Page 44 of A Curse On Black Lake
You know dreams are messages.
I roll my eyes. “Dreams don’t tell the future.”
No, they do not, but they are a glimpse of what you truly desire, what your heart is saying.
“My heart is saying Killian is in love with me, and someone is trying to kill him. Make that make sense,” I mutter.
We are not the authors of your story. We are messengers.
“Thank God for that,” I mutter.
A thump on the door makes me jump. I wish Tiny were here with me. Sneaking out of bed, I hurry to the door and check another window where you can see the front porch.
Crap, I must have overslept. I flip the lock to the door, and Killian looks up from his boots, and his brown eyes widen on me in my big t-shirt — my nightgown needed to be washed. He comes in, shutting the door behind him, dropping his eyes to my chest, and then quickly averts his gaze from my nipples standing at attention.Dammit, body, please cooperate for once.
I tug the hem of my t-shirt down, it only reaches mid-thigh, usually it’s not a problem, but standing in front of a man, I’m starting to find myself insanely attracted to, it’s not a great first impression.
“I woke up late — well, you woke me up, but uh give me five minutes, make yourself at home,” I sputter, and hurry to my bedroom, slamming the door closed.
Resting my back against the door, I take a deep breath. Hopefully, we can be adults about this, and no one has to say anything. The look on his face when he saw my chest was nothing short of … predatory, exactly like my dream. I press my cool hand against my burning cheeks. Maybe I need a cold shower. There is no time.
I don’t have much. Most of it is all functional based on what I do. I have a few dresses I’ve made over the years and then jeans, t-shirts, and overalls.
I get jeans and a t-shirt on and run down the hall, but Killian is nowhere to be found. I frown and stick my head in the front where the apothecary is, but he’s not there either.
Shoving my feet into my boots, I stomp outside and find him in the barn mucking out the stalls. “Thank you. I’m sorry.”
He grunts and shovels hay and crap into the wheelbarrow. I help him and then get Winnie out for some exercise.
My head pounds, and I know it’s because I haven’t had coffee today. Leaving Winnie to graze, I head inside to make us brunch. We moved faster this time. It’s only mid-morning, and I’m starving, so it's safe to assume Killian is too.
I get to work making us a huge spread of bacon, eggs, and pancakes smothered in homemade jam.
When I’m done, I put the platter of pancakes on the table and call for Killian.
“Killian!” I yell because I can’t see him.
He sticks his head out of the barn. “What?” he calls.
“Breakfast!”
He nods, and I pour us each a hot cup of coffee while I wait for him.
A few minutes later, he comes in, hangs his hat on the hook next to mine, and pulls off his boots. I stare at them side by side, and my stomach tightens. “Thank you,” I say, still looking at them.
“Yeah, no problem. What’s this?” he asks.
Slowly dragging my eyes from the hats, I meet his. “I was hungry and assumed you were too. So I made us food.”
“Looks good.”
I smile and place his cup of coffee next to his plate. My stomach growls and we start filling our plates.
We’re both so hungry, with mouths shoved full of food, we don’t even talk. When I finally slow down a bit, I take a sip of coffee. “So I have to open the apothecary tomorrow. I can’t keep it closed,” I tell him.
“Okay,” Killian drawls.
“Usually, my Grams would be up front while I was doing everything else. She, uh…” I pause trying to catch my breath and not simultaneously explode into tears. One escapes anyway, and I brush it away.
