Page 152 of Savage Hearts

“Are you… are you smiling?” I asked, surprised.

He surprised me further when he chuckled. “Is it really strange, firecracker?”

I shook my head. “I’m used to you scowling. In fact, I thought you might have frowned so much as a child that your face got stuck like that.”

He rolled his eyes at me, but the amusement stayed. “Where are you going?”

I was about to answer him when my stomach did it for me. It grumbled loudly, and with the way I was pressed against him, I had no doubt he felt it.

He laughed, and I could feel heat in my cheeks. His chest was covered by a fitted black shirt.

Black was definitely his color.

“Come on. I’m hungry, too.”

“You are?” I asked suspiciously. He had been walking away from the kitchen.

“I am,” he answered, grabbing my hand. He led me to the kitchen where Rachel stood, prepping for dinner. She looked up when she heard us, her eyes moving down to where our hands were locked, a slow smile overtaking her face. I tried to break away, but Killian tightened his grip. I scowled at him. He winked at me.

What the hell was happening?

Since when did Killian Tiernan wink at anyone, much less at me? I had thought he was more likely to point a gun at me. I shook my head and let him drag out the kitchen barstool for me. He took the one next to me, sitting so closely that I could feel his heat radiating off him.

I jumped when our shoulders touched, and he shot me a strange look. I ignored him and turned to Rachel as she set out two plates of chicken salad. I smiled my thanks as I used the fork to spear the chicken, bringing it into my mouth. Now that I was spoiled by Rachel’s cooking, I didn’t know what I would do once I didn’t have it anymore.

I frowned.

Perhaps it was my insecurity convincing me that everything was only temporary, and once I finally got what I wanted all along—to be free—I would be a shell of the girl I once was.

I felt a small tugging of my hair. Killian had a lock of my hair in his grip. I frowned at him.

“Why make an expression like that?” he asked me.

“Like what?”

“Like you want to kill someone.”

I shot him another look I was sure he wouldn’t misinterpret. He grinned and took a forkful of the salad. My eyes drew to his mouth like a moth to flame, and a stupid part of me was thinking about kissing him again.

He groaned. “Don’t look at me like that, baby.”

He spoke softly, and Rachel was busy by the stove, so I doubt she was really paying any attention to us. Still, I didn’t want to risk being overheard.

I glared at him, and he tapped his index finger on the tip of my nose. The move was so soft, so affectionate, and so out of character, I reared back. I was sure he could see the confusion in my eyes. He ignored it and took another bite.

I shook my head. I had been hungry, still was, but sitting next to Killian made me feel out of sorts.

“Eat, baby,” he said close to my ear. “And if you’re having trouble, I’ll feed you myself.”

Had he lost his mind? His body shook beside me as he laughed, drawing Rachel’s attention. She was looking at him now as though she also thought he lost his mind.

I turned back to my meal and decided I was going to ignore the way he was confusing me. I had come out of my room for lunch, and that was all there was to it.

We ate in silence. I could feel his eyes on me every once in a while, the heat in them leaving goosebumps over my skin. I was in one of the dresses Maverick had bought for me. Almost everything he bought me were dresses. So even though this one wasn’t as revealing as the short black dress Maverick had dressed me in before, it was a summer dress, which meant it was thin. Sitting next to Killian, feeling his eyes rake over me, made the dress feel nearly nonexistent.

And that was never a good thing, not when it came to Killian.

I didn’t like feeling vulnerable with him. Not when I was questioning whether he still wanted to kill me.

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