Page 74 of Buck Wild Orc Cowboy
My throat tightened, and I hugged her back. “We’ll see.”
“That we will.” She pulled back, brushing her hair from her face. “Tomorrow’s going be a whirlwind, so get some sleep tonight.”
“I will,” I said, my heart full.
Chapter 26
Sel
After Gracie left, Holly returned to the kitchen while I was finishing mixing up a batch of cloonflower scones. They tasted best if the cloonflowers were given the chance to permeate the batter, so I wanted to build the batter before the end of the day. I’d bake them first thing in the morning.
Meanwhile, cookies were baking in the oven. I’d never found it a challenge to manage more than one dish at a time until I met Holly. Now I too often found myself distracted.
For example, now, when she strode into the kitchen with her cheeks pink from sunshine and her eyes glowing with happiness. It made my breath stop in my lungs and my heart roar like a wild sorhox. Also like a wild sorhox, I wanted to issue a challenge to any male who might be near, telling them to back away.
That she was mine.
Instead, I gave her a sappy grin and lost complete control of my mind.
“Hey,” she said, stopping beside me at the counter.
“Hey,” I croaked right back. To make it look like I actually remembered what I was doing, I gave the ingredients in the bowla couple of stirs. What was I making again? Oh, yeah, right. Cloonflower scones.
“What are you…” Frowning, she lifted her nose, scenting the air. “Something’s…”
Burning.
Damn.
I raced to the big oven and wrenched the door open, grimacing as smoke clouded out, jetting around me.
Holly rushed to the back door to open it while I grabbed a mitt and leaned into the oven to latch onto the pan of scorched cookies.
The burn didn’t hit me right away. It was the kind of pain that came a few seconds later, sneaking up like a silverwhip in the grass. One moment I was sliding the tray of cookies out of the oven, the next I was brushing my forearm against the door’s edge. Skin hit piping hot metal. I didn’t flinch at first. Just gritted my teeth and set the tray on the cooling rack like nothing had happened.
That flash of fire under my skin stabbed through me as I butted the door closed with my hip. A hiss slipped through my teeth, and I jerked back, looking down to find an angry red line already rising on my forearm. Blisters would follow. I’d burned myself worse, but this one bit deep.
Holly noticed before I could think to hide it.
“Sel.” Worry sharpened her voice as she rushed to me, her pretty eyes wide. “You burned yourself.”
“It’s nothing.” I couldn’t keep the wince out of my voice as I flexed my arm. Heat pulsed all the way up to my elbow.
Holly took my hand and guided me over to the sink and under the light. She skimmed her fingertip across the area near the burn. “That looks painful.”
I stared at her mouth as she spoke. As she turned on the cold water and guided my arm under the flow. I adored the wayher lips formed words. The concern for me etched between her brows. She looked like she hurt for me, and that leveled me more than the burn itself.
“It’s fine.”
She gave me a look and turned on her heel, hurrying to the small office and returning with the first aid kit Aunt Inla insisted I place in my desk drawer. It had remained there since. My aunt would be pleased to see it was finally getting some use. Holly turned off the water and gently blotted my arm dry. I did my best not to wince when her fingers came close. It really hurt but burns always did.
“Sit,” she said, nodding toward the wooden stool near the back counter.
Dropping into it, I watched her move through the kitchen like she belonged here. Like she belonged with me. My throat tightened. She filled a bowl with water and took a clean hand towel from the drawer, placing them on the counter beside the first aid kit that she opened to study what was inside.
“You really don’t have to fuss over me,” I said, trying for lightness.
She met my eyes as she stepped between my thighs.
