Page 19 of Words of Love
Chapter 5
Brooke reached into the box for an animal cracker and bit the head off a lion. After a breakfast of eggs and Sam’s (admittedly delicious) cinnamon rolls, she’d spent the past couple of hours working on her freelance article ideas.
She’d also been trying—and failing—to ignore Sam. He was sprawled on the sofa, one foot on the coffee table and his laptop balanced on his thighs. His messy hair fell over his forehead.
A little flame sparked in her belly. It wasn’t that big a deal that he happened to know her favorite foods and drink…except that it kind of was. How did he know, anyway? She’d seen him occasionally at the Mousehole Tavern, but he’d never looked in her direction.
Or so she’d assumed. Had he actually been paying attention to her? Wouldn’t she have noticed? And why was it flattering that he knew how much she loved fried shrimp and brownies?Jumbofried shrimp anddouble-chocolatebrownies.
As a reporter, she knew well the importance of specifics. If he’d just said,“drinks and brownies,”she might’ve agreed that most women did indeed love those things. Instead, he’d mentioned the exact items she frequently ordered at the Mousehole.
Opening her notebook to a fresh page, she wrote:
1. Inexplicably knows my favorite foods and drink.
2. Came looking for me in the snowstorm. Worriedly.
3. Eats an apple like it’s forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden.
(Speaking of which – what would he look like with a fig-leaf loincloth? Never mind, it would probably be too small. Heh.)
4. Arms of steel.
5. Caught me like Superman swooping up to save Lois Lane, a self-sufficient, strong, independent woman who doesn’t need a hero but who also wouldn’t turn one down.
Brooke reread the list. Whenever she had an issue with someone, she made a point of detailing their more admirable qualities to remind herself to be gracious. Until now, she hadn’t actually known many of Sam’s true admirable qualities because he kept them locked behind his wall of grumpiness. Though lately, hehadbeen acting less grumpy than usual.
She took a sip of her lemon-cayenne iced tea and glanced at him again. The firelight glinted off the dark hair dusting his arms.
For the three minutes that she’d been in his arms after he’d caught her last night, she’d experienced a shockingly intense surge of both pleasure and safeness. He was incredibly strong and packed with muscle, though she’d suspected as much given the way his T-shirts hugged his broad chest and his jeans fit his powerful legs. She’d had to restrain herself from nestling right up against his chest and reveling in just howgoodhe felt.
Not that she had time for reveling. She’d spent two years hiding in the safety of Bliss Cove, and now that she was ready to face the real world again, she really didn’t need to be getting all warm and fuzzy about Sam.
No matter how much he’d unwittingly intrigued her over the past year.
He glanced up, catching her gaze. She held up the box of animal crackers. “Want one?”
“You can buy those in large-sized bags.”
“Not the same.” She jiggled the box by the string. “The classic red Barnum’s Animals box is the only way to eat animal crackers. I brought a whole bunch, if you’d like one of your own.”
“No.”
She ate a monkey cracker and nodded to his laptop. “What, exactly, is it you’re doing?”
“Paperwork.” He kept his gaze fixed on the screen. “Invoices, payroll, tax prep.”
“Why did you come up here to do boring paperwork?”
“So I could be alone.” A shutter came down over his face. “You can see how well that worked out.”
She smirked. “Yeah, for me, too.”
“Why did you want to be alone?”
“I’m on a self-improvement retreat to set goals and intentions for the year.” Brooke wrote a numbered list on a fresh page in her notebook. “I’m also looking to do more freelance work, so I’m trying to come up with ideas. Would you read an article about how to make homemade birdseed?”
“No.”