Page 20 of Loving You

“To… match the rest of my house?”

My gaze wandered over the gleaming kitchen, through the richly appointed living room, and back to him. “Do you have a lot of guests?”

“No.”

“Then why bother?”

He watched me for a long moment, then tipped his chin toward the barstool. “Sit.”

“I’m not a dog.”

His eyes flashed with mild annoyance, then softened almost immediately. “I know, love.”

Love?

His use of the endearment had me so baffled that I moved to the stool and slipped onto it without another word. He obviously hadn’t meant anything by it, but it was so far from what I was used to from him that it had me a little speechless.

Understanding swept through me as I stared down at the plate of lemon chicken, steamed veggies, and a baked potato.

This wasn’t kindness. It was pity.

This must be how Eric acted when hepitiedsomeone. No wonder it was so foreign to me. I’d changed in his eyes, and even though he didn’t know the details, he’d worked enough of it out to decide that he felt bad for me now.

“April.”

I looked up to find him staring at me expectantly.

“Eat.”

My mouth popped open to repeat the wholeI’m-not-a-dogthing, but his dark eyes danced in a way that told me he knew it was coming and was itching to spit out whatever witty retort he’d already thought up.

Fat chance, sucka.

Now that I knew he was driven by pity, I decided to deprive him of his fun. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I had the energy for our usual battle of wits tonight anyway, but I mustered enough strength to pick up my fork and take a huge bite, punctuating it with a not-quite fake moan of delight.

Jenna Walker was a damn good cook.

When I met his gaze again, I hoped to see disappointment that I hadn’t taken his bait. Instead, I found something that looked a little too much like a victory dance in his dark eyes. Then he rocked forward slightly and flashed me a ghost of a smile. “Good girl.”

My heart stuttered.Bastard.

Not only had he won, but he knew it.

And even worse… something about that bossy performance hadn’t infuriated me as much as it normally would have. In fact, the way his voice had gone all husky and just a touch on the dirty side when he saidgood girlwas—shit.It was kinda hot.

Okay, it was a lothot.

Disturbed, I set my attention back on my meal. I hadn’t been hungry when I’d first entered the kitchen—that wasn’t a lie. But now that I had this delicious blend of citrus and spice in my mouth, I realized I actually hadn’t eaten a full meal all day.

Eric Walker—hotandgood for my health? What was the world coming to?

“So,” Eric started, leaning his elbows on the island so we were eye level, “do you feel like telling me what’s going on?”

I chewed my food and stared at the empty space between his clasped hands and my place setting. “Do I have a choice?”

“Of course you do.”

I tilted my head. “What, you’re not gonna follow ‘sit’ and ‘eat’ with ‘speak’?”

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