How did he know that? She closed her gaping mouth. “I’m fine.”
One eyebrow shot up. “I repeat. Bullshit.”
Unable to maintain eye contact, Mara checked to see what he might have wanted. The freezer door was closed, and he’d stacked bags near the fridge and boxes by the huge pantry. “I’m done with the fridge. You can move anything to a different space if it makes more sense to you.”
His gaze didn’t move from hers. “You’re safe here. There are security systems at the farmhouse and here at the inn. We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”
Warm fuzzies ran through her at his fierce words.
He still didn’t look away. “Anyone who comes onto this property and makes you feel uncomfortable, you tell me.”
Wondering if he was thinking the worst, she couldn’t stop the words from blurting out. “I wasn’t raped.”
His frown deepened. “That’s good, but there are millions of other ways for an asshole to hurt a woman.”
Tears filled her eyes at that blunt statement. He was right, but she hadn’t been hurt. “He didn’t get a chance to hurt me.”
She hadn’t meant to say that either. What was it about this man that had her spilling her guts when she hadn’t said a word to anyone else?
Seth continued to watch her. “Also good. But he wanted to. I’m glad you got away from him before he could. I still want to kick his ass.”
That made her smile. “Thank you.”
“You’ll tell me if he shows up here, or if anyone makes you uncomfortable.”
It wasn’t a request. She didn’t take orders well, unless they were instructions in her job. Still, she found herself nodding.
Seemingly satisfied, Seth nodded but continued to study her. Finally, he released her gaze and turned to the fridge. “It’s much less chaotic than I figured.”
It took a moment to realize that he’d expected her to be disorganized. “That sounds like an insult.”
He barked out a laugh and turned to grab the largest bag of flour. He hefted it easily, and she enjoyed the ripple of his muscles under his shirt. “Where do you want this? Do you have smaller containers, or do you work with them like this?”
She sighed. “I’m used to using the large buckets, but I’ll just use them like this for now.”
He moved to the large pantry doors. “On the lowest shelf?”
“Yes, thanks.” She was short, and reaching up for it would be a pain in the butt.
He placed it and the other flour options on the bottom shelf. She would order more specialty flours once she saw what the suppliers offered.
They worked companionably for the next hour, not talking much. She wanted to fill the room with easy, working music, but she’d wait until she was alone for that. She wasn’t putting her earbuds in again today.
Once the groceries were settled, Seth looked at her with that serious gaze. “I’ve got knives and pans to bring in. Do you have any of your own things?”
She laughed. “Of course. The back of my car is loaded.”
His quick grin at that curled her toes. Actually curled her toes. She’d thought that was something she’d only experience in the romances she read, but here were her toes letting her know it happened in real life, too.
Over a strong, sexy man who didn’t like music and expected her to fill the fridge with chaos. A man with a limp that got worse the longer he stayed on his feet. A man who didn’t want to discuss it and pushed himself through the pain.
A man who wanted to protect her.
Containing the shivers, she hummed to herself as they headed out to grab their treasures from the vehicles.
It would be more fun sharing a kitchen than she’d expected.
She barely resisted the urge to sing “My Shot” from Hamilton. She hadn’t thrown away her shot when she’d left New York. This was it. This would be her shot at making her very own place.
