Heat stung my cheeks. I scrubbed my sleeve across my face as though I could wipe it away, but Kit didn’t hesitate.
“I don't think about Merrick much at all, to be honest.” He shrugged.
Anders huffed a loud breath. “I didn’t mean…” His round features contorted in a scowl. “You know, because you two are always on top of each other.” He bounced his brows with taunting emphasis as he added, “Here and elsewhere, if I’m a betting man.”
My blush deepened, equal parts shame and excitement at the thought of being on top of Kit even now. I couldn’t look at either of them then, so I spun quickly away.
Kit shuffled his feet a bit, but his tone was admirably level when he spoke again. “You’ve put a concerning amount of thought into what’s happening in the privacy of another man's bedroom. Some unrequited fantasy, perhaps?”
Anders made a strangled sound of protest as Kit continued casually.
“It's nothing to be ashamed of. You said yourself, Ashpoint already has a couple of those. What's one more?”
The lumberman coughed again, almost gagging in his haste to refute Kit’s insinuation. None of his efforts formed anything intelligible as I snickered and returned to the leatherworking bench where I dropped onto my stool. Kit could clearly handle this fool better than I could, and I really wanted to get started on the burnishing.
With Anders standing awkwardly by, Kit also seemed eager to return to work. He retrieved his gloves from the anvil stand and tugged them on, then grabbed his tongs. It should have been a cue for our guest to leave, but Anders proved too stubborn to heed it.
“Anyway…” He dragged the word out, staying close while Kit used the tongs to the stir the coals in the forge. “Looks like I’m going to be squeezing myself into the middle of your lovely little pairing,” Anders said. “For a while at least.”
I paused with the leather strap in one hand and a block of beeswax in the other and glanced at the other two men.
“What do you mean?” Kit asked.
Anders shrugged his wide shoulders. “I find myself without a partner for the next pair of Oaths. So, I’ve been told to join you two.”
“Told by who?” Kit asked.
I had a suspicion long before Anders chortled through his reply. “The other blond-haired, green-eyed Oliver.”
My nostrils flared through a hot breath, and I started scrubbing the wax along the side of the belt. “And he sent you to tell us as much?” I muttered. Much more went unsaid as I rubbed quickly, angrily, shining the leather and dropping crumbles of wax into my lap.
“Not exactly,” Anders said. “I was just excited, is all. We’ll make quite a team, don’t you think?” He crowded in beside Kit and elbowed him in the ribs, then chuckled. “So long as you two keep it down at night when we’re on the road. Don’t want to bump into you while you’re bumping into each other.”
Rocking back on my stool, I let out an aggravated groan. “We're going on the road again?”
I didn’t mind an adventure—our last trip away from Ashpoint had been full of cozy nights and visits to a couple of lively taverns. Without the hemlock to put a cloud of illness over this next expedition, it could make for an almost romantic getaway. But not with Anders in tow. I would almost sooner drink poison again than endure his company on the road. The thought of hours spent listening to the overgrown imbecile make snide comments about Kit and me made my skin itch.
Kit sighed before responding to my question. “We'll be leaving town, yes. But we won't know where we're headed until we receive further instruction.” He glanced at Anders with weary expectation. “Unless you have more to share.”
Anders shook his head. “That was it. I’d stay and discuss further, but I’m afraid you caught me on my way to the mill. Poor bastards can’t get a thing done without me.” He laughed again.
“We caughtyou?” I retorted, but Anders didn’t hear. Or, if he did, he didn’t acknowledge it before trotting out of the stall and into the icy square beyond.
In his absence, quiet consumed the shop.
The belt draped across my lap, and I smoothed a hand over it. Not being particularly sneaky but not wholly caring while gloomy thoughts encroached.
Winding up in a city where my overbearing older half-brother held any measure of control was a recipe for misery. I was surprised again at the extent of his reach and how devious he could be. Since Tessa’s death, Rosie was also in need of new partners to complete her Oaths. We could have as easily been paired with her, and might have been, but I had no doubt Merrick got in the way of that. He knew I would enjoy it too much.
Looking at Kit found him grinding his teeth while apparently mired in his own thoughts.
I moved the belt to the table and rose from my stool to join him beside the forge. The warmth of the coals kissed my skin, and I only got close enough to pull him a few feet farther from it. My fingers curled around his wrist and gave a squeeze that drew his gaze to mine.
“You make a good point about Anders.” I smirked. “Hedoesthink a lot about us bumping into each other. Might wish we were bumping intohiminstead.”
A grin tempted Kit’s lips as he shook his head.
I inched in, pulling his gloved hand to rest on my waist as I whispered, “But if I wake up with that mammoth crushing me with his tree trunk arms, I may never recover.”
