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“I suppose having you cook for me could be useful at times.”
He rolled his eyes. “You really are too much.”
“I could teach you to kill your own food.”
He frowned. “I’m not sure I’m interested.”
“You can at least learn to fish.”
“All right. You can teach me, but first I want a tour of this house.” He finished the eggs and turned off the burner.
I pointed to the table again. “Go sit down.”
“So bossy.”
“Get used to it.”
He pulled me to him for a quick kiss before heading to his seat. “You know I’m not always going to put up with that.”
“Put up with it today. I—”
His smile was soft and gentle. “I know that’s what you need right now. Control.”
“It’s not just that. I need to take care of you because—” I shook my head, not wanting to think about what could happen if he came with us when we confronted Carlotti. If Carlotti thought we were turning Eric over to him and he got his hands on him… “I need you safe.”
“I’ve never been safer than when I’m with you.”
“You’d be safer if you stayed away from me when I go after Carlotti.”
“You can’t be sure of that, and I want to be where I can protect you too.”
I placed the fish on our plates and reached for the spatula to scoop up the eggs. “I don’t want to argue.”
“I don’t either.”
“Good. Eat so I can show you the house.” I set his plate in front of him.
When he took a bite of the fish, his face lit up. “This is amazing.”
“Great-Uncle Etienne taught me most of what I know about feeding myself. The rest came from Corbin’s mom.”
He seemed to be considering my words. “Is Corbin’s mom…”
“Remy and Lance’s stepmom.”
“Okay.”
“She’s amazing, and her cooking is superb.”
“I would think she had servants for that.”
“She could, but she likes to do a lot of the cooking herself. She gets restless if she sits too much.”
“Like you? I can’t imagine you ever just relaxing and not being busy.”
“Neither can I. I get bored way too easily.”
“I’ll have to find plenty of ways to keep you occupied.”
I looked up at him and realized he had meant that to sound as dirty as it did. He grinned at me, then focused back on his breakfast.
When we finished eating, I showed him the house, including the still very creepy attic where generations of my relative’s treasures sat in trunks and boxes.
“If there are any ghosts in the house, I’m betting they live up here.” Eric shivered, which made me laugh.
“This is the perfect place for them. Remind me to have you help me clean it out one night after dark.”
He flipped me off, and we went back downstairs. It had started to rain, hard and steady.
Instead of a fishing lesson, we curled up by the pretend fire and watched the rain, then he perused the collection of old books I’d cleaned up and found a copy of Half Magic by Edward Eager. “Wow. I loved this book as a kid.”
“Me too.” I studied the book, then looked at Eric. Would he laugh if I said what I was thinking?
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re scheming.”
“Not really. I was just thinking I could read it to you.”
“Really? You would do that?” Eric looked excited rather than judgmental.
“You’d like it if I did?”
“Yes. Do I get to lay my head in your lap?”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever you want, Your Majesty.”
He handed me the book, then stretched out on the couch, using my thigh as a pillow. His legs were too long to fit. He placed one foot on the floor and let the other dangle over the arm.
The day turned into the best one I’d had in ages. No one disturbed us, and being with Eric was easy. He didn’t complain when I wanted to take a walk in the rain by myself, and he had hot coffee waiting for me when I got back. I introduced him to the small grocery store slash fruit stand slash sandwich counter that was a few miles from my place if you knew the right way to go.
We spent most of the next day in the boat. He took to fishing quickly. We floated and drank beer, then came home and fucked each other senseless before cooking up the fish we’d caught.
Dax checked in with me periodically. I tried to keep my phone close, but I was dreading getting the word that everything was in place. I was in heaven staying at the house with Eric. I didn’t ever want our time to end.
While I was there with him, I could pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist. Carlotti would never find us if we just stayed put, but I knew we’d have to venture out eventually. We couldn’t settle in with each other until we knew Eric—and the people he’d sworn to protect—were safe from Carlotti. After that, we’d still have to deal with his job and my family.
