“All by yourself, huh?” Head bent, he looks at his hand sandwiched by my own, then he grins so smugly that myheart flutters. “So what you’re really saying is that you want to spend time with your husband. All you had to do was say so, wife. Sounds like a good birthday present to me.”
Fire burns my cheeks as I snatch my hands back. “That’s not what I said!”
But apparently that’s what he chose to hear. Eyes twinkling with unfaltering cockiness, he leans back and folds his arms over his broad chest. “So you don’t want to be with me? Make up your mind, woman.”
“Anyone who takes without giving becomes a burden,” I explain in frustration. He’s jesting, perhaps even flirting, but I don’t know how to respond. “And if I’m not being a wife to you in the…bedroom, I need to be a wife in other ways.”
“Hold up now.” Warren captures my hands. “I won’t have you thinking you’re a burden and not a wife to me simply because we haven’t been together like most husbands and wives.”
Yet, his eyes seem to say.
And I don’t know whether it’s worry or anticipation that makes my belly turn itself over.
“When you married me, you became my woman to take care of. That means in food and rest, too.”
I wince inside at the mention of food. He really does mean well. Maybe I’ll ask him for blueberry jam tomorrow. “I just want to be useful.” My words are soft, but I know he hears me because of his gentle squeeze.
“And I want you to have all the time you need to fully recover,” he says firmly. “You don’t have to prove your worth to me, Mara. I picked up after myself before you, and I can damn well take care of an extra plate. Okay?”
Warren relaxes when I nod. “Good. Now, I’d be much obliged if my pretty little wife would keep me company for a bit.”
“Okay.” I tighten my lips to hide a sudden shyness. How is it that he can make me feel so exposed when I’m covered from head to toe? It’s been years since I’ve blushed in front of a man, yet he seems to pull them from me with ease.
He sets about cleaning the kitchen, talking about everything and nothing at the same time as if he knows any questions about my past would halt the fragile progress we’ve made since last night. He tells me all sorts of stories about his childhood, and it’s clear to see that he was loved very much by his family even though he was such a rascally troublemaker.
As he dries the last dish, he glances out the window above the sink and stills. “Can you grab me a shirt?”
“Why?” Instantly, my heart pounds. I expected him to fully dress at some point, but what’s outside that made him say that? The farmhands that I’ve seen from a distance or—no, I can’t think like that.
“My parents are coming up the road.” He squints. “And my brother and his wife. Jed’ll have an outright hissy fit if Dove sees me without a shirt. Can you get me one right quick?”
“Four people,” I say numbly. Four people—two of them men—I don’t know that well all stuffed into the parlor where my baby sleeps unaware of the possible danger around her.
Warm, slightly damp hands cup my cheeks. “You all right?”
No, I’m not.
CHAPTER 11
MARA
Surprising both of us,I launch from the chair and throw my arms around him.
“Hey, now…it’s okay. I’ve got you.” Warren’s hands lightly grasp my sides as if he doesn’t know where to put them. I don’t even care that our fronts are completely pressed together as I flatten my ear to his chest, needing—this.
The comfort of his heartbeat.
Ba-bum. Ba-bum ba-bum.
It speeds up before settling into a slow and steady cadence as he rocks us back and forth. Just like he did all night.
“Don’t worry, Mara, I won’t let them come inside. Not if you don’t want them to.” The calmness in his promise chases away my anxiety, allowing me to think more clearly. I can’t handle strangers in the house. So will everyone just stand around on the porch to talk?
But they’re not strangers. Not to him. And I can’t keep them out forever. It’s not like they won’t be visiting Warren anymore just because he’smarried now.
“No,” I say softly. And I can’t keep my ear here forever, either. I gather what bit of control I can find and look up to see whiskey eyes pinned to mine. “Let them in.”
“What?”
