Before I can even open my mouth, a plate is placed in front of me, sour dough bread with crushed avocado, water cress and smoked salmon sits in the center, while two steaming, freshly poached eggs rest on top.
“I – uh, thank you.”
“Dig in!” He claps his hands with a grin.
I pick up my cutlery and cut into the bread, making sure to get a bit of everything on my fork and shove it in my mouth. He watches the whole time which is a little unnerving. But then flavor hits my tongue, the sour lemon with a kick of pepper on the smokiness ofthe salmon, and I have to stifle a groan.
“Nothing like a classic,” he says, clearly satisfied with my reaction despite not using any words, and goes back to cooking.
I take another bite before I start talking again. “You made dinner last night too?” I ask.
“Yes, Ma’am,” He tells me, nodding, “I hope it was to your liking. You will need to let me know of any dislikes so I can make sure not to give you them. And any allergies.”
“No allergies,” I say before I ask, “Do you always cook for Malakai?”
“Five out of the seven days, yes.” He places a fresh glass of orange juice on the counter, “Coffee?”
With a nod, he starts making coffee while something continues to cook on the stove. I won’t lie, he stands out in a place like this and after dealing with Malakai and Miranda, I don’t know what to make of him.
He’s too…nice.
“Eat up, sunshine!” He places my coffee down, “I hear you have a big day!”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes, “Apparently so.”
“The caterers will be coming today to set up ahead of tomorrow,” He goes on, “I love weddings.”
“I love them even more when they’re not my own.”
“Now, now, kitten,” I jump at the sound of Malakai’s voice, “No need to have your claws out so early in the day.”
My teeth sink into my lip so hard I taste themetallic tinge of blood touch my tongue. He prowls across the room, heading right for me.
“Your breakfast, sir,” Louis passes over a plate as Malakai takes the stool right next to mine. He immediately digs in while I still gnaw relentlessly on my lip, making it sore within minutes.
Finally, he drags his eyes from his food, flicking them to me before they drop to my mouth. And I freeze when his hand raises and his thump gently presses against my bottom lip, forcing me to let go of it with my teeth. He rolls his thumb across the bottom lip, all the time I’m sitting there silent and frozen.
When he pulls his thumb away, I see the smear of red on the pad, but it’s gone a moment later when he sucks it into his mouth and then continues on with his breakfast like nothing happened.
What the actual…
Shaking my head, I focus back on my food, cutting around the crusts on the bread to get the rest of the food as I finish it up, leaving the crusts on the side. I don’t care what anyone says, the crusts on the bread are the worst!
“Thank you, Louis,” I say, climbing off the stool and picking up my plate, “That was delicious.”
“What are you–”
I drop the plate in the sink and turn on the tap, grabbing the dish soap before I squirt it onto the sponge I pluck from the side.
“You’ll have to teach me how to mash the avocados like you do,” I tell him, “I can never get it smooth like that.”
“Olivia, we have staff for that.” Malakai interrupts me.
“I can do it,” I grumble to him, focusing back on Louis, “Will you teach me?”
“I mean, sure, of course.”
“Thanks!” I beam.
