When I didn’t immediately answer, I heard a sigh, then the creak of the wooden floor just outside the bathing chamber. He had begun to move away, but a wild rush of words spilled out of me before he could get far.
“You can come in,” I called out, “but you have to keep your back to me.”
A pause. “I can do that.”
As the door creaked open, I slid beneath the bubbly, soapy water so that only my head, from chin up, was visible. But Ragnar kept his word. He backed into the room, shut the door, and kept his gaze rooted to the wall in front of him. Unlike me, he still wore his wet clothes. Rivulets of rainwater dripped down his trousers and boots, forming an instant puddle by his feet. Damp strands of hair curled across the back of his neck. A bit of steam puffed from his skin.
“So…hello,” I said, heat creeping up my cheeks. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Most of all, I wanted to make sure you’re all right. You looked half-frozen when I found you. And you didn’t even bicker with me once, so I know you were a bit out of it.” His head slightly shifted to the side, but he still didn’t look my way.
“I’m not that bad, am I?”
“You’re fiery. But I like it.”
I nibbled on my bottom lip, inching a bit lower in the water.
“What I don’t like is being stood up,” he suddenly said. “We had a plan, one I thought was important to you. But instead of following through on that, you went to the carpenter for some barrels instead.”
An image of Ragnar with the beautiful singer flashed in my mind. A knot formed in my stomach.
“I realized our plan wouldn’t work,” I said softly.
“I figured as much.”
“It’s just…I can sort this out on my own. There’s no need to go on an elaborate manhunt for a keg thief. Brewing ale is simple. And it’s what I do best.”
Ragnar folded his arms. “That’s fine. I understand. I just have one more question, if you don’t mind.”
My heartbeat quickened. “All right. Ask your question.”
He shifted on his feet, and his boots squelched, logged with rainwater. A guilty flush filled my cheeks. Ragnar had traipsed out into the worst storm Riverwold had seen in decades. According to Nilsa, he’d done it just to find me.
“What changed between last night and this morning?” he asked.
I swallowed. “If I’m being honest, I wasn’t entirely sure you’d meet me here today. I…well I suppose I thought you might be otherwise engaged, especially with the weather the way it is.”
“Otherwise engaged.” He started to turn toward me, then stopped himself.
“You can face me if you want. Nilsa loves her bubbles, so there’s plenty of them,” I found myself saying.
Ragnar wheeled around. His gaze no longer held that impossible fire it had outside, but his eyes still felt like they were burning through mine. He didn’t even try to look down at what might be hidden in the water. He merely met my stare with a deeply furrowed brow.
“I don’t understand why you think I’d be otherwise engaged. Now that I have no ale, it’s not as if I’d be busy with my shop. And the storm has driven everyone inside.”
“Yes, well.” How could I explain this without looking like a fool? Truth be told, it seemed an impossible feat. I cleared my throat. “Last night, Nilsa realized you’d left without eating, so she gave me an apple pie to deliver to your wagon.”
That wasn’t theentiretruth, but at least it made it seem like I’d been doing Nilsa a favor rather than…well, whatever it was I thought I’d been doing. And I didn’t want to think about that too much.
His lips tilted up in the corners, which blasted a strange heat through my belly. “So that’s what she was talking about earlier. But since you never showed up, I’m guessing you ate it all.”
“No.” I looked away. “Like I said, you were otherwise engaged. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“I wasn’t… Oh.” He chuckled, which was quite the opposite of the reaction I’d expected. It was far worse. The bastard was laughing at me. Why I expected anything different from him—
“You saw me talking to that singer,” he said. “And you thought I was inviting her into my wagon for the night. Well, I wasn’t.”
My head swivelled toward him. “But I saw her climbing inside, and you were right behind her.”
