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The house was quiet as a tomb, aside from the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway.
Tessa assumed that Denver, wherever he’d spent the night, was still sleeping. Relieved that she didn’t have to face him, she poured water into the coffeepot.
Last night she’d reacted to him much too violently. His appearance had surprised her, but now that she knew where she stood, she’d be able to face him more calmly. Somehow, some way, she’d have to keep a cool head.
She’d just poured herself a cup of coffee and was prodding strips of bacon with a fork when she heard a creak on the stairs. Her heartbeat instantly went wild. She tried to concentrate on the meat sizzling in the frying pan, but she knew the moment he walked into the kitchen.
“Hungry?” she asked, without turning around.
“Starved.”
Dear God, he sounded so close, and she was reacting to him as stupidly as she had the night before. With an effort she asked, “Will bacon, eggs and toast do?”
“Sounds great.” She heard him pour coffee from the glass carafe on the counter then listened as a chair scraped against the floor.
Carefully, she forked sizzling bacon onto a platter, pushed down the button on the toaster, then cracked eggs into the frying pan. She felt his gaze boring into her back. When she turned to p
lace plates on the table, she met his eyes briefly and her heart thundered.
Sleep still hovered in his eyes. Startlingly blue, they touched a vital part of her she had hoped was long dead. His hair was rumpled, falling over his forehead in a thick black thatch that matched the shadow covering his jaw.
“Rough night?” she asked, unable to resist baiting him.
“Rough enough. How about you?”
“I slept like a baby.”
The corners of his mouth twisted a bit. “Don’t tell me you woke up crying every two hours.”
She couldn’t help but smile. The fleeting glimpse of tenderness she’d seen in his eyes lifted her spirits. She slid into a cane-backed chair at the table.
He took a sip from his cup and motioned toward the food. “I didn’t expect this sort of hospitality.”
“I guess you got lucky.”
His lips twitched. “No arsenic in the jelly?”
She smothered a grin. “Not yet. But you’d better be on your best behavior.”
“Always am.”
“Hah! Last night you came charging in here like a bloodthirsty pack of wolves! Arsenic would’ve been too good for you.”
His gaze touched hers, remaining for a second before it shifted back to his plate. “You weren’t exactly all cordiality yourself.”
“I get that way when my character is assassinated.”
Pretending that he didn’t affect her, that she didn’t notice the seductive glint in his eyes, that her heart wasn’t slamming against her ribs, she buttered a slice of toast.
“I guess I deserved that.”
“And more,” she said, remembering his remarks about his uncle. A bite of toast stuck in her throat.
“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
“Do.”
He watched her closely, studying her movements before finishing his meal and shoving his plate aside. “I thought you had a cook.”
