“No, it looked like a personal courier.”
That set her nerves off even more. “Oh.”
Why did she always default to something bad was going to happen when anything came out of the blue?
Maybe Cynthia sent her a gift? Or Teresa. Or someone else from her old job.
She quickly discarded those thoughts because why would they be sending stuff to her now, when she hadn’t spoken to anyone from her old job in two years, and Teresa would’ve delivered it herself? Same with Cynthia.
“Talk to me Steff, I can see something’s troubling you.”
“It’s probably nothing. Let me check dinner. I don’t want it to get burned.” She made her way to the kitchen and immediately grabbed the oven mitts she’d left on the top of her oven and slipped them on.
Steff heard Dalton moving behind her, close enough for her to be aware of his presence, but not close enough to inhibit her movements. A puff of steam wafted from the oven when she opened it, and she leaned back to let it pass before reaching in and pulling out the dish.
“Don’t tell Astrid, but that looks even better than hers,” Dalton said right over her shoulder.
The cheese was a beautiful golden color. The aroma of the meat and herbs, mingling with the tomato from the sauce she’d used, had her stomach grumbling in appreciation. “You haven’t tasted it yet, so I’d be holding any praise if I were you.”
“Something that smells and looks as good as that is going to taste divine. Do you want some wine? I got two bottles; one is non-alcoholic, and the other is alcoholic. Both are white, and the guy at the liquor store assured me they both taste good.”
“I’ve never had non-alcoholic before, shall we try that?”
“We can. I’ll put the other bottle in the fridge, and we can try it next time.” Dalton strode back to the living room to pick up the bag where he’d left it.
Steff liked the sound of next time—a lot.
As Dalton opened the bottle of wine and poured it into the wine glasses she’d gotten out for him, she cut the pie and put it onto two plates. It didn’t stay the perfect square like she’d sliced it, but that was fine. Steam rose from the pieces as she placed them on the table. “We might need to let this cool before we dig in.”
“I don’t mind if it’s scalding hot, when you’re out in the jungle and eating lukewarm MRE’s, you appreciate a good hot meal even more when you have them.”
“MRE’s? What are they?” She forked a portion of her pie up and blew on it to cool it down.
“Meals Ready to Eat. They’re not the tastiest things to have, but they’re full of carbs and fit easily into our packs. You get used to them after a while. Even the most basic of home cooked meals are tastier after you’ve been eating MREs for over a month.”
“I’m sure they would be.”
Dalton took his first bite and groaned, his eyes drifting shut. “Yep, so good. And I still stand by the fact that it’s better than Astrid’s.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice.” Although she couldn’t deny the thrill at thinking her food tasted better than a well-known celebrity chef’s did.
His smile dropped and his whole countenance became serious. “I think I’ve already told you I won’t lie to you.”
There was nothing threatening about his words, but Steff sat back a little at the intensity coming off him in waves. “I-I’m sorry.” She ducked her head as she felt the sting of tears prick the back of her eyes.
“Fuck, Steff. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You di-didn’t.” God, nowshewas the liar.
“I did. Look at me, hon,” he said gently.
She looked up and found nothing but compassion in his blue eyes. He really was being gracious to her when he should call her out for the very thing he promised he’d never do to her. “I’m sorry I lied,” she whispered.
How had they gone from being relaxed and chatting normally, to her ready to bolt in her own home?
Dalton moved until he was squatting in front of her, his hand resting lightly on her knee. “No, I was the one who went over the top. I scared you, and I’m annoyed at myself for causing you distress. I know why you said I didn’t scare you. I understand why you did what you did. I’m not angry at you for that.”
His words soothed her, and the fear that had clawed up her back receded. “If you can say you won’t lie to me, and I know you mean it, I should be able to give you the same back. I promise I won’t lie to you again.”
