at her as she grabbed the phone away and put it on her lap. "New best friend?" He asked.

"Don't be a wise ass."

Wade just noticed there was something seriously wrong. "Where's La La?" he asked meekly, remembering Cayden's threat.

"Don't worry, I didn't off him." She chuckled. "At least not yet. I locked him in your room. He was driving me insane for tater tots."

Cayden checked the phone for a dial tone as Wade ran inside to free his cat. The tall brunette waited for the sound of the fat cat galloping through the house. La La didn't disappoint her. Cayden watched with unconcealed glee as he came flying into the kitchen, attempted a screeching halt at her feet, but instead slid helplessly across the linoleum and slammed into the stove. "Serves you right," she told Wade as he tried to console his dizzy cat. "You shoulda took a tot in there to appease him."

Just then the phone rang and Wade tried to take it away from Cayden. They fought over the phone until they heard the tell-tale beep that in the fracas someone had turned it on. They both froze and finally Cayden growled, yanked the phone away just as Wade let go and she flew back into the fridge. "Ooof!" was the greeting.

"Hello?" came the tentative reply.

Cayden glared at her snickering room mate and rubbed her sore shoulder. "Uh hi."

"Cayden? It's Brooke."

"I know!" She said with more enthusiasm than she wanted.

Wade started dancing around the kitchen singing, "Its Brooke! Brooke's on the phone!"

"Shut up" Cayden hissed, then paled. "Uh.. not you... its just that Wade was..." She blushed.

"No, its alright. Did I catch you at a bad time?" Brooke wondered at the odd behavior.

"No, its okay." She assured.

"So, I hear you called, mom hasn't stopped talking about it all day. You left quite an impression."

"Well... you know... she's a mother and all."

"Mom can be a pain in the ass. Thank you for being polite to her, I know it must have been hard for you." Brooke teased. "

"She was nice enough."

The silence grew and became uncomfortable. Brooke licked her lips and continued. "So, you called..."

"Yeah, I um, just wanted to thank you for bringing me soup and stuff." Cayden said awkwardly.

Wade applauded silently in the background and Cayden tried to shoo him away.

"Aw, it was my pleasure, even if you didn't behave."

"I didn't feel well." Cayden explained.

"I knew that. So, listen, maybe we can get together again under better circumstances?"

Cayden was greatly relieved that Brooke had asked and she didn't have to. "Sure. Maybe we can have dinner or something."

Wade swooned. "She did it.. she really did it." he pretended to weep.

Cayden rolled her eyes and left the kitchen for privacy.

"That sounds good, do you cook?" Brooke wondered.

"No, aside form the occasional burger and breakfast, I'm not that great. Wade's the chef."

"He's a chef?"

"Oh, not really, he's the bra police, but he's a good cook too."

Brooke laughed. "Bra Police?"

"Yeah." Cayden laughed too. She liked how it felt when Brooke laughed. "He's a security guard in a lingerie shop."

"Ooo, really? It may pay to get on his good side." Brooke said with a grin.

"If you like that sort of thing." Cayden replied. She got a mental glimpse of Brooke in a camisole and stockings and had to swallow hard so she wouldn't groan out loud. "Besides, you don't have to work too hard, he loves you already."

"Does that help my case with you? I mean that your friends like me?"

"It sure doesn't hurt." Cayden said quietly.

Silence once again took over and Brooke knew Cayden was getting weird. "So, maybe we could all get together as a group, you know, Wade and Jodie, me and you. Would that be cool with you?"

Cayden felt much more at ease with the suggestion. "Sure, that sounds great!"

"I have to confess, I want to see you before this weekend, can we get together Wednesday?"

Cayden blushed guiltily, as much as she was afraid, she wanted to see Brooke right now, not Wednesday. "That's fine. I'll tell Wade and Jodie."

"I'll meet you at work then. It's a date!" Brooke said happily.

"Yeah." Cayden smiled brightly. "It is."

 
*  *  *

Brooke hung up the phone, giddy with excitement. She scooped Fred up off of the floor and began jumping up and down on her bed. "I have a date with Cayden! How cool is that?" She stopped jumping when Fred's ears flattened in a panic. "Sorry little buddy, I got carried away." She sat down and smiled at Cayden's almost monosyllabic half of the conversation. "Just got to get her to relax. That should be easy, especially with Wade and Jodie there. She should open up much easier. Jodie tells me Cayden has a really neat sense of humor, I bet I'd like it...I bet you'd like it too." she told the dog, who licked the tip of her nose. "You know something Freddy, I think Cayden is worth all the trouble I'm going through. I just feel it inside... and don't ask me exactly what
it
is, cuz I don't know. All I know is that
its
there."