Page 67 of Axe Marks the Spot

“You want a fry, Mom?”

I shake my head. “You eat them.”

She nods, and I feel Dane watching me. I turn my head as I chew my bite of salad.

“You want to try my omelet?” he asks.

Kas laughs. “I dare you, Mom, it looks so nasty.”

“Kas!”

Dane only laughs and cuts a bite of his omelet, making sure to get a piece of everything. I think he’s going to put it in his mouth, but instead, he holds it out to me.

Kas covers her mouth to try and stop her laughter. I don’t think I’ve seen her this excited since before Jeremy and I broke up, unless I count her excitement over the obstacle course, but this is different. This is more of an everyday type of excitement. And all over me potentially eating a bite of Dane’s food.

“You really want me to try it?” I ask her.

She giggles. “Mom, it’s so yucky looking. You have to!”

I shake my head and smile with her, turning my focus back to Dane. I expect him to hold the fork out to me so I can take it; instead, he’s holding it up to feed me.

Kas giggles. “Zoom, zoom goes the airplane, Mom! Open wide.”

Dane chuckles now, and his irises swim with amusement and something else I can’t place. When I woke up this morning, my Dom feeding me in public was definitely not on my list of to-dos. But now?

Before I can overthink it, I part my lips. Dane lifts the fork to my mouth, slow and careful, and I close my lips around the warm egg and the cool press of metal. He draws the fork back with a measured hand, his eyes darkening as he watches me chew. His eyelids lower, heavy with something that looks almost reverent, like feeding me is the best thing he’s ever done. Even if that’s an odd thought.

“Oh my god, Mom. You ate it!” Kas snorts. “Is it nasty?!”

Dane’s gaze lightens, and he lifts an eyebrow in question. I chew the food and inhale a breath through my nose. It’s…not bad. But the egg/chicken combo is not my favorite. The more I chew, the more I think my daughter is right.

I swallow and reach for my root beer. “It’s…”

Kas snorts again, and Dane shakes with his own laughter.

“It’s not that bad,” he says.

I pat Dane’s hand that’s resting on the table now. “If you like it, that’s what matters.”

He smirks at me. God, is everything this man does sexy?

Dane picks up his hand along with his fork, and he cuts into the omelet. He brings the bite of food, on the same fork that was just in my mouth, to his. His eyes stay on mine as his bowed lips close over the food and he eats it.

I shift in my chair, and when he swallows, he looks to Kas. “So yummy.”

More laughter fills the air, and soon we fall into an easy silence as we eat our meals. Kas eventually starts to ask Dane what it’s like to be a logger.

We both listen to him with rapt attention, learning that his dad was a logger and he followed in his footsteps. He talks about cutting down trees and reforesting to keep the planet healthy. He also mentions that he doesn’t do much logging now but doesn’t tell Kas what he does. Thank god.

My daughter hangs on his every word, and I have no doubt Kas will ask him to eat with us again sometime when we’re done. Not that I would mind. I should mind, because he’s my Dom. I shouldn’t be having meals with him. A meal that has felt an awful lot like a date.

My mind starts to carry me away with ideas of the future. One that involves Dane and me together. One that involves meals at my kitchen table. Meals with Nathan, Fox, and Morgan. The image of Dane sitting next to me on the couch while Kas plays a game or he tells her a story and tucks her in at night is when I know my brain has gone too far for the night. Way, way too far.

“You good?”

I focus my attention back on Dane. There’s concern in his eyes, and I blink away the haze of my stupid imagination. “Yeah, fine. Why?”

“Kas asked you a question.”