grew deeper and easier every day like one of his mother’s hand-stitched quilts growing softer and stronger with use.
Liam craved what his friends and brother had found, but if he didn’t learn to shut his mouth on the touchy-feely crap he was going to blow his chance. The resolution to lighten up settled in as he stacked cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon and tomato on a toasted muffin to make open-faced sandwiches.
When he’d sat on the stool beside her, Grey picked up the first of her two sandwiches. “You cook like this every morning?”
He nodded. “There are days I may not eat again until evening or later. I may as well fill up when I can.”
She bit into the muffin. Cheese strings followed her retreat from the sandwich. Unpredictably, she did not use her fingers to break the strand. No. She slipped her tongue out and with a quick circle of the muscle she severed the connection.
Muffin suspended before his mouth, Liam stared. She chewed delicately and after she swallowed, the tongue she’d so expertly commanded the cheese with swiped across her lips. His back tightened. How the hell was he supposed to control himself around her when she did things like that?
“This is great,” she said before taking another bite.
He nodded and forced his eyes forward. Biting into his own food, he ran crime stats in his head. As distractions went, it was wasted on the power of Grey.
“What did you do before the U.S. Marshals turned you into Grey? What were your hobbies?”
“I tried writing once and quickly learned it was more fun to be a reader.” She talked around her food, and as strict as his mom had been that they never speak with food in their mouths, it was cute when Grey did it. Maybe because he never saw her food once it passed her teeth and she didn’t sound like she had a mouthful.
“What kind of books?”
“Anything. Romances are fun, but I discovered a few favorites in thrillers. Movies. I love movies and watch every one I come across, especially Disney. I can quote many.” She’d almost sighed with ecstasy when she talked of movies, and he had no trouble seeing her curled up to watch Beauty and the Beast .
Less than conventional. It didn’t surprise him. “What else?”
“I’d just dropped out of college and started thinking about applying to the Culinary Institute.”
“You wanted to be a chef.” She’d been working in a pastry shop that had branched out and begun distributing their muffin and cake mixes to local stores. It made sense she might develop a fondness for it.
She shook her head. “Working in the shop, I had to fill in for the owner’s wife one day. She did all the chocolate work and had been showing me a few tips.” Nostalgia and sadness slowed Grey’s voice. “Both Mr. and Mrs. Matoot were teaching me to cook before…”
“Before Jessup murdered them.”
She nodded. “I shouldn’t have been there that night. I messed things up.”
Feeling responsible for witnessing a death wasn’t a normal reaction. Something much worse had happened that night in the pastry shop, and while Liam wanted to question her further, he also wanted to learn about the woman he’d married. He could ask her about Karl Jessup when the team was all together.
“I had a knack for it. Everything I made that day sold twice as fast. A few more test days and the owner’s wife moved into the back office to work. I became the amateur chocolatier.”
Vibrancy practically bounced to life in her tone and beneath her tinted contacts. Holding back an answering smile was impossible. “You were going to be a chocolatier.”
“The Matoots gave me my first taste, then they encouraged me to pursue my talent. I allowed myself to dream.” She stopped. Her hand shook beside her plate. “Then I… Then it bubbled and burned.”
Her sadness returned as inevitable as grief over losing a loved one. The closest Liam had ever come to real loss was waking alone in Vegas. Grey had known real pain. She’d lost
Liam craved what his friends and brother had found, but if he didn’t learn to shut his mouth on the touchy-feely crap he was going to blow his chance. The resolution to lighten up settled in as he stacked cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon and tomato on a toasted muffin to make open-faced sandwiches.
When he’d sat on the stool beside her, Grey picked up the first of her two sandwiches. “You cook like this every morning?”
He nodded. “There are days I may not eat again until evening or later. I may as well fill up when I can.”
She bit into the muffin. Cheese strings followed her retreat from the sandwich. Unpredictably, she did not use her fingers to break the strand. No. She slipped her tongue out and with a quick circle of the muscle she severed the connection.
Muffin suspended before his mouth, Liam stared. She chewed delicately and after she swallowed, the tongue she’d so expertly commanded the cheese with swiped across her lips. His back tightened. How the hell was he supposed to control himself around her when she did things like that?
“This is great,” she said before taking another bite.
He nodded and forced his eyes forward. Biting into his own food, he ran crime stats in his head. As distractions went, it was wasted on the power of Grey.
“What did you do before the U.S. Marshals turned you into Grey? What were your hobbies?”
“I tried writing once and quickly learned it was more fun to be a reader.” She talked around her food, and as strict as his mom had been that they never speak with food in their mouths, it was cute when Grey did it. Maybe because he never saw her food once it passed her teeth and she didn’t sound like she had a mouthful.
“What kind of books?”
“Anything. Romances are fun, but I discovered a few favorites in thrillers. Movies. I love movies and watch every one I come across, especially Disney. I can quote many.” She’d almost sighed with ecstasy when she talked of movies, and he had no trouble seeing her curled up to watch Beauty and the Beast .
Less than conventional. It didn’t surprise him. “What else?”
“I’d just dropped out of college and started thinking about applying to the Culinary Institute.”
“You wanted to be a chef.” She’d been working in a pastry shop that had branched out and begun distributing their muffin and cake mixes to local stores. It made sense she might develop a fondness for it.
She shook her head. “Working in the shop, I had to fill in for the owner’s wife one day. She did all the chocolate work and had been showing me a few tips.” Nostalgia and sadness slowed Grey’s voice. “Both Mr. and Mrs. Matoot were teaching me to cook before…”
“Before Jessup murdered them.”
She nodded. “I shouldn’t have been there that night. I messed things up.”
Feeling responsible for witnessing a death wasn’t a normal reaction. Something much worse had happened that night in the pastry shop, and while Liam wanted to question her further, he also wanted to learn about the woman he’d married. He could ask her about Karl Jessup when the team was all together.
“I had a knack for it. Everything I made that day sold twice as fast. A few more test days and the owner’s wife moved into the back office to work. I became the amateur chocolatier.”
Vibrancy practically bounced to life in her tone and beneath her tinted contacts. Holding back an answering smile was impossible. “You were going to be a chocolatier.”
“The Matoots gave me my first taste, then they encouraged me to pursue my talent. I allowed myself to dream.” She stopped. Her hand shook beside her plate. “Then I… Then it bubbled and burned.”
Her sadness returned as inevitable as grief over losing a loved one. The closest Liam had ever come to real loss was waking alone in Vegas. Grey had known real pain. She’d lost
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