Page 8
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After Calder left for work, I figured I’d put in a load of laundry. I had a bunch of dirty stuff from the road trip, and I found a bunch of Calder’s clothes in a small hamper to add to mine.
Calder had told me there was a shared washer and dryer in the basement of the brownstone, so I made my way down the stairs with a large, canvas laundry bag hung over my arm. As I passed Rafe’s apartment, his door was wide open again. I stopped short at the sight of him cooking at the stove. His hair had been tied back earlier, but it was now messily down, covering his face.
My lips parted. Before I could pretend not to have noticed, he turned and noticed me standing there. Shit.
“Hey, Talia.” His mouth curved into a smile.
Jesus, I hadn’t noticed his deep dimples before. “Hi.” I lifted my hand awkwardly as I took a few steps inside and dropped the bag on the floor. “I was just headed downstairs to do laundry. Whatever you’re making smells good.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Oh.” I shook my head. “I don’t normally eat breakfast.”
“You doing that intermittent-fasting thing or something?”
“No.” I laughed nervously. “I’m just not a big breakfast-food person.” I looked down at the scrambled eggs and vegetables in the huge pan. “That can’t all be for you?”
“What if it were?” He arched a brow. “Ain’t no shame in my eating game.” He winked. “Actually, no. It’s for my aunt, too.”
“Ah.” I smiled. “It’s really sweet that you moved in to help take care of her, by the way.”
“It’s what anyone would do.” He moved the eggs around with a wooden spoon.
“That’s not true.”
He shut off the stove and grabbed two plates, pouring some of the eggs onto each one. “Excuse me for a minute,” he said, picking up one of the plates. “Gonna walk this down to her.”
He took off before I could tell him I was going downstairs. But it would be rude now to leave without saying goodbye.
I could barely make out the muffled sound of him talking to his aunt.
“You need to eat. You’re shriveling up into nothing, and you need your strength,” he told her.
“It’s not your job to feed me.”
“Well, I’m making it my job!”
“You’re a doll, Rafe.”
“Eat up. I’m coming down to collect the plate, and I’d better not see food sitting there all cold.”
“I love you, my boy.”
“Love you, too, auntie. Now, eat!”
The eggs did smell damn good. My stomach growled.
I tiptoed over to the pan and picked at the remnants with my fingers. After the first taste, I let out an audible moan.
“Well, damn. That good, huh?”
I jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to find Rafe watching me with an amused grin.
“Sorry…” I licked my lips. “I was just curious as to how it tasted.”
His eyes seared into mine. “A little curiosity never killed anyone.”
