Page 72 of Tactically Acquired

He sighed heavily. I got the feeling he did that a lot around me.

“You’re a very tense person, you know that?”

“And you aren’t?”

“Not at the moment. Of course, I just got off in the shower.”

The knife slipped, slicing right through his finger. “Shit,” he cursed, spinning around to run his finger under the water. I rushed around, grabbing a paper towel to hold to his finger to help staunch the bleeding. I had meant to make him blush, not chop off body parts.

“You shouldn’t use one of those things if you don’t know how to do it without losing a finger.”

He glared at me as I pulled his finger from the water and wrapped the paper towel around it. “It wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t say inappropriate things.”

Now, how could I not smile when he was being all growly? And all because I knew he wanted to get in that shower with me and make me come. “If you had just joined me, I’m sure your finger would be intact.”

“I already told you that’s not going to happen.” He glanced over his shoulder and then back at me. “And I’d appreciate it if you’d keep what happened under your hat.”

“I’m not wearing one,” I grinned.

“You know what I mean.”

Of course I did, but this was just too much fun. “You know, Baldy, one of these days, you might actually loosen up and have some fun.”

“We’re back to that again, huh?”

“It’s beginning to grow on me.” I smiled when I caught the slight gleam in his eyes. Yeah, he liked it.

“So, is that what you do on set? Just have fun?”

I walked over to the counter and grabbed the knife, then washed it so I could take over for him. “It’s not always fun, but I enjoy it. The action is the best part.”

“But Spencer doesn’t like it.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“And you’re willing to give that up for him.”

“Well, you do things for people you care about,” I said, spinning around with the knife facing out. He stared at me warily, his eyes flicking to the knife. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to run you through.”

“Not intentionally.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’ve seen your aim,” he muttered, stepping aside as I started chopping the rest of the vegetables.

“So, what are we making here?” I didn’t take quite as much care as he did. The pieces weren’t all the same size and some of them fell on the floor as I was hastily chopping away. But what did it matter? The whole point was to get it done, right? I scooped the carrots up and tossed them in the waiting bowl.

“Is this some kind of stew?” I asked, grabbing the potatoes.

He was frowning as he watched me. “Aren’t you going to clean those first?”

“Do I need to?”

“They still have dirt on them,” he answered.

I pretended to inspect them, then shrugged. “Not really.” I got to work chopping, ignoring the widening of his eyes as he watched me. “So, stew?”

“Haven’t you ever chopped a vegetable before?”

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