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“Coffee?” he asked.
“Oh, my God, yes. I come from Seattle. We drink it by the gallon.”
Taking her to the kitchen, he served up some scrambled eggs and toast from provisions Rumy had brought.
After three quick bites, she took a breath. “I don’t usually have a meal right away, but I’m starved.”
“I can fix you more.”
She got a funny look on her face.
“What?”
“Nothing. I mean I appreciate it, but I think this will be enough.”
He glanced at the frying pan. He didn’t know what had caused her sudden distress, but he could feel that his offer had struck a note that caused her to feel anxious. He just didn’t know why.
* * *
Shayna could feel Marius’s confusion, but she couldn’t enlighten him. The whole thing was too humiliating. How could she tell him that what had caught her off guard was his offer to fix her additional food.
He offered, just like that.
With Michelson, she’d been expected to cook and take care of him. After the affair had ended, she honestly couldn’t recall one incident in which he’d put her first, or made any special effort on her behalf.
Instead she’d been left with a terrible feeling of worthlessness that had taken a lot of effort to overcome. One of her friends had called it right: Michelson was an asshole.
Only now, a year after their breakup, could she even think about what had happened without cringing. And the last thing she wanted to do was tell Marius how she’d let herself be treated or the horror she’d experienced the last time he’d tied her up.
It had been thrilling at first to be bound loosely with a rope and to have Michelson make love to her. But the last encounter had left her with nightmares. He’d never gotten rough, nothing like that, but he had a habit of leaving her in that position, insisting he’d be right back, but minutes had grown to an hour then two.
The last time she’d been with him, he’d abandoned her for hours. She still felt panicky when she dwelled on the experience for any length of time. She could still feel the bindings on her wrists and ankles.
“Okay, what the hell are you thinking about, Shayna? Because the chain at my throat is just about tearing into my skin.”
She dropped her fork so that it clattered on her plate. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry. I was thinking about my ex maybe a little too hard. He wasn’t a good man.”
When Marius got a fierce look in his eye, she lifted both hands. “He never hurt me. He wasn’t that kind of bad. Just really, really selfish, and I was so starstruck by his exalted ‘professor’ status that I let myself get sucked into a toxic relationship.” She waved one hand at him. “So just stand down, mister. Now my neck is burning.”
Marius planted his hands on his hips and looked anywhere but at her. She watched him take several deep breaths. “Okay. Fine.” He met her gaze. “Want to talk about it?”
“No. I really don’t. It’s been a year since we broke up, but part of me is still a little raw.” She attempted a smile. “Instead, I’m going to keep enjoying the eggs you made me.”
He sat down adjacent to her and busied himself drinking his coffee and buttering his toast.
It was such a homey scene except for the fact that he was a big man and his navy T-shirt clung to his shoulders and pecs. She had a hard time not checking him out. Again.
As she slid a forkful of eggs into her mouth, she remembered what it had been like to make love with him after he’d suffered through his blood-madness recovery. Part of her still couldn’t believe she’d done that and was truly shocked at her behavior. But another part wanted to do it all over again.
His gaze slid to hers and she looked away, her cheeks warming up. He leaned close, offering a half smile. “Neither of us will be able to hide much, I’m afraid.”
“I’m getting that, loud and clear.”
She took another bite of her eggs and met his gaze. She loved his eyes. That’s what she decided. “Your eyes are extraordinary, gold flecks and hazel. Really unusual.”
He sipped his coffee. “Thank you.” He stared at h
er over the rim of his mug and his gaze held. “You’re beautiful, Shayna. You know that, right?”
