Page 25 of A Soldier's Destiny
Chapter 9
“This is pretty good.”
“Quiche. It’s not a hard word.”
“It’s weird though. Didn’t there used to be a thing about real men not eating it?”
“Yes, but you’re eating it, and if what happened earlier was any indication, you are definitely a real man.” In his head, he did a fist pump, maybe the mood wasn’t completely lost. They still needed to have the talk about all the issues she’d been having and following his rules. It sucked that he wasn’t any closer to any answers. Chase sent him a text while she was in the shower to let them know that Ethan and Steele hadn’t been able to identify the fingerprints. With no help there, they were still at square one.
“Well, it’s good.”
“It would have been better if I hadn’t burned it.”
“I think I might have helped with that.” There was that blush again, she was just so damn cute when her face was bright pink.
“That is true. You did distract me.”
“And I’m looking forward to the next distraction. But first, we have to talk about what’s been going on.”
“Really? Are you sure it can’t wait?”
“No, it can’t. I need to know everything that’s been happening. It wouldn’t surprise me if you know who it is but didn’t realize it yet. I hope by asking the right questions, it might trigger something.”
“I think I need more wine first. If that’s okay?”
“You don’t have to ask me.”
“Are you sure? You’ve been awful bossy.”
“No, Angel, not bossy. Protective. There’s a difference.”
“If you say so,” she said and pushed her lower lip out in a pout. But she couldn’t keep it up and giggled. Between the wine and exhaustion, her defenses were down. It should make it easier for her to respond to his questions without overthinking. But her nibbling on her lower lip was driving him crazy.
“I say so. But it can wait until we get dinner cleared.”
The relief she felt at the short reprieve shone in her eyes and triggered a twinge of guilt. She’d had a rough few days or longer since he still didn’t know everything. Letting her off the hook wouldn’t help her in the long run. Her safety was all that mattered, even if it meant a few hours of being unhappy.
Between them, they made quick work of the dishes and tossed the remains of the quiche in the trash. Then he refilled their wine glasses and carried them into her living room. Rori followed carrying one of the pink and black boxes she used in the bakery. He practically started drooling as soon as he saw it in her hands.
The lid of the box was open as she held it out for him to pick something. “The little squares are petit fours, basically little cakes with raspberry jam between layers of yellow cake and covered in fondant, umm icing. There are also mini-cream puffs and eclairs, and chocolate brandy balls. I wasn’t sure what you’d like so I brought some of each.”
Grabbing a petit four, he popped it in his mouth. If he kept this up, he’d gain ten pounds by the end of the first week. But damn it would be worth it. “Oh my God. That’s delicious, thank you.”
“You can have another. You’re a big boy, no dessert restrictions since you ate your dinner.”
“Smart ass,” he said with a laugh. She was adorable. “and thank you, but not right now. I know what you’re trying to do. But the longer you stall the later it’s going to be before you can get some rest.”
“Are you sure it can’t wait until tomorrow?”
“I want to get out in front of this before the next thing happens. To do that I need more information.”
“Fine. But there’s not much to tell. What do you want to know?”
He took out his phone and opened the note app. “When did you open the bakery?”
“A little over a year ago.”
“And when did the trouble start? Was it right away?” Dammit, she was nibbling on her lip again. He stood up in the guise of reaching for his wineglass, but he needed to adjust his jeans, or he was going to pass out from lack of circulation. If this went on much longer his cock was going to have permanent zipper marks.
