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fear I hurt Cayden. I tried to steady my hand. No use. I’d
been shaken up by the event, but this shaking was fear I had disappointed
Cayden at the very least.
    I took a deep breath and turned the knob. Cayden
stood at the balcony doors, his back to me. He ran his left hand though his
hair, anxious .
    “Cayden,” I said in a whisper, not sure I could
find the strength for my whole voice.
    I threw my bag and my coat. They hit the ground
at my feet. Cayden’s shoulders seemed to stiffen before he became motionless.
The palms of my hands felt clammy, so I swiped them down my hips, using my
jeans to remove the dank sensation from my skin. I wondered if Cayden would
turn around, then slowly he turned. The cowardly part of me wanted to back out
of the room, while the more logical grown-up side knew I needed to stay. Face
the music, so to speak, but when Cayden looked at me I saw the appearance of a
destroying angel. Beauty and ferocity, the only words to explain his demeanor.
    Cayden’s lips were pressed together in a hard
straight line. Jaw clenched. It looked as though he was biting down on steel
and would spit bullets. Cayden’s dark eyebrows pushed together in an angry brow
creasing configuration. The expression seemed livid. I watched as the dark
blue-gray color of Cayden’s eyes flashed before he closed them. He pinched the
top bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. He didn’t move. I
experienced the beating of my heart in my throat. Each beat counting down the
time in excruciating slow motion. Cayden finally seemed to take a breath as he
dropped his hand and gazed down at the floor.
    “Winter,” he said. I saw the effort it took him
to speak with me. His body tensed as though he was trying hard to hold back
waves of anger. “Do you have any idea what you have done to me tonight?”
    “I am so sorry, Cayden. Please, you need to
understand how horrible I feel. There is no excuse for what I did. I know I
should not have done it. I don’t know what I was thinking, I was stupid.” My
words were coming out in a rush.
    “Are you hurt?” he asked.
    “No.”
    “You do realize your little stunt just about
killed me.” Cayden paused, still not looking at me. The tone in his voice was
edgy and eerie. “I thought I was going to lose my mind when Jayden told me you
were not here at the estate, and no one knew where you were. I was completely
distraught until I heard you were finally with Langdon.” He seemed to exhale.
“I owe the studio some new equipment due to my little anger outburst.”
    “You destroyed some equipment?”
    “A table, a chair, some miscellaneous video
equipment, and a spotlight or two,” he said through clinched jaw.
    I was scared. Scared of what I had done to him,
of why he would act this way. I knew he would be mad, but I did not quite
expect this. Cayden was beyond angry, and it was all because of me. I started
to cry, feeling the tears roll over my cheeks.
    “Cayden, please, I am so sorry. If I could take
back what I did tonight, I would. I don’t want to hurt you or make things any
harder for you....”
    “Winter, all I care about is you, your safety,
and tonight you put yourself at risk. Why did you do that?”
    I proceeded to walk forward. It was obvious
Cayden was not going to move nor was he going to look at me. It seemed like the
space between us was extensive. It took me a while to reach him. I reached out
and placed my shaking hand to Cayden’s chest.
    “Please, babe, look at me,” I asked.
    His blue-eyed gaze shot to my face, pain more
than evident. The anger had changed to remorse, complete and total sadness.
“You are shaking, and you are crying,” he said. “Please do not cry.” And he
pulled me into his arms.
    I placed my cheek to his chest and wrapped my
fingers into the material of his shirt. “I’m shaking because you are scaring
me,” I confessed.
    Cayden’s voice was broken in this moment. “I
never want to scare you. Do not be afraid of me,