Page 89 of My Haven
Ryuu shook his head. “She did her best to hide her reaction and it kicked back,” he explained.
Aiden looked to Kendrick. “Huh?”
Kendrick nodded. “What Ryuu said, is quite accurate. Meryn’s empathy was picking up a lot from the Council members, but she chose to ignore it to get access to their human contracts. When she finally allowed it to come forward, it packed a wallop.”
“Mer-yn!” Aiden growled.
“I’m fine now. The soup is really helping. More?” Meryn asked, looking pitifully in Genevieve’s direction.
Genevieve laughed, stood, got her bowl, and went to the stove to dish out some more. This time she added a bit more chicken to up her protein. She carefully set the bowl down in front of the wacky woman. “Here you go, you nut.”
“Thanks, this shit is delicious!”
Pip, Nigel and Neil echoed her sentiment.
Caiden leaned in. “They all had rough starts, including a lack of food. You may be their favorite person for a while.”
Genevieve felt her eyes fill. “Maybe tomorrow I can make chocolate chip cookies.”
Meryn heard her and held up a thumb. “Peez,” she said, mouthful of chicken.
“I add walnuts, is anyone allergic?”
Meryn looked around and everyone was shaking their heads. After chewing she said. “I’ve never had chocolate chip cookies with walnuts before.”
“How about homemade pasta?”
Meryn’s eyes widened. “You can make pasta?”
“Where did you think it comes from if you can’t make it?”
“A factory or something. It just gets shipped all dry in boxes to stores,” Meryn explained.
“What about…” Genevieve started.
Meryn held up a hand. “Until last year, when Ryuu started cooking for me, I lived off ofHot Pockets,Cheetos, coffee andToast Ems. He can tell you what I’ve had since then.”
Genevieve laughed, then saw Meryn watching her. “Wait, are you serious?”
“Yup.”
Genevieve turned to Caiden and held out her hand. “I need a pad of paper and a pen.”
Caiden, smiling, went to a drawer and pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen. “Here you go.” His hand lingered on her, teasing her a bit.
She cleared her throat and sat down to think about the meals she wanted to make. The way Caiden’s fingers traced the top of her hand made her feel branded and she wasn’t entirely sure if she hated that. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered how his hands might feel elsewhere.
“Genevieve, you, okay? You look red,” Meryn said, eyeing her.
“I’m fine. It’s just a bit warm here by the stove,” she said.
Meryn’s eyes narrowed, then she grinned. “Right.”
“You really are a menace, aren’t you?” Genevieve asked.
“Hey, I get along with Arlo for a reason,” Meryn pointed out.
“Speaking of menaces,” Genevieve said, she pulled out her phone.
