Page 42 of Bound By Words

She glanced over her shoulder, shrugging with a shy smile before she turned back to the food she was uncovering. “What can I say? I felt sorry for you.”

“Such a mouth on you.” A loud laugh escaped my mouth as she bit the corner of her lip and glanced back at me with mirth in her eyes.

“You like it.”

Nodding, I smiled back at her. “I do.” There were all kinds of things I found myself liking about Kelly. Her sass was definitely one of them. For once, the slightly bratty behavior didn’t make me want to try to tame it out of her. I wanted to encourage it and see her turn the tables on me. I found her spark to be one of her sexiest qualities. Well…that and her amazing ass.

“Eyes up here, stud,” she giggled as she bumped her hip into mine.

Grabbing a plate, I dished up even portions from the containers of each dish onto both plates, enjoying the way she eyed me from where she’d leaned back against the edge of the counter.

“Where would you like to sit?” I asked as I picked up both plates, glancing toward the small table near the sliding glass door and the cozy living room area in front of the fireplace. The fire wasn’t lit, but that could be easily remedied.

“Do you mind if we sit on the couch? I’ll feel less like I have to entertain you that way.”

“Oh, pour on the flattery, sunshine. Let me know how you feel about spending time with me.”

“I think your ego is big enough, Nate. You don’t need me to feed it.”

“Ouch,” I faked being wounded by her barb, frowning as I followed her into the living room, waiting for her to take a seat before handing her the plate I’d fixed.

“You know I’m perfectly capable of plating up my food,” she teased as she settled back into the corner of the cushions, folding her legs underneath herself, covering her legs with a blanket, and balancing the plate on her knees.

“I do,” I nodded. “And maybe you should let someone serve you for a change instead of trying to do everything yourself.” I’d happily do her bidding for more than just making sure she had a meal.

“Aren’t you going to sit down?” she asked as I leaned over to rest my plate on the coffee table.

“Do you know where they keep the matches?” I nodded to the fireplace.

“On the mantel, but you don’t need to worry about that. There isn’t any firewood anyway,” she said, motioning to the empty basket on the hearth.

“I’ve got this,” I winked as I returned to the entryway.

“You don’t need to bother,” she called after me.

I kept moving, grabbing my coat and heading toward the garage. I pulled a few dry pieces of wood from the pile in the corner and then filled a bucket with freshly cut timber from the stacks outside. The least I could do as repayment for dinner was to start a fire. Not that she likely couldn’t do it for herself, but I felt compelled to take care of her.

NATHAN

Connecticut

“Your food is going to get cold,” Kelly scolded as I walked past her with my armload of firewood and settled on my knees before the fireplace.

Reaching up to grab the matches off the mantelpiece, I opened the grate and stacked the dry wood inside, pulling a few pieces of newspaper from the basket to the side and crumpling them up.

“It’ll reheat,” I shrugged as I kept working, lighting the paper with a match and slowly coaxing the flames higher. “I get distracted and don’t end up eating while my food’s hot half the time anyway.” After a few minutes, I sat back, watching the blue and orange flames dance, heat moving out into the room. I checked that the flue was completely open before I closed the grate.

“Well, aren’t you quite the Boy Scout,” Kelly teased as I picked up my abandoned plate, sitting opposite her on the couch. Her plate was mostly empty and discarded on the corner of the coffee table while she cradled a glass of wine she must have poured when I was outside.

“Actually. I am. But this is hardly building a campfire in the wilderness with two sticks.”

“Which I’m assuming you’ve done.” She watched me as I ate, a calculating smile on her lips. I wasn’t sure if it was time or if the alcohol was making her more comfortable with my presence, but I’d take it over the anxious fumbling of this morning.

“Wouldn’t be much of an Eagle Scout if I hadn’t. We had to learn all kinds of survival skills at summer camp.”

“The only thing I remember from Girl Scouts was coercing my neighbors into buying more cookies than they needed so I could get a T-shirt.”

“I could see you being highly persuasive.” It was the truth. Kelly could convince me to do all kinds of things if she wanted to. Not that it’d take much convincing.

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