Page 42 of Sliding into Home

“What do you mean?”

She pointed at the stove. “Why do you need two stoves?”

“It’s not two stoves, it’s really like one and a half. The left side is smaller.”

She snorted. “Okay.” Looking around the room, she pointed to the wall where the fridge sat. “You have a super sneaky fridge.”

“A super sneaky fridge?” He laughed. “It’s a regular ol’fridge.”

Kia made a weird nose deep in her throat. “It matches the cabinets. If I hadn’t seen you go in there, I would have thought it was a cupboard.”

“That doesn’t make it super sneaky. That just means it matches.”

“Oh, okay my bad.” Sarcasm dripped from her tongue as she mocked him.

He looked around the room, trying to see if from her perspective. Maybe it was a little over the top, but he liked to cook. He enjoyed having all his family over for the holidays. Nothing said home like a good kitchen. This kitchen was one reason he’d bought the house. That and the view.

“Sorry, that sounded a bit dickish.” Kia looked at him and winced.

“It’s all good.”

“No, it’s not.” She glanced at her hand and fiddled with her nail. After several seconds, she looked up. “Truth? I’m a little jealous.”

“Jealous?” He set a glass of wine in front of her. With his own glass in hand, he leaned his back against the counter and waited for her to speak.

With a sigh, she reached down and pulled out one stool from the island and sat. “Maybe jealous is the wrong word.” She took a sip of wine. “Terrified would be better.”

His head snapped back. “Terrified. What the hell are you terrified about?”

“Are you kidding me? Look at this place, Jeff. Look at this life that you have. The life you can offer Max.”

“This is a good thing, Kia. Why would that scare you?”

She looked up at the ceiling and laughed. “You would say that.” Her head lowered and she pursed her lips. “I can’t offer him anything close to this.” She swept her arm out to encompass the room.

“You don’t have to.”

“Don’t I?” She wrinkled her nose as if she was fighting to hold in emotion.

He wanted to step toward her, to hold her and take this pain, but he didn’t have that right. So instead of doing that, he simply said, “No, you don’t.”

When her eyes met his, they were filled with pain. Fuck it. He walked around the island and pulled out the stool beside hers. “Talk to me.”

She shook her head. “It’s nothing. I’m just being stupid. Something Austin said earlier just got in my head.”

What the hell? Wasn’t her boyfriend supposed to help, not make her feel insecure? What kind of douche was she dating? “What did he say?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She picked up her glass of wine and stood. Her gaze lingered on the deck outside. “Is that a heat lamp?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. Want to sit outside?” Without waiting for an answer, she wandered to the back door.

Grabbing his own glass, he followed her outside. Kia sat on the L-shaped sofa and curled into the armrest. He flipped on the large outdoor heater, then eyeing Kia again, he reached into the storage bucket and pulled out a fluffy dark gray blanket and handed it to her.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” He sat on the opposite side of the L. “So what did Austin say exactly?”

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