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"I agree." Her answer surprises me. Seems today is full of them. "Are you hungry?" She gestures at the table.
"Yes, it doesn't smell like prison food in here." It's a relief. The slop they serve barely passes for food, and it's still fought over daily. Mostly the lifers—prisoners who have no hope of ever seeing a life outside of here—steal and fight over it with the new guys coming in. It seems to be a form of hazing they all enjoy way too much.
"That's because it's not," she says, smiling. She sits down, and I take the chair opposite of her, just staring at the food. Mentally, I'm begging that I don't wake up if this is all a dream.
"I have no idea if it's good or not; I just learned…."
"Are these…Did you make Irish pasties?" I ask, interrupting her. I used to beg Ryan for these as a child. It was my favorite dinner. He would stop business and even ignore Orla’s phone calls to make these with me. It was one of the few times that I felt even remotely attached to the man.
"I tried, at least," she laughs.
I take a bite of one and can't help the groan I let out. The delicious flavors dance on my tongue. The rich gravy and buttery pastry taste like my childhood.
"I love it," I tell her, the words coming out practically in a moan. She beams at my praise as I take another bite, which seems even more delicious than the last.
“Yay!” she cries like an excited child. “You like them.”
“I like everything here, Belle,” I confess, staring at her so that she doesn’t miss the fact that she’s included in that. Truthfully, she’s the only thing in here that has my full attention.
She might just be the only thing in my life that I couldn’t live without….
CHAPTER 27
BELLE
Finishing up the pasties, I feel like I've eaten way over my limit, but I made a damn good meal—even if I do say so myself. Killian dug in like he hadn't eaten in weeks. I enjoyed watching him savor his food. When it came time for pie, he was really impressed.
"I thought nothing could top the delicious pasties, but this coconut pie is even better," he says, talking around another bite.
"I love baking. This is my favorite pie to make." I say, stifling a grin as he moans again.
"Thank you for today. It feels really good to have a semblance of normal," he admits, leaning back in his chair. I'm positive he's just as full as I am, if not more.
"It's not quite over yet," I tell him, trying to stifle my excitement.
"What do you mean?" he questions. I can tell that his interest is piqued just from the look on his face.
"I mean that Ryan assured me that you would be here all night, so you don't have to go back until tomorrow morning." He sits in surprise for a minute before responding.
"Why?" he asks.
"You've been so good to me. I wanted to do something nice for you." He studies me for so long, I start to fidget under the weight of his stare. I remain still, barely resisting the urge to ask him what he's thinking. His silence is starting to make me nervous, though. After a long pause, he starts to talk, and I take a breath of relief.
"How's the new shop doing?" I can't tell if he could read that I was dying to ask about his feelings and how I felt about him or not. He expertly maneuvered the conversation away from that, however. I try not to be disappointed and follow his lead.
"The grand opening as Belle's Shear Magic—which I know is kind of lame—will be next week. I'm pretty nervous," I confess.
"I don't think it's lame. I like the name."
"I hope the customers do." I shrug. “I've never been in charge of a business or had to consider all the things of owning one. The day E-Z had me sit down with Lizette and she helped me come up with everything, I kept looking at her and E-Z for his advice on every other question she asked.”
“E-Z tells me that you’re a natural,” he responds, surprising me. “Do you have enough workers?"
"Yeah, I gave all the stylists that worked with me a raise." I'm impressed with myself for doing so. I didn't accept their gratitude as it was well deserved, but it made me feel good.
"Why? They were going to want to keep their jobs anyway."
"It was the right thing to do. I just did what I would want my boss to do, and I stand by it." He goes back to studying me again. This time I don't hold back. I have a split second of bravery and roll with it.
"What are you thinking?" I ask hesitantly.
