Page 18 of His Target
Chapter Eight
Porter
Lord,give me strength. I should not be attracted to a woman who is so much younger than me. I thought coming here I could push any lustful thoughts away, but that look she gave me when she said I was trying to seduce her nearly made me spring a full-on erection. I haven't had a woman do that to me in a while. I normally have perfect self-control.
I glance up as I cut the potatoes into smaller chunks to boil. She's kneeling on the bed, reading the movies I brought with me and putting them on the shelves. It seems she's figured out how I sort them alphabetically and by genre. I do the same things with the records I have here.
Fuck, her ass is going to be the death of me. She might wear big clothes to hide her upper body, but her lower half looks incredible in yoga pants, and I'm pretty sure she's put on a little weight since last time. I don't remember her ass looking as full as it does. All it's doing is making me want to spank it, and I'm sure she wouldn't be into that. Why would she be when it looks like she's been through torture?
She glances over her shoulder at me and I turn my gaze back to the potatoes. I can't be attracted to her. She doesn't need someone fifteen years older than her to be sniffing up her tree. I'm not like that. Even if I feel like there's chemistry between us, I can't act on it.
She taps the wall, drawing my attention back to her. She holds up one of the Romcoms I bought for her. I haven't seen it, so I don't know if I'll like it. I'm picky when it comes to romance movies. Not that anyone in my family knows I like them at all. I'll take that secret to my grave. She'll be the only one that knows I enjoy them from time to time. I used to be a hopeless romantic when I was a kid before I learned what having a relationship is really like.
I nod. "Put it in. I haven't seen it, but it was in the five-dollar bin, and looked like it might be decent."
She nods and opens the case forThe Truth About Cats & Dogs.
The movie starts as I have the potatoes in the boiling water and the steaks and asparagus ready to go in the oven. Hopefully, I timed it all right so that it all comes together at the same time.
"Would you like a glass of wine?" I look toward her as she's hitting play on the machine.
She looks at me and nods. "Thank you."
Such a polite woman. It makes me wonder what she would've been like if life hadn't gotten her to this point. Our paths would've never crossed if she had led a typical life. She'd be in college right now or doing something, and I would be working. She would've never shown up on my list.
I pull out the wine glasses I got from the dollar store before I came over. Nothing too fancy, but nice enough that we're not drinking wine out of plastic cups. I swear I'm not trying to seduce her. I just want her comfortable enough that she'll tell me her story and who I have to kill to make her life even easier once she has the chance to start over.
Pouring a nice red wine, that will pair well with the steak, I take her glass to her. "Here you go, Gwen."
She takes the glass from me with a slight shiver to her shoulders. Did me saying her name give her that reaction? I've only ever seen women do that when they're turned on. Perhaps Gwen is her real name, and she likes hearing someone say it?
"Thank you." She swirls it and then sips it.
She hums and nods. "It's good. I like it."
I smile. Well, at least she can appreciate good wine, and she knew to swirl it. I wonder where she learned that. "It's one of my favorites to have with steak. It's never steered me wrong. I like the flavors."
She nods. "My dad used to let me try a sip of his when I was a kid. I always wanted to feel grown-up when they had wine with dinner, but I never liked it until I was older. As a kid, I could never taste anything good. I wanted it to taste as good as they would make it look."
She glances at the screen as the movie fully starts. She moves carefully with the wine to sit crossed-legged on the bed. For a minute I wish I had a table and chairs down here, but this place was built for one human to live in it, so there's no room in here for that kind of furniture.
I take a seat on the sofa. My alarm will go off soon to drain the potatoes and take the steak out to rest. I've been cooking low and slow so it will be a nice pink medium instead of well done. I train my gaze on the movie but study her out of the corner of my eye.
It could be my imagination, but she does seem more relaxed around me than she was when I was here before. It's almost like I came over to her house and we're hanging out like friends would. I get the feeling she's used to changing in her life, that or she doesn't care that I'm here. I think we've established I won't hurt her. Or she's looking at it like she doesn't care if I kill her, so if I did something now, it wouldn't be a surprise to her.
She smiles at something said on the screen and uses her hand to cover her mouth. I want to tell her she can laugh if she wants to laugh, I don't mind it, but she seems so self-conscious about any sound that comes out of her throat.
My phone blares with the timer, making her jump. I turn it off and get up to drain the potatoes, mash them, and let the steak rest.
* * *
She sits on the sofa with me, it's a little tight, but it's easier to eat the steak if we can cut it on our laps. It's a pretty fine meal if I do say so myself; she seems to be enjoying it as well. I've caught her more than once chewing a bite with her eyes closed. When was the last time that she had a meal cooked for her like this?
"Do you like it?" I ask.
She turns her gaze from the movie to me. The main characters are trying to figure out if they like each other or not since she lied to him about her identity and there's a love triangle happening. It's a cute movie, but I don't know if I would want to watch it more than once. Gwen seems to be into it though. She has hardly taken her eyes off the screen. "It's very good. Thank you."
I nod. "Of course. Try a bit of wine the next time you take a steak bite, it will blow your mind."
