Where We Meet Again, стр. 14
His footfalls have long since passed, so I close the door and meander to my daughter’s bedroom. Today is messing with my head. There’s no way I can stand with him and my daughter in the same room until we deal with this mouse. I’ll lose my damn mind.
I grab Kiersten’s arm and tug her into the hallway.
“I need you to stay with them. Listen to what he says, his recommendations, and be the decision maker. I trust you.”
“Where are you going?” she whispers, somehow controlling her normally obnoxious volume.
“The kitchen. Maybe start some laundry.”
She cocks an eyebrow and gives me a funny look. “What is your deal?”
“That’s… Law,” I murmur as low as I can. Her eyebrows shoot beneath her choppy blonde bangs.
“No shit?” She peers back into the bedroom.
Law’s bent over, pulling Evelyn’s desk away from the wall while she chats his ear off.
Kiersten turns back to me with a wide grin on her face. “No shit. I recognize that ass now.”
“For fuck’s sake, I’m done with today. Done. Go in there and behave yourself.”
She struts back into the bedroom so I return to the kitchen. Since I’ve already started the dishwasher, there isn’t anything left to do to take my mind off the man in the other room. Even though the laundry closet is just off the kitchen, I don’t have any full baskets to do. I suppose now is as good as any to start dinner.
As time passes, my anxiety increases. I drop utensils and make a mess of ingredients as I put together our meal. I guess I know why he’s been in the area. He must have moved here. That is not the answer I wanted. I wanted to hear he was in town on business or visiting a buddy or buying a car he found on some resale internet site.
What I did not want to hear was that the man I’ve loved my entire life is once again living in the same small town as me.
Footsteps grow louder from the hallway, and I snap my head up from where I stare blankly at the speckled pattern on the countertop. Wanting to look busy, I yank open the oven and remove the casserole dish I’ve been cooking for dinner. The sound of Law’s voice drifting from down the hallway distracts me, and I grab the dish without putting on an oven mitt.
“Ow! Owowow!” I cry as the hot dish crashes back inside the oven. My face turns red as I hold back tears and several inappropriate curse words. Instead of sobbing like I want, I bend at the waist and cradle my injured hand with the other. My heartbeat pulses through the red, swelling flesh and causes even more pain.
Strong hands wrap around my shoulders and steer me to the sink. The faucet flips on. Those same hands slide down my arms in a light graze, sending goosebumps skittering along my skin before they reach my wrists and thrust my hands beneath the water.
“Ahh.” I sigh in a cross of pain and relief.
A moment passes as the severe pain subsides into a dull throb, and I notice the proximity of Law’s body to mine. He practically wraps around my back. His hips are to the side of mine, but his long, muscled arm drapes around my waist, beneath my elbow, to where he holds my hands lightly beneath the water.
“Still clumsy around me,” he murmurs in my ear, a hint of teasing in his voice. The sound of humor coming from him causes me to stiffen further. I yank my arms back and fall against the countertop beside me.
Law still holds one of my wrists, and he tugs it, forcing my hand back beneath the lukewarm water. Our eyes lock as he jostles me, and I can’t look away. Apparently, he can’t either.
I don’t know if he was smiling before, but he sure isn’t now. His eyes narrow and he drops them to my lips. “Keep it here. Ten minutes.”
His voice is too warm. Too close. It sends a quiver through me.
“I know that. Let go.”
His eyes drift back to mine. If I’m not mistaken, I swear heat resides in his gaze.
“Fine.” He bites out in a flip of emotion.
Kiersten rushes forward with a towel for him to dry off on. He thanks her, but returns his attention to me.
“I didn’t find a mouse. Not a sign of one, either. No bedding, food crumbs, or scat. Still put up a couple traps. One in your girl’s room behind her desk, two in the basement, and was going to drop one in here. Checked outside before I came in, and your house looks tight. I’ll come by in a day or two to check the traps.”
I suck a deep breath through my nose. “Thank you. How much do I owe you?” I turn in search of my purse, but only make it as far as the kitchen entrance before his voice stops me.
It’s not so much what he says as the tone. The deep baritone gentles and softens, almost as if he’s crooning a lullaby. I glance over my shoulder and my jaw slackens.
He speaks to my Evelyn. The warm gaze, the way he bends toward her to speak to her and not at her, it all warms my heart, and sends it into a frenzy.
“Can you find your mom’s purse so she can keep her hand under that water?” That’s all he says, but it melts me all the same.
Evelyn scampers off, prompting Law to cut a glance at me and jerk his head toward the still running faucet.
I listen. Not because he told me too, but because my hand still hurts like crazy and I know he was right. I need to draw out the burn.
While he busies himself setting another trap in the pantry, Kiersten removes dinner from the oven. I, however, stare out the window and pretend