Page 73 of Through the Fire
“Too far?” she asked.
“No.” His voice sounded rough, and he cleared his throat and focused on handing her a controller. “No, that was just right.”
Chapter 21
They played for hours, until Justice indicated in no uncertain terms that it was time for dinner and a trip outside. With a groan, Kit dropped her controller and stood, stretching on her tiptoes with her fingers reaching for the ceiling. Turning her head toward Wes, she noticed he was watching her with a heated stare. When he caught her looking at him, he dropped his gaze and fumbled his controller.
“I can only say that I warned you,” she said, trying to keep her tone light and not reveal the answering flame his hot eyes had lit inside her. It was hard to remember that they hadn’t known each other for that long when she felt as comfortable with him as if they’d been friends for years. Her strongest feelings, however, weren’t that friendly, especially since they’d gradually eased closer to each other as they’d played until they’d been sitting side by side, close enough to brush arms.
“You did warn me. And you were right. You’re very, very good at Call of Duty.” A tiny smile twitched up the corner of his mouth. “Almost as good as I am.”
“Whaaat?” Her protest had as much laughter as indignation in it. “I was very clearly the victor. Do I need to beat you again to prove I’m better at this than you?” Plopping down on the couch, she grabbed the controller she’d just abandoned. “Sorry, Justice, but your dinner will need to wait. That kind of whopper can’t go unchallenged.”
Holding up his hands as if warding her off, Wes let out a deep laugh. “No more! No more! I admit your superiority!”
Although she managed to hold her smug expression, Kit felt a bit dazed by the beautiful sight of a belly-laughing Wes. Even when he was serious, he was intimidatingly attractive, with his model-meets-lumberjack appearance, but happiness made him positively radiant. “Well, then.” She stood again, trying to look away as he continued to chuckle. “My work here is done. Justice, want to go outside with the reigning champion?”
Wes’s laughter finally faded, and she was able to breathe normally again. “Don’t go far. It’s easy to get lost in a storm like this.”
“We won’t.” She headed for the stairs, watching over her shoulder as Wes told the screen to retract and the robo-cat to pick up the controllers. At her chuckle, he gave her a questioning look.
“I love all your gadgets,” she admitted. “It’s like living in an old Jetsons episode.”
He looked pleased and a bit bashful at that. “I’m just lazy.”
“Sure.” She didn’t believe that for a second. “So lazy you design and build all sorts of things and you watch for fires and you take professional wildlife photos and you rescue stray cops from your gun-happy neighbors.” She started down the stairs with Justice right behind her. “Lazy, my ass.”
His low chuckle followed her down, and she was very careful not to look back at him. Just the sound made her shiver, and she knew the sight of him laughing would stop her in her tracks. Poor Justice needed to get outside.
After pulling on her coat and boots, she stepped out of the tower door. The wind shoved at her and threw sharp pellets of snow against any uncovered skin. Huddling against the door once it closed, she gasped at the shock of cold and buried her chin in her collar. Squinting eyes that wanted to water from the cold and force of the gusts, she peered around the area. Her shiver wasn’t just cold-related.
Compared to the warm, friendly brightness of the tower room, the woods outside seemed almost menacing. The puddle of artificial light didn’t touch the trees, and they rose, black on black against the starless sky. The forest seemed to press in on her from all sides, reminding her that anything could be hiding in that darkness…hiding and watching her. She tried to dismiss the unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she couldn’t escape the creeping sensation of having hostile eyes focused on her.
Even typically oblivious Justice didn’t look any more thrilled than she was as he went just far enough to do what he needed to do. His caution made her even more aware of the surrounding woods and the possible dangers lurking in it. She watched him carefully, alert to any sign that he might catch a scent and head into the dark, treacherous wilderness surrounding them. To her relief, he took care of business quickly, not even glancing at the encircling trees before trotting over to her. If she hadn’t been tense, anticipating some nebulous threat, and if her eyelids hadn’t been threatening to freeze shut, she would’ve laughed at the way her dog’s ears blew to one side, flying horizontally in the wicked wind.
Remembering that the facial-recognition part of the automatic lock didn’t work well in a snowstorm, Kit pounded on the door a few times as she turned her face toward the camera. One of those two methods worked, because it swung open immediately, letting them back inside. It wasn’t until she and Justice were both inside and the door had shut and locked behind them that she relaxed. Even though she doubted that there was really something dangerous waiting in the gloom outside, it was still reassuring to be safe behind a locked door and thick stone walls.
After shedding her outerwear, she hurried up the stairs, drawn by her desire to be close to Wes again, as well as a wonderful smell.
“Is that beef stew?” she asked, marveling that he’d cooked something that smelled so delicious in the short time she and Justice had been outside.
“Yes. I’m just warming it up.” Standing at the two-burner stove, he glanced over his shoulder at her. The sight of such a big, burly man cooking for her made the heat in her belly—which had quieted to a simmer during her cold trip outside—flare to life again, hotter than before.
She abruptly looked away, moving to the coffee table to grab her travel mug of water. “It smells great.”
As he dished the stew into three bowls, she smiled that he’d thought of Justice. Normally, she kept dog food in her SUV for emergencies, but the move had messed with her usual routines. There was even a large mixing bowl filled with water on the floor that Justice was currently lapping at. Kit held back a snort. Leave it to her to be more impressed when a man did nice things for her dog than she was when he did nice things for her.
Wes put one bowl on the counter—to cool so Justice wouldn’t burn himself, she assumed, which made her heart turn into an even bigger mushy mess than it already was—and brought the other two over to the couch where she waited.
“Thanks,” she said, trying not to smile too widely as she accepted the bowl. It smelled even better close up. Sitting on the couch in her spot from earlier, she took a bite and gave a happy groan that sounded a lot like the noise Justice made when she scratched his ear just right. “This is wonderful.”
He beamed. “Thank you. It’s surprisingly rewarding to feed someone else.”
They grew quiet as they ate, finishing their food quickly. Kit hadn’t realized how hungry she’d been. It had been a long day. Except for the Pop Tart Wes had given her earlier, she hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“Did you want more?” he asked, taking both of their empty bowls.
