Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
“Yes. Why? Is it awful?” she asked.
Standing, he grabbed his water bottle and drank some down.
Oh no.
It was awful.
“Have you ever eaten marmite before, darling girl?” he asked.
“Uh. No. Is it bad? You had a huge jar of it in the cupboard so I thought you might like it.”
“Hmm. Alexei likes it on toast. He has an addiction to it. How much did you put on?”
“Oh, about two tablespoons. Was it not enough?”
“It was plenty. Maybe a bit too much. It can be overwhelming in large quantities.”
Her shoulders slumped. “See? I told you I didn’t know what I was doing. We should have gotten you something else.”
“Hey, if you’ve never had it before how were you meant to know?” He walked over and crouched in front of her, putting his hands on her knees.
She wanted more of his touches.
“You’re awfully hard on yourself, darling girl. We can’t always be perfect. The world would be boring if we were.”
But in her world mistakes could get her killed . . . or punished.
You’re not living in that world right now.
And this beautiful, lovely man wouldn’t understand your world so don’t taint him with it.
She sighed. “I guess so. I just wanted to do something nice for you.”
“And I appreciate that.” He stood and held out his hand to her. “Come on, let’s go see what we can rustle up. Have you had lunch?”
She held his hand and honestly felt like she’d gone to heaven.
“Um, yes. Salem made me some lunch.”
“Where is Salem?” he asked as they made their way down the hallway and toward the stairs.
“He’s on the phone. Alexei is out for a run.”
“And they left you unattended?” He frowned.
She had to grin. He hovered close to her as they reached the stairs. “I can be on my own, you know. I promise I’m not going to steal all the china.”
“Just give me an excuse to replace it. Dusty old stuff.”
“That stuff is antique and beautiful.”
“Is it?” He sighed. “Well, if you like it, I’ll keep it.”
She shook her head at him. As if she had anything to do with that decision. But it was sweet of him to say so.
“Right, I want you to hold onto the banister going down the stairs, please.”
“You trip over one time . . .” she grumbled.
“Yes, it was one time too many. And now you need to hold onto the banister. Plus, you hurt your foot recently.”
“My foot feels fine now. It’s not even swollen or anything. I even went for a run in the night on the treadmill.”
He paused and tightened his hold on her. “You went for a run last night? On your own?”
“Well, for some of it. Uh, Alexei found me.”
“He found you?” he asked.
“Yeah, he’s such a stalker. He went into my room looking for me because he doesn’t like it when I’m not with one of you. He left me with Salem when he went for a run.”
“He’s probably obsessing over you as he runs,” he said. “I’ve never seen him as obsessed by someone as he is by you.”
That was sweet and scary all at the same time.
But Alexei was kind of a terrifying guy. Until you realized there was a softer side to him.
“Hold the banister please,” he said. Again, that please made it sound like he was asking.
He was not.
“But I’m holding onto you and you won’t let me fall.”
He eyed her. “Well, it’s hard to argue with that. But I still want you to hold both. And when you’re in Little headspace, you’re not to go up and down the stairs on your own.”
Was he serious?
She stared up at him.
Wowsers. He was serious.
Salem had already made that rule, but she really hadn’t expected Roman to say the same thing.
They managed to get down the stairs without her slipping over. She really did have better balance than he thought she did.
It was just bad luck that she always seemed to be slipping over something or falling off furniture.
“I’m really not clumsy, you know.”
“I know,” he said as they walked into the kitchen. “But you’re easily distracted, and you don’t take as good care of yourself as I think you should.”
“And I suppose the three of you would do a much better job?” she asked.
He smiled. “Well, if you insist.”
She groaned. “That was terrible.”
But she liked the way he laughed as he led her into the kitchen. After making sure she was safely sitting on the breakfast bar stool, he set about making himself a sandwich. She kept a close eye on what he was doing so she could make it for him in the future.
“You look very intent there, darling girl. What are you thinking about?”
“Just memorizing how to make you a sandwich next time.”
He stood across the island from her with his sandwich. “You don’t have to make me lunch.”