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Looking down at my phone, I shook my head. “I don’t know. It’s really just for fun.”
Ty went back to the wood, but this time he was building a fire in the fireplace. “You should really think about it, Kaylee. You’ve got the eye for it. I mean, look at Brock and Lincoln’s wedding: it was beautiful, and everything went smoothly.”
I felt my cheeks heat. “Are you actually giving me a compliment, Ty Shaw? I figured you would have some smartass remark about me being better suited to planning funerals and such.”
He chuckled as he lit the fire starters. “That would have been a good one—too bad I didn’t think of it first.”
I rolled my eyes and tried not to smile.
Soon a large fire was going, and I could feel the warmth. It balanced out the cold ice pack on my lower back and tailbone and helped take my mind off the pain I was still in.
Ty stood and dusted off his hands as he looked at me. “Do you want me to make you anything to eat? Some soup or something?”
“Soup?”
“Yeah, do you have any?”
I shook my head. “I don’t.”
“Okay, well, do you have any veggies? Some broth?”
The way he was behaving was throwing me for a loop. “Ty, why are you doing this?” I asked, looking at him and trying to read every emotion that passed over his face. The damn man was good at hiding his feelings. Very good. I was also very intrigued about why he’d said he was sent here instead of fessing up that he had come over on his own.
“Why am I doing what?”
“Being so nice to me?”
He laughed. “As much as you want to think I don’t like you, Kaylee, we are friends. I feel guilty that it was my fault you just got hurt.”
And there it was. He felt guilty because he thought I’d fallen because of him.
I sighed. “It’s not your fault, and you don’t have to stay. I think I can get up now.”
Trying to prove my point, I went to move—and froze when the pain hit me.
“Don’t move!” Ty said in a stern voice. “Damn it, why do you have to be so stubborn? I want to be here, Kaylee. Let me try to make you something to eat, will you?”
My stomach chose to growl right at that moment. Damn betraying body of mine.
I rolled my eyes and tried to seem put off. “Fine, but just so you know, I’m making you eat whatever you make for me too. I don’t trust you won’t put some hot sauce or something in it.”
The way he was looking at me was exactly how he had looked when we’d first kissed. That night at the Blue Moose. Something in his eyes said he did indeed want to be here. Be with me.
The other thing I saw in his eyes was at war with those feelings. My breath felt shallow, and I swallowed hard.
“It’s a deal. Now, please just lie back and rest for a bit. I’ll round up something to eat for dinner.”
I did what he said, and once I closed my eyes, it didn’t take long for me to drift off to sleep.
Chapter Eight
TY
When I opened Kaylee’s refrigerator, I couldn’t help but chuckle. The girl was a super-healthy eater. I could give her that. She had a ton of vegetables. One quick check in her pantry and I had everything I needed to make my mom’s vegetable soup.
I pushed up my sleeves and got to work cutting up the veggies while the stock heated up with the onions and a few cloves of garlic.
Once everything was in the pot, I looked around her kitchen and found a bottle of shiraz. I’d save that for dinner. Kaylee also had some sourdough bread and fresh rosemary, perfect for when the soup was finished.
Looking into the refrigerator again, I smiled when I saw the six-pack of beer. I opened one and took a drink.
“You want a beer?” I called out.
She didn’t answer me, so I walked into the living room . . . and came to a stop. Kaylee was sound asleep. I shook my head and set the beer on the coffee table as I gently removed the gel pack from underneath her, then laid a blanket over her.
“Ty?” she whispered, opening her eyes only long enough to see me before she shut them again.
“Yeah, baby. It’s just me. Get some sleep.”
Inwardly, I cursed myself for slipping and calling her an endearment. I’d never fucking called anyone baby. But this woman wasn’t anyone, and it was clear my heart was feeling more than I wanted to admit.
She nodded and went right back to sleep, a slight smile on her face.
My heart raced in my chest, and I took a few unsteady steps back until I hit the chair. Sitting, I stared at Kaylee as she slept. When she had fallen earlier, I’d seen the pain on her face, the tears in her eyes, and it felt like my whole world had tilted. I hated seeing her in pain. I hated seeing the way those blue eyes looked at me, as if she was wanting so desperately to tell me something, but couldn’t.
