Page 21 of Dangerous

I blinked twice before I managed to pick up my jaw. Had Blaine Steel just offered tohelpme? In the kitchen, of all places? Not at all something I would have expected from the bad boy stereotype he otherwise seemed to fit so perfectly.

“Er, no thanks, that’s all right. It won’t take me long,” I finally managed. “Thank you, though.”

He shrugged and turned around, leaving me to stare after him as he disappeared up the stairs.

As much as I’d been surprised by Blaine’s offer, I desperately needed some time to get myself together again before I spent any length of time with him. This was the first time I’d get a chance to work on getting him to eventually trust me, and I needed to keep my wits about me for that.

I spent the time the lasagna was in the oven on setting the new dining table as prettily as I could. I was pretty sure Blaine’s offer of eating together came from seeing my efforts to decorate the house and be a good little homemaker, so I wanted to nurture that part as much as possible. Thankfully, I’d bought some really pretty plates from an antique store with an online shop to go with the tea set, so the table had a nice splash of color even though I’d not thought to get any flowers. I briefly considered popping into the garden to cut a few of the last autumn blooms I’d seen through the window, but decided against it since it was already too dark to see much.

Instead, I placed some of the candles I’d bought around the window ledges and on the table. Once they were lit and the food was on the table, I stepped back to admire my handiwork.

The lasagna smelled gorgeous, and the candles sent a warm glow through the room, emphasizing the colorful plates and intimate atmosphere I was hoping to bring out. Yup, this looked exactly like something a dedicated wife would set out for her hardworking husband. Part one of my plan was complete.

I went to the stairs to call for Blaine, and then went back into the dining room and took a seat. I felt oddly nervous as I waited for him—but of course, my entire future did depend on this going right. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans just as Blaine came in, and offered him a smile I hoped didn’t reflect my nerves.

He looked around the room slowly, from the candlelight reflecting off the dark windows to the set table, and finally to me.

“I got a few things,” I said, worried he’d mind all the money I’d spent on decor. “To make it more homey.”

“Yeah, I saw the credit card statement.” He sat down on the opposite side of the table. “Food looks good.”

Of course he had checked what I bought. I bit my lip, suddenly regretting my week-long shopping spree. “I’m sorry if it was too much.”

“It’s fine.” Blaine grabbed the serving knife and cut a large slice out of the lasagna. He followed up with a generous helping from the salad bowl and then handed me the plate. “To be honest, I’m surprise there’re not any expensive handbags or shoes on that statement.”

I took the plate he was handing me, too surprised with his statement to wonder why he was plating my food for me. “Uh, I’m not expecting you to pick up the bill for my clothes shopping.”

Blaine sighed, pausing with his hand on the serving knife in the middle of cutting out his own slice of lasagna. “Can we please not have another fight about how you want to be independent? I’m your husband, and you can’t work—I’ll be paying for your clothes, along with the household supplies and anything else you’ll need.”

“Oh.” A part of me did want to argue, to lament on how this whole arrangement was fucked up and how I wanted to be able to support myself. But that would have defeated the purpose of the night, so instead I just sent him a sweet smile. “Gotcha. I’ll be sure to add a few pairs of Louboutins to next week’s shop. To make you happy, of course.”

Blaine snorted as he returned to filling his plate. “Cheers, love. Appreciate it.”

His dry tone made an unexpected snicker burst out before I could stop myself, but when I glanced at Blaine’s face, a mildly teasing smile touched his soft mouth.

“So youdolaugh. I was beginning to wonder.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Yes, I’ve been dragging your good mood right down with my sulking, haven’t I? And you, who are nothing but easy smiles and giggles.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up higher. “Sassy ‘til the end. If you’re not careful, I’ll start to enjoy your lip.”

“Hmm,” I hummed, returning my focus to the food when I could feel my face heating up again. Getting any sort of proper conversation started was going to be really difficult, if I couldn’t even keep eye contact without lighting up like a fluorescent tomato. Not for the first time, I silently cursed at my inability to control my ovaries’ inexplicable freak-outs around Blaine Steel.

But if I wanted to get him to trust me, then I needed to talk to him.

After about five minutes of the only sound in the room being the scraping of cutlery against plates, I looked back up at my dinner companion. He didn’t stop eating, but I could tell from the way his eyebrows shot up that he was aware I was looking at him.

“So… are any of your brothers married?” It was the first thing that popped into my head, partly because the only time he’d been even remotely open with me before was when he’d mentioned his family in our session.

“Didn’t take you for the smalltalk type, Mira.” He didn’t look up from the meal as he spoke, but his voice didn’t carry any note of warning, so I figured it was a green light to proceed.

“You said yourself we should try to get along, and it’s a lot easier if we know a bit about each other, don’t you think?” My own tone was light and calm. Why was it so much easier to act like an adult rather than a hormone-addled teenager as soon as he wasn’t looking at me? “Besides, it doesn’t have to be small talk. I may not know much about you, but I do know your family is important to you.”

He finally looked up then, a sharp gleam of something dark in his storm gray eyes, but it was gone before I could fully process it.

“You know how it is. Family is everything in this business. And no, none of my brothers are married. I was the first to be sacrificed on the marital alter. What about you? Any of your brothers married?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “It’s not like I’ve kept in touch. If you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about them.”

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