Page 27 of Made

In a flurry of motion almost too fast to track, he sprang away from his chair and made me chase him around his desk, all the while laughing while going slow enough to make it a game.

Then in a move so fast he wasn’t even a blur, he sped up, came behind and wrapped his arms around me tight. Caught by his strength, arms pinned to my sides, I went utterly still and silent.

His laughing quieted just before he breathed into my ear, “Alright. You win. I’ll make tea.”

The bastard chuckled when his breath in my ear made me shudder.

Egads. I amsoeasy!

Just like that he was gone. One second, he was my captor, the next I heard kitchen noises as he ran water and put the kettle on. I would never get used to living with someone who can move that fast.

“Well, even he has to generate fire from an external source,” I told the pups, who were watching like Keir and I were engrossing reality TV. I added silently that I was glad Maeve hadn’t made him a fire breathing dragon. Entertaining the fantasy of how that might change my life, I wondered why, given Maeve’s penchant for dragons, she’d chosen to fill the enforcer post with a sephalian. Perhaps one day I’d ask her. Ifshe ever stopped resenting that I, a mostly human, was the other grandmother.Sigh.

I sat by the little kitchen fire in my favorite corner chair and waited to be served. “Liv baked some popovers before she went to market.”

Keir continued assembling the necessaries for tea. “Shall I take that to mean you want one?”

“There’s also bacon in the cookie jar.” I almost laughed when I saw his head jerk in that direction.

“The cookie jar?”

“Uh-huh. We decided it makes more sense to keep your treats where they’re easy for you and don’t tempt the pups. Since nobody in the household is that big on cookies…”

“Biscuits.”

“Whatever. We’ve repurposed and now will officially refer to the Chinese porcelain jar as the bacon jar.”

He turned to face me with a look of adoration. “I love you.”

“Yeah? You’d go home with anyone claiming to have cooked bacon.”

Once both of us had tea and snack preferences, I said, “Waiting.”

“Well, you know I went fishing with Kagan at his place this morning.” I nodded to encourage him to continue. “He was quiet and kind of broody.”

“In other words, he was Kagan.”

“Smart ass American. Yes. But he wasmoreKagan than usual.”

“I see.”

“I inquired as to what might be the matter. He said Esme ended their relationship. Of course I asked why. He said, and this is paraphrasing, she thinks he’s too good for her.”

For the second time in one day, I spluttered hot tea. This time I wasn’t so lucky. It spewed on the table in front of meandon my blouse. At this rate I was going to have to wear all black all the time and never be far away from wipes.

As Keir used his napkin to dab spots from the table, he said, “I pride myself on knowing you well, Rita. But I must say I’m baffled by that reaction. Are you spitting tea onto your shirt because you agree with Esme or because you think it’s preposterous to believe that she’s inferior to my oldest brother.”

After dabbing at the spots I feared would become hopeless stains, I stopped and gave him a look. “I’m, um, shall we say extra-surprised. Unlikely as it might’ve seemed, I’d come around to thinking they were a good couple. Two lonely, surly people who’d spent centuries perfecting a perma-pout, but seem happier together.”

Keir cocked his head. “Adequately described. Perma-pout. Yeah. You could say that.”

“Of course I can say that. Kagan is Heathcliff.”

“Ha! You only threw that out there because you think I haven’t readWuthering Heights.”

My hubby was treated to my megawatt grin. I was sincerely delighted because, in fact, I didnotthink he’d know what I meant. “Wow. I’m a little impressed. In fact, I wouldn’t have guessed that if we werecontestants on the ‘Newlywed Game’. You spend a lot of time gambling, but I’ve never seen you with a gothic novel.”

“For centuries, before we met, I had time to pass between court sessions. Now I spend that time here.” He gestured toward the wall displaying a dizzying grid of screens.