Page 25 of Unexpected Heroine

He closes the dishwasher. “I’ll take care of it, sugar bear.”

“And I don’t think I want to see Freya today. Can we do that tomorrow or the next day? And maybe have her come here instead?”

“Anything you want.”

My throat feels thick with emotion. “Thank you.”

Playfully, he narrows his eyes to slits in response to my manners while he moves in close for a kiss.

There’s a hint of normalcy between us this morning, but the mood remains heavy with sorrow.

And regret.

So much fucking regret it could choke me.

With the kitchen now clean, he leads me by the hand to the couch. After he fluffs two throw pillows, he puts them on one end of the sofa and points, indicating I should put my head there.

Considering my lingering fatigue and soreness, that sounds delightful. Without objecting, I gingerly position my body as he suggested. He grabs the plush blanket and wraps me up.

Gah. And he calls me sugar? He’s as sweet as peach cobbler.

Once he sits down, he pulls my lower legs on top of his thighs and begins stroking my shins and rubbing my feet.

My sinuses sting, and my lungs fill with a shaky breath as my emotions swell.

I love him so frigging much, and I almost lost him.

And lost myself.

“Do you want to talk about the uh . . . stuff now?” he asks, trepidation layering his tone, resulting in an odd quiver.

It takes my brain a moment to figure out what he wants to discuss. Does he want to know what happened to me while I was captive? Is he asking for details? Is this where he’s going to lecture me about what I did wrong?

Any of those topics would explain the tension in his body and the somber look on his face.

Taking a steadying breath, I meet his stare head-on. As much as I’d love to hide from his judgment and scrutiny, I won’t allow myself to cower.

Lord knows I did enough of that over the last few days.

Adjusting my positioning, I sit up and lean my back on the pillow. “All right. What did you want to ask me first?”

The skin between his eyebrows pinches in a tight wrinkle, and he droops his head to one side. “I-I thought you would want to ask me some questions.”

I lower my forehead, looking at him from under my lashes. “About?”

“The rescue. My job. I’m sure you have a lot of questions. You seemed confused when we left Redleg. If you want to ask them now, go ahead.”

Oh, shit biscuits.

“You’re right. I was extremely confused. To be honest, though, a lot of it is fuzzy at best. The whole thing is a bit of a blur.”

His face perks up. “We can wait to discuss it. Perhaps another day, when your mind is clearer.”

Nice try.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I shake my head and suppress a snappy retort.

“Go ahead. Fire away one at a time.”

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