Page 45 of Freed By the Witchbone Knife

“Oh.” Why did I sound so pathetically dejected? “You aren’t worried about me being out alone?”

“Don’t much like the idea. Might be best if you just stay here.”

My lips parted. “I am not just going to…to sit around so you can work on your project. Your whole selling point was that I’d have access to your property.”

He shrugged.

I sighed. “It’s unlikely that Ambrose will be looking for me here. Not yet, anyway. And if he does, he’ll have to go through the woods to find me.”

Axel studied me. “Fine. Stick to some of the closer areas. I can accompany you on some of the farther hikes.”

“All right.” I nodded, mostly to myself. “I can do that.”

He hesitated, his gaze studying my face. “I’ll come and find you around lunch, then we can work our way out a little more.”

And just like that, I immediately perked up. “Okay, that would be great. You’re more familiar with your land than I am, so it might help to have you there.”

Something in his expression closed off. “It’s a lot of land.”

“Right.” I set my meal on the island beside him. His notebook was closed again. Too bad.

I settled in, took a bite, then froze. Flavor exploded on my tongue. I chewed and swallowed. “What… What did you put in this? It’s delicious.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Bit of salt and garlic powder. Mushrooms, kale, tomatoes, and some feta cheese.”

“Oh. Wow. How much of that came from your greenhouse?”

“The kale and tomatoes.”

“It’s really good.”

He nodded and turned to stare at the kitchen sink, but not before I noticed a slight creep of pink on his cheeks. That was twice now. Go me!

“Where did you learn to cook?” I asked.

He shot to his feet, collecting his notebook and heading across the kitchen to place his mug in the sink. “Going to head out to the workshop and get started. Like I said, I’ll come find you around lunch.”

“Axel.”

He froze and his gaze finally met mine. Our gazes clashed for several heated moments. Then he sighed. “It’s something I’ve honed over the years.”

“Right.” I had a feeling there was more to it than that. He clearly didn’t want me to push. Cooking, gardening, woodworking—these were things he excelled at. It made me wonder just how old he was.

“And your tendency to avoid questions, push other people away? Is that something you’ve honed as well?”

“You would be right.” His throat bobbed. “May I go now, or did you have another question?”

A laugh burst from my chest. It seemed to startle him because his gaze sharpened. Something happened to his eyes. They contracted and turned golden. For just a moment, I was staring at a wolf. Then he blinked and they returned to normal. That had happened when I’d used magic on him, too.

“No more questions,” I croaked. God, he was so difficult. “You can go now. See you at lunch.”

He grunted and disappeared down the hallway.

I blew out a breath, then happily returned to my breakfast. It was just as delicious as last night’s dinner.

Something told me I’d be putting on some weight while here.

And I didn’t care.