Page 46 of Say the Words
“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what I’m doing.” I eased past him. “Is the washer this way, or—never mind, I see it.”
The utility room on the far side of the kitchen had been renovated to match, with sleek front loaders beneath pristine white cabinets. I opened a cupboard and found laundry detergent on the first try. Kismet.
“June, if you even think about doing that laundry, I will take you over my shoulder and drop you outside on your behind, so help me.”
I tossed his clothes into the washer. “I’m intrigued by the offer, but given your condition, I think that’s pretty unlikely.”
“It would hurt like hell, but I’ll do it.”
I pushed start, and the washer chimed to life. When I turned to face him, heat rippled through me like I’d walked into a furnace. Irritation and bitterness made Ty an imposing sight, but I didn’t feel a trace of the unease a person should feel under a gaze like that.
The undeniable attraction threw me. How could he look so gorgeous standing there blazing with anger in a rumpled button-down? A dozen other ways he could put that intensity to use flashed in my mind until a soft fluttering filled my chest.
We stayed that way a moment, staring each other down.
“Well?” I finally said, feigning a confidence I didn’t quite feel, what with that zing of awareness pulsing through my blood. “Are you going to toss me over your shoulder or not?”
One of his eyes twitched. “It’s still an option.”
“Let’s table it for now.” I pulled his dishwasher open. Clean. Good.
“You don’t have to do that,” he said when I opened all the cupboard doors to more easily put away his dishes. “I’d really rather you didn’t.”
“Get used to it.” I didn’t know where this cavalier attitude over risking Ty’s wrath had come from. Maybe if I acted as contrary as he did, my heartbeat would slow down, and I’d stop thinking how much I’dlikehim to toss me over his shoulder. “When you work yourself into the hospital, you’ll have a whole team of people taking care of you. Doctors, nurses, someone to turn you so you don’t get bed sores.”
He crossed his arms while I collected the dishes in the living room, but he didn’t get in my way. A plastic breathing tube sat on the side table next to his recliner. “Are you doing your breathing exercises?”
“Do you want to take my temperature, too?”
“Why, are you feeling feverish?”
“I’d say I’m a little hot under the collar.”
I smiled to myself while starting the dishwasher. When I came closer to stand in front of him, a little of his irritation had dissolved. His forehead wasn’t etched quite so deeply, and his gaze had lost that murderous glint. Whether he finally decided to accept my help, or was just glad I finished, I’d have to take it as a win.
“There, that was painless, wasn’t it?”
His mouth tugged at the edges. “Painless isn’t the word.”
“Now, do you want me to serve up some of this lasagna?”
The beginnings of his smile disappeared. “About that…”
Before he could explain, gravel crunched in front of the house as a car pulled up. We both glanced toward the front window, and then at each other. He looked almost furtive. Guilty.
Oh, Lord.Crap, crap, crap.
“You had other plans tonight.” I wasn’t sure I succeeded in keeping my voice casual. My skin crawled as I replayed the evening. No wonder he’d been trying to shoo me out from the moment I barged through his front door. He really had been trying to get rid of me, and I’d been completely oblivious. I’d even started thinking—
Oh, I’d been ridiculous.
I flashed a fake smile. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Only, leaving would mean walking out the front door and facing whoever Ty was expecting. Maybe the blonde ex-girlfriend had turned up to tend him in his hour of need, after all. Maybe Chloe—she had known him all her life and flat-out admitted to having a crush on him. An old one, but hey, things happen.
The doorbell rang, its cheery chime loud in the stillness. I took a step toward the kitchen. Sneaking out the back door could work. Through it all, Ty watched me with an odd look on his face.
“Should I not be here?” I whispered.
