“This isn’t making me hate you any less!” Robert snapped back, doing his best to glare down at her, but the way his gaze kept dropping back down to the ham as he licked his lips hungrily had her smiling and reaching for a small plate.
“Here,” she said, scooping some ham onto the plate. She’d barely moved to hand it over to him when she suddenly found the plate ripped from her hand and Robert devouring the ham.
“Your appetite is frightening,” Elizabeth said even though it secretly pleased her that he wasn’t furious about the fact that she enjoyed cooking.
His only response was a glare as he continued eating his ham. When he was finished, he sent a hopeful look at the pan, but one gesture with the spoon had him placing his empty plate back on the counter.
“Now, what exactly does the orangery have to do with this truce of yours?” Elizabeth asked, hoping to distract him from the ham so that there would be some left for her dinner.
She was starving, more like ravenous at this point. She honestly couldn’t remember ever being this hungry before. Even the few times she’d been too sick to leave her bed and had been forced to survive on broth and tea for a month hadn’t left her this hungry. She could probably eat all the ham, Elizabeth thought with a groan when she was forced to slap Robert’s hand away again.
“Vicious minx!”
“Stop stealing the ham!”
“I wouldn’t have to if you fed me!” Robert snapped back as he rubbed the back of his hand.
“I’m not going to feed you until you explain this truce of yours,” Elizabeth said, hoping that it would be enough to slow his thieving ways until she could finish cooking the food.
“Fine!” Robert said as he deftly snatched another piece of ham out of the pan and popped it into his mouth before she could slap it out of his hand with the spoon.
“Get on with it, Robert,” Elizabeth said, pouring the egg batter into the pan, hoping that it would be enough to deter him from stealing any more ham for a while.
It wasn’t.
He leaned back against the wall, getting more comfortable as he popped the egg-covered piece of ham in his mouth. “You didn’t hate me that night in the orangery.”
“I didn’t know who you were,” she pointed out, stirring the ham and eggs while she kept an eye out for his devious hand.
“Ow!” he hissed, but this time he was smart enough to pull his hand back and continue making his argument for a truce. “Exactly my point. You didn’t know that I was the little boy who used to make your life a living hell and you liked the man that I’d become,” Robert said, his tone daring her to lie when they both knew that she’d more than liked him that night.
“That’s true,” Elizabeth admitted because really, there was no point in lying at this point. It certainly wouldn’t help matters.
“The only reason we’ve been at each other’s throats over the past couple of months is because of our previous history,” he explained, and she was very tempted to add that she also did it because it was fun.
“You might have a point, Robert,” Elizabeth said instead, adding cheese to the eggs and ham and mixed it for a minute before she removed the pan from the heat and set it aside. Shooting a warning glare at Robert, she walked over to the ovens and removed the now golden-brown biscuits and placed them on the counter to cool.
“It proves that we’re capable of putting the past behind us,” Robert said, surprising her when he grabbed a couple of plates, forks, jams, and honey and set it on the table instead of stealing more food.
When he picked the plates back up, she became nervous. She was starving and in no mood to fight with Robert over food. She just wanted-
“Here you are, minx,” Robert said with a smile as he placed a plate overflowing with food on the table in front of her.
Touched that Robert would willingly give up food, Elizabeth sat down with a smile and started to eat. She nearly moaned when the food hit her tongue. It tasted like heaven, pure heaven, and she couldn’t get enough. It wasn’t until Robert picked up her plate that she realized that she’d eaten every single morsel of food in a matter of minutes.
“You like peach jam, right?” Robert asked as he placed a second plate overflowing with food in front of her, startling her.
“Yes,” she automatically said as she looked down at the plate of food, realizing that she was still hungry.
When Robert placed three jam-smothered biscuits by her plate, she grabbed one and devoured it, only pausing long enough to send him a glare when he had the nerve to chuckle.
“Sorry,” Robert said, sitting down across from her and bringing her attention to the fact that he wasn’t eating.
“Aren’t you hungry?” she asked, reaching for another biscuit.
“I want to make sure that you get enough to eat,” he said, gesturing for her to continue and making her heart skip a beat.
Robert Bradford was willingly parting with food. Either the world was coming to an end or he was serious about making a fresh start.
