She tried to sound as nice as possible, not wanting him to think she wasn’t grateful, even though she kind of wanted to strangle him. “It’s sweet of you to prepare Eddy food, but can you show me which box?”What if that was someone else’s dinner for tonight?
After Rennick showed her where the food came from and insisted on giving her the money to replace it, she knocked on her neighbor’s door, explained the situation, and handed him enough money to buy twenty steaks.
When she returned to the kitchen, Rennick held Eddy snug against his chest, feeding him like a child.Did he just coo?
He looked up with a crooked smile, showcasing a dimple, and her heart stuttered in her chest.
“He likes it,” he told her, kissing the top of Eddy’s head, and Amelia knew, without a doubt, if this man decided she wasn’t what he wanted, she wouldn’t survive the fallout.
“We usually eat chicken,” she commented, coming aroundthe island to stand beside him. “Steak is a rare treat.” Eddy chomped on another bite while Amelia pet his head. “You need to thank Nick for feeding you like a little king.”
Eddy yipped when Rennick’s hold tightened. He set Eddy gently on the floor and straightened slowly. With one final lick to each of their legs, the fox scampered off to the common area.
Rennick’s eyes flashed when they slid back to Amelia, and her stomach dropped. “I know that’s who you’ve known me as until today, but it’s not my name.”
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, not knowing what to say.
“Nick is only part of who I am.” His tone softened, but his shoulders didn’t. “You associated my alias with Finn, and I don’t want the ghost of another man between us. There is more to me than I could show you in those letters. Rennick is the man who stands before you, not Nick.”
She nodded, understanding completely because she was more than the girl he’d observed over the years. Amelia drummed her fingers on the island and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. It was a slip of habit.”
He released the tension in his shoulders and wandered to the cold boxes. “Which of these is yours?”
Glad for the subject change, she poked her head in behind him and pointed to her box. They’d eaten earlier, but with his size, it wouldn’t surprise her if he needed more food. “I learned to make a pretty good roast if you want me to cook you one.” Her cheeks burned with the admission when he turned to look at her.
The way he stared made her squirm, but she forced herself not to look away from his unwavering intensity. In one of his many letters, he’d told her a list of his favorite things, and she’d committed a few to memory before Finn took the letter back.
“You learned to make my favorite dish.”
It wasn’t a question, so she didn’t answer. Instead, she busiedherself with clearing away Eddy’s dishes, and washing and drying them for longer than necessary while Rennick’s eyes burned holes into her back.
After wiping her hands on a towel, she swept a hand toward the stairs. “I’ll show you the bathroom so you can bathe.”
She tried to skirt around him, but his hand caught her arm gently. “You learned to make my favorite dish.”
Did he think her a fool for doing what he paid the palace staff to do? “I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you’re used to, but—”
He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, killing whatever she had to say. “Thank you. I’m not hungry, but if you are,Iwill cook foryou.”
She shook her head in a half-stunned state. “I’m fine. We, uh… we should head up if we’re going to leave early tomorrow.”
He moved out of her way and followed her upstairs. After she showed him where the soaps and towels were in her ensuite bathroom, he retreated to the bedroom and said, “You bathe first. I am unsure how long hot water lasts here.”
Her heart flip-flopped at his thoughtfulness. She looked at him then,reallylooked at him, from the dark stubble on his ruggedly handsome face to his large, calloused hands that made a full-sized towel look like a washcloth. He might appear to be a lethal warrior on the exterior, but inside was a kind man who sent tiny sweaters for a fox and worried the hot water would run out before Amelia could shower.
And he was hers.
It might be he who chased her today, imploring her to leave with him, but Amelia knew, deep down, she would follow him to the ends of Eden, whether he wanted her to or not.
20
Rennick stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, loathed to put his dirty clothes back on. An overnight stay had not been on his agenda, so he’d brought no other clothes. In the village, he hadn’t thought to grab more than a new shirt to replace the one he’d torn.
Amelia looked up, her lips parting as her eyes trailed over every inch of his exposed skin. Her gaze left a trail of heat in its wake, and his cock slowly rose under her perusal. Discretion didn’t exist in a room the size of a dinner plate, and he had no choice but to obviously press down on his growing erection.
“I don’t have any clean clothes,” he explained. “Do you have men’s clothes lying around?”
If she did, he would kill every man in the kingdom.
