“You’re awfully comfortable here.” She hacked into the bunch of lettuce.
“It’s a kitchen. How uncomfortable should it be?”
She threw the chopped lettuce into a large bowl. “It’s the kitchen of a guy you met a week ago, and you know where he keeps all his cutlery.”
Bree looked down at the knife she held. She’d known right were to find it. Cutlery drawer to the right of the stove. She might have to hunt for specialty items, but she knew exactly where to find the essentials. She could tell Denise where to find just about anything she needed.
She raised her gaze to Denise. “This is going really fast,” she whispered.
“Shit, honey. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“It was coming whether you said something or not. I haven’t thought about how fast this was going.” She cleared her throat and turned back to the vegetables. “I think maybe I should back off some.”
“Why?”
She set down the knife and picked up the grater, intent on demolishing the carrots. “What do you mean ‘why’?”
“Bree, look at me.”
She set down the grater and turned to face Denise. She leaned a hip against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Why do you think you need to back off?” Denise asked.
“It’s too fast. I’ve known him for a week and I’m as comfortable in his kitchen as I am in yours.” Bree swept an arm out.
“Who says it’s too fast?”
“Me. You. Anyone who hears how we met.”
“Whoa, I never said it was too fast.”
“You said I looked really comfortable in his kitchen.”
“Right. And you do. It’s not a bad thing. Bree, you need to go as fast or slow as you need to go. And to be honest with you, Jase doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to let you back off, even if that’s what you really wanted to do.”
Bree snorted and folded her arms over her chest. “Yeah. I called him an alpha-male door-kicker today.”
Denise laughed. “It’s an apt description. What did he say?”
“Nothing, he just smiled.”
Denise paused before confessing, “I never liked Chad.”
“I know,” Bree said with a rueful smile.
“He never got you. He was never in the military. Never understood what you went through or why you chose to do what you do now. Jase…” Denise took a breath and gazed toward the back of the house. She looked back at Bree before continuing. “Jase gets it. You can see it in his eyes. The way he carries himself. He’ll never ask you stupid questions that make you want to throat punch him.”
Bree snorted, her eyes stinging.
“He’ll protect you in a way Chad never could.”
“I know,” Bree whispered.
“You need to grab on to that and hold on tight.”
Bree’s head dropped as she brushed a stray tear off her cheek. “I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
