Nodding, she poured them both a large mug, leaving his near where he’d begun to assemble the ingredients for their meal.
“You know where the milk and sugar are if you want some.” She indicated the sugar bowl.
“My mother says I’m sweet enough on my own,” he told her.
Snorting, she rolled her eyes and went back to looking at him, enjoying the tingling left after that kiss.
“You do pretty well in that department, I must admit.”
Visibly pleased, he shrugged, not at all bashfully. He was just so damned self-assured. Easy with himself as he moved around her kitchen.
“I’ve decided we should go on a date. First dates can be weird, even when you already know the person. So I propose this to be our first date so when I take you out, it can be the second date and we don’t need to be nervous. Naturally there’ll be flowers because, as I mentioned, you deserve them.” He nodded as he began to assemble things in a fashion her love of order found very sexy. He poked around in the cabinets until he found what he needed and got about his business.
She sat back in her chair, utterly charmed. Damn it, why did he have to be so sexy and funny? So emotionally well adjusted and stuff? The whole of him was utterly irresistible.
It’d been hard enough when he was aiming all that charm at others. But over the last several months he’d turned it on her. Making it clear what his intentions were. Even as he never pressed for more than she was comfortable with she couldn’t deny the chemistry between them.
He’d pushed his sleeves up, exposing ridiculously sexy forearms, and then washed and dried his hands. He stood, giving her his profile, his features exposed because his hair—acres of thick, gorgeous hair, nearly shaved at the sides but long on top—was captured in a ponytail at the back of his head. He usually wore it that way when he worked.
It should have been douchey or bro-something. It was hot. Slightly messy but that was because he’d been up since four working on that upper body she got a little dizzy when she looked directly at. Like the sun.
“When you turn on the taps you go all the way, don’t you, pretty boy?”
“Too much?” he asked, knowing she wasn’t going to agree.
“It’s impressive.”
“Impressive is good.” Cocky, he raised a shoulder slightly.
“That remains to be seen,” she told him, teasing.
His laugh was one she hadn’t heard from him before. Low and lusty. It made all her hormones stand up and cheer.
“I’m very competitive. It means I tend to get very focused when I’m trying to hit something out of the park. Get your rest.”
It was Rachel’s turn to laugh. Flirting with him felt good. And she couldn’t deny the curiosity about just what he’d show her to impress her.
“Do you want ham or turkey?” He pointed at the cutting board with his knife.
“Ham is good. Thanks.”
Silence lived between them for a bit as he cooked, filling the kitchen with some really good scents. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Being with him rarely was.
“Busy morning at the bakery?” she asked.
“Even my mother was pleased with the business today. She’s a hard taskmaster and has very high standards when it comes to what she considers a successful day’s take.”
Rachel laughed. Mrs. Orlov was one of her favorite people. Though small in stature, she was a big presence. Especially within her family. A force to be reckoned with in her community.
She only hoped to one day live as boldly as her own person as Irena did.
As he made the food, she hopped down and began to slice thick pieces of bread to be toasted. Pretty much daily throughout the last several years, she’d eaten bread created in the Orlovs’ ovens. It had given her roots. A sense of place in her new life.
And at least a few more pounds.
“I brought fresh butter,” he told her, indicating a wax paper–wrapped square on the counter.
Fresh bread and butter brought to her by a gorgeous man? She must have done something pretty awesome in a past life.
“I also brought some of the tea I texted you about earlier today. Drink it an hour or so before you want to go to sleep.” He paused. “How are you feeling? Aside from the sleeplessness that is. I haven’t seen you in person since Sunday night.”
Embarrassment flooded her. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe you had to see all that. We invite you over for a meal and then act like assholes.”
He looked up, anger on his features a moment. “You don’t apologize for that. I told you Sunday. Everything that happened was from your father. Don’t insult me with apologies.” He made a sound. A distinctly Russian thing his whole family tended to do when they got annoyed or impatient. A bah! of a sound.
It made her smile. She saluted him. “Okay then. I’m feeling tired. Worried, I suppose. But pissed off is the dominant emotion.”
“Did you call Seth about a protection order?”
“I called someone else. A friend of a friend. I used to be in law enforcement, remember? I have a meeting with an attorney tomorrow.” Though if Washington was like most other states, getting this order would be difficult because her father hadn’t physically threatened her.
But if an official body like a court told her father to leave her alone, he would. It would be the underline of authority he’d need to truly back off.
It hurt to know she was going to take an official step to keep her parents away from her. Hurt to know she had to.
He’d gone to the stove, the omelet now in a skillet.
They worked in the kitchen, stepping around one another to complete their tasks and she realized he didn’t evoke the need to step away. She didn’t think about how she’d take him down if he ever tried to hurt her. Not anymore anyway.
They were alone in her house and he was half a foot taller and she trusted him not to use that against her.
It made her feel just a little more human, a little more okay every time she was able to take a step back from that dark pit she’d been in for so long. She was more person than wounded animal in a trap.
* * *
THE WANT, THE need to put his mouth back on hers rode him hard. She was more than he’d thought even just an hour before.
Now that he’d tasted her there was no going back. No unknowing. Part of her lived in him now and he liked it.
He hadn’t planned to kiss her that morning. He’d wanted to wait until their date. But well, she’d been there and looked at him with that fucking gorgeous face. It had been better than
