“Your outfit suits you,” he said as his gaze came back to mine. “It looks equal parts comfortable and easy to remove.”
What did he say now?
“What—I, um…”
He walked back over to his chair and sat back down. “Take a few more bites, Miss Elizabeth. The tortellini soup is one of Brutus’s specialties.”
I just blinked at him. “Did you really just say that?”
He held a spoon filled with soup halfway to his lips. “What?”
I wasn’t sure if he was pulling my leg or if he was just dense. “Nothing.”
He gave me a nod before he sipped at his soup, and the way his eyes fluttered closed showed off just how long his eyelashes were. No fucking fair. I had to wear falsies if I even wanted to look like I had eyelashes in the first place. Mascara? You can fucking forget it. I’d get it on my eyelid before I’d get it on any semblance of an eyelash.
Out here looking like a goddamn raccoon first thing in the morning.
“Miss Elizabeth.”
His voice jolted me from my trance. “Hmm? Sorry, Doc. What was that?”
“You should eat.”
“Right, right.”
I took a sip of the soup and I had to pause. Holy fucking hell, it was good. It had this lemony sort of undertone, but it was a bit on the creamy side. The vegetables were fresh and still had a crunch, but the tortellini was filled with this mixture of cheese and meat that was warm and soothing and reminded me of the mashed potatoes my mother used to make growing up.
I missed that woman more than I could stand.
“Take it to a room!” Doc exclaimed.
I jolted at his voice and my spoon fell from my hand. It dropped into my soup, disappearing into the bowl as my head whipped about. My heart leapt into my throat. Was someone here? Were we found? Were we under attack? I reached for agun on my hip that wasn’t there before I felt a hand on top of mine. Warm and insistent.
“Miss Elizabeth.”
I heard giggling and my head whipped again, only for me to find the source of what was really happening. I saw Cap scoop Ariel into his arms as they stepped out of the shadows of the corner of the house and into the light. Long enough for them to suck face before they slinked back through the sliding glass door of Doc’s massive estate home.
Oh.
We weren’t under attack.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Doc said softly.
I cleared my throat and dropped my eyes to where he crouched beside me. “Sorry, I just?—”
He just shook his head as he removed my hand from my side and cupped it in between his. I looked down at our connection, and I swear to god, his hands weren’t fair. They were big, with slender fingers and veins that ricocheted from the tops of his hands all the way up his forearms. He bled with a different kind of strength. One that tightened a space in the pit of my gut that I didn’t entertain since I deployed eight months ago.
Longer than that, really.
“Are you all right?”
He sounded so sincere. I nodded softly, even though my swallow was hard. “Sorry, I just…”
I gazed off into the distance toward a line of trees along the edge of the cleared out portion of his property.
“Take your time, Miss Elizabeth,” Doc said as he stayed crouched there.
His hands, cupping my own.
