Wilde at Heart (Completed)

Chapter 18

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. He still looked tired, but Layla knew there was no talking him into staying home. She'd already failed at that. At first he was all for it when he thought she'd be staying too. But when he found out her intentions were quite different, he refused to stay either.

"Oh," said Layla as she leaned on the doorway, "Carter and Jason were here last night. I almost forgot to tell you."

His back which was turned to her at the moment to walk out of the room, stiffened and his voice sounded strained, "What did they want?"

Layla reached out a hand absentmindedly and laid it on his arm to calm him as she said, "I don't know. They said it was urgent business, but you were asleep. I hope I didn't mess anything up, but I told them to wait until this morning. You were pretty tired.

Canon chuckled and then asked, "Are they still here?"

"I don't know," said Layla, looking a little worried all of a sudden. She realized Canon might be angry with her for not telling him sooner.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I meant to tell you as soon as you woke up, but I forgot. I hope you're not mad."

Canon pushed her chin up to look at him and said, "I'm not mad."

He grinned as he said, "That was very sweet and kind of you to take care of me like that."

Layla blushed and shrugged out of his grip. "Whatever, Mr. Wilde," she said, teasing him by calling him by his last name, "You need a shave."

He grinned and started to say something but Layla cut him off and said, "Oh no, buster, you're on your own this time."

He pouted and Layla shook her head disbelievingly but couldn't keep the smile off her face. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, "How did you know to come yesterday morning?"

"Mary," answered Layla quietly, "She called and said you were threatening to burn down the house with you inside."

Canon sighed and said, "Not my brightest moment."

Layla snorted. "You think?" she muttered sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," he said, his eyes falling to the floor in shame.

"Hey," she said, her hands sliding up his chest, "It's okay. You're here now and you're safe. Mary's alright. And thank the stars this beautiful house didn't get burned."

She grinned at the last part trying to cheer him up. He let out a small smile before wrapping his arms around her for another hug. Layla giggled. She would never have pinned him as such a touchy-feely kind of person. And sweet mama mia, he liked to snuggle more than she did! That was saying a lot. He rubbed his stubble covered cheek against her neck, tickling her and she pushed him away, to see him grinning. "You need a shave," she said again, "Now."

And for some reason, he laughed.
She left a few minutes later, walking past Jason and Carter in the kitchen and waving at them. When Canon came down the stairs a few minutes later, freshly shaved, he found Jason with his nose in Canon's fridge while Mary was scolding him.

"Well, well, well," said Canon, "What is going on here, Mary?"

She pressed a kiss to his cheek as she walked past and said, "Good morning, Canon."

He murmured the greeting back to her and Jason grabbed a carton of yogurt and a spoon and plopped down at the kitchen table. Mary set Canon's breakfast down on the table along with a glass of orange juice and cutleries and then left the three men alone.
Jason grinned and said, "Layla Kelly, huh? Who is she?"