Page 18 of Wraith
“Need help?”
Wraith stared at her a moment longer before rinsing his hands and walking toward her. “You should be sleeping.”
“I can’t sleep,” Amelia admitted.
“Um—okay. Come here.”
Amelia hesitated. He saw it in her eyes. But then her gaze changed and she leaned from the doorframe and approached him. He gripped her hips and positioned her by the stove then handed her the spatula.
“I’m assuming you know how to make pancakes.”
Amelia cleared her throat and stepped away from him. It seemed as if she was moving as close to the stove as humanly possible, so she wouldn’t have to touch him. Wraith hovered his chin over her right shoulder and trapped her body by placing his hand on the counter by her left side.
“Yes.” Her voice cracked.
She had the faintest scent of cherry blossoms—he hadn’t noticed before. “Good. I can go to the little boy’s room and these won’t be burnt when I come back?”
“Of course! Don’t be an idiot!”
Wraith smiled. When he backed away, she exhaled long and hard.
No.
Lili was not right. There was no way Amelia Hemmingway was attracted to him. He scuttled off down the hall toward the only bathroom in the house. She was high class, smart, wealthy—all the things he was not. And even if there was something there, out of respect for her father, he just couldn’t go there. In the bathroom, he closed the door and turned on the cold water faucet to splash some on his face. Wraith was hoping the shock would quell the heat surging through him at feeling Amelia’s skin, warm and soft under his hand.
When he had himself under some control, he went back to find she’d made the rest of the batter and had started making some scrambled eggs. He rummaged around under the sink and found a bag of dog food. He was pretty sure Doc wouldn’t be too pleased with it but that was all they had until Lili could get the good stuff for him.
After dumping some in a bowl, and adding water to a second, he carried them and set them by the door. Doc would know where to find them when he got hungry. Wraith went back to the kitchen, and helped Amelia finished breakfast.
“So, tell me about you,” Amelia said.
“There’s nothing to tell.” Wraith shrugged.
“Okay. How’d you meet my father?”
“I met him through a group of friends—SEALs.”
Amelia turned and cocked a hip—a sexy, rounded hip.
Wraith trembled.
“Aren’t they Americans?”
Wraith nodded. “Yes. We worked together from time to time.”
“I would think you’d want to live close to them. Yet you live in God’s Nowhere, Canada?”
“I went through some stuff and I just wanted to get away from everything and everyone,” Wraith told her.
“Well.” Amelia dumped some eggs on a plate, added some pancakes and placed it on the table in front of Wraith. “Kirkland is the place to get lost if you don’t want to be found, I guess.” She sat across from him. “What’re we going to do here for three days?”
He knew what she meant but Wraith had no answers for her. After pushing a piece of egg around on his plate, Wraith met her gaze. “We have to make the best of a bad situation.
Amelia spentthe next couple of days staying out of the way. She helped out as much as she could with cooking, cleaning up and keeping Doc entertained. Each time she sat back and watched Wraith with Lili, Amelia felt like the biggest third wheel on the face of the planet. They whispered, spoke in their little language Amelia didn’t understand. They shared things in a past life she was curious about all of it.
The mall around them buzzed with noise and was a welcomed change from what she had to deal with at the house. Wraith didn’t walk beside her like a companion would, but wandered along behind her. From time to time she’d glance back and he’d be casing the place—eyes darting around as if taking snap shots of everything. Then he slipped on his dark glasses and she wasn’t sure where he was looking.
Amelia stopped in a clothing store and used some of the cash her father had sent. She picked up only the bare necessities—underwear, bra, face cloth, a few pairs of jeans and a couple tops. Wraith offered to carry the bag so she let him. In another place she grabbed toothbrush, toothpaste, a couple bars of soap, allergy meds and gum. Again, Wraith extended his hand for the bags.
