I glared at the men who had shown up at Saint’s house.
Apparently, I wasn’t allowed to put Soraya’s bedroom furniture together.
I wasn’t allowed to paint her room.
I wasn’t allowed to lift anything too heavy.
Tempie, Merlin’s wife, had just laughed and winked at me when Kettle moved to take a box of toys out of my hand.
He simply lifted a brow at my grunted exclamation and carried on about his day.
Like a woman getting frustrated didn’t faze him in the least.
This all took place after we cleaned up the kitchen and headed into town for pancakes.
Pancakes that I had tried to pay for and was growled at.
Saint winked at me as he kept coloring a picture with Soraya after he slid cash to the waitress.
His response after we were loaded up in his truck... “I’m a different breed of man, baby. I get it. You’ve been doing this alone for a long fucking time. Not trying to step on your toes here. But when you're with me, I pay. I also open doors and carry all the heavy stuff.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed.
He smiled.
But inside, I was rejoicing that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t a fool.
***
To thank everyone, I asked Saint to stop by the grocery store on the way home.
The sight of him pushing the cart with Soraya prattling on had me smiling the entire time.
I was also laughing when Saint glared at any man who looked at me longer than was necessary.
I may have returned the favor to a few women who did it as well.
His response... well... that as to wrap his hand around the back of my neck and kiss me stupid.
Did it bother me that everyone was probably watching?
No.
Did it bother me that I was throwing caution to the wind when it came to this man?
Again, no.
Because the sight of Soraya smiling as she watched us... that was worth it.
I ended up making smothered pork chops with homemade gravy and homemade mashed potatoes, and even homemade rolls, with a peach cobbler.
Next time... I needed to double the recipe.
I didn’t know how much grown men could eat.
Agatha met me in the kitchen and said, “Thank goodness you can cook too. They wear me out.”
Together, we planned out a few meals.