He smiled softly, happily, his gaze darting all over my face, and bent down whispering in my ear, “You talk in your sleep sometimes.”
“Seriously?” I gasped, and he nodded, standing straight again, watching me still. I didn’t know I did that. Oh, well. It had worked in my favor. “Thank you!” I hadn’t wanted to ask for anything special after that whole knife and green bean casserole issue. Especially because there was always a bowl full in front of me at dinner that no one else touched, and—ahem, somehow managed to be empty by the end of dinner. Yeah…well, anyway…
“You’re welcome.” He brushed me forward, pulling my chair out for me, glancing at everyone—snooping, and then stated, “You can all go back to eating.”
I sat quickly, and ignored Eva muttering something about clothes being needed at the table, and started scarfing down a pink iced donut with pretty sprinkles. I was so zoned into it, and the other three I ate, I didn’t notice at first Nikki and Beth staring at my plate, but eventually, I took a breath and glanced up seeing the prettiest innocent…and scared…blue and green eyes staring at me and my plate. They had stopped eating but were sitting there silently just watching me.
I licked a little of the icing off my lips and glanced down at my plate. There were two left. Another pink one, and a sugar and cinnamon one. They looked really good, but I took a deep soothing breath, and stood up, leaning way over and down the table, firmly ignoring how they pushed back in their chair as I reached over, grabbing the tiny plates in front of the ones already filled with their messy pancakes. I proceeded to place one donut on each plate, and then put them in front of the girls.
Big, blue and green eyes darted from the plates to me, and I nodded, sitting back down in my seat. “Go ahead. There yours.”
Both girls glanced at Ember, who was watching me with a small smile on her lips. “Go ahead, girls. It appears Elizabeth’s morning activities have made her less…cranky.”
I took a deep breath trying not to say anything offensive to her, and both girls grabbed their donuts and bit into them with relish, mumbling around mouthfuls, “Thank you.”
I smiled and decided to try out something I had learned, saying clearly and distinctly in Russian, “You’re welcome.” Both girls looked at me funny, and I smiled, grabbing the box of Fruity Pebbles. “That means you’re welcome in Russian.” I paused with the box of cereal up and glanced at Daniil. “That does mean you’re welcome, right?”
Everyone at the table who spoke Russian nodded, but Daniil was grinning like an idiot, and he asked, “You’re learning my language?”
I shrugged, filling my bowl up. “I’m trying.” I glanced at Ember under my eyelashes, seeing her frown, and stated, “I found a book and tapes to study when I went in search of that mousse I somehow lost on Wednesday.”
Ember’s scowl turned fierce.
I smiled at her.
I stated in Russian—because I had looked it up specifically, “You’re a thief. You take mine and I’ll take yours.” Plus I had asked Trofim if I was pronouncing everything correctly. He had looked surprised but nodded, repeating what I had said in English.
Ember’s scowl didn’t falter, but her eyebrows puckered a little.
Daniil choked on his coffee, glancing back and forth between us…pretty much like everyone else at the table who spoke Russian. He coughed, saying, “How long have you had those books and tapes?”
I shrugged again. “A few days.” My gaze was on Ember.
“They really do work,” I heard him whisper to himself quietly, but I didn’t think anyone else heard him.
Ember glanced at Grigori, her expression turning even more perplexed by the second, and she broke her silent treatment she had been giving him for the past few days to ask, “What did she just say? Something about kitchens?”
I blinked at her because…damn…those books had looked well read. A few places were even highlighted. Grigori cleared his throat carefully, glancing at me, and said, “She was wondering if you would get her more donuts from the kitchen.”
My gaze immediately went to my bowl of cereal. Christ. I hadn’t realized Ember wasn’t picking up on the language. And that look Grigori had given me clearly stated I needed to back the fuck off.
Ember asked me, sounding flabbergasted, “You want me to get you donuts?”
I bit my lip and picked up my spoon. “You know, never mind. I’m good with this.” I took a deep breath and glanced at her. “I want my mousse back, and I’ll give you the books and tapes back.”
She scowled again, but slowly nodded, appearing not to want to give me what I wanted. “Okay.” She paused, her cheeks pinking. “Um…I’d really like them back.”
I nodded and took a bite of my cereal, honestly not enjoying making her feel this embarrassed. “All right.” I cleared my throat when the table started talking quietly, and I leaned forward on a whim, saying quietly to her, “You know, maybe we could work on learning it together. It’s hard. And I’m having some trouble with it.”
Ember’s eyebrows pinched together, and she stated bluntly, “You’re lying.”
My own came together.How the hell did she know that?But, more to the point, who really cared? “And if I am?”
Grigori and Daniil sat quietly, stuck between us—Daniil at the head and Grigori directly across from me like normal—and watched us while they ate.
“Why are you lying?” she hissed, leaning across the table.
I glared. “Do you want to work together or not?”
