Page 79 of Romancing His Heart

His face scrunches as his jaw works to chew.

“Oh, God. Is it bad? Spit it out, Loki. You don’t have to eat it.”

“Salt,” he finally says.

“Salt?”

He hands me a piece of the cake, and I tentatively take taste it.

“Yuck.” After spitting the cake into the trash, I run a napkin over my tongue. “Salt.”

“Did you, by chance, mix up the salt and sugar containers?” he asks.

I rush to the cabinet, pull out the Tupperware we store the ingredients in, remove the cover marked sugar, stick a finger in, and pull out a few grains. Licking it, my shoulders sag in frustration.

“I’m such a freaking idiot.”

“It was an honest mistake, sweetheart. It could have happened to anyone.”

But it didn’t. It happened to me, again.

“If we ever need a code word, I’d choose salt,” he says, winking. “It’s something you wouldn’t forget. It’s something that could easily be added to a conversation but not used so frequently that you risk using it accidentally.”

“Our code word is salt?”

“Yup, come on. We have about an hour before the sun goes down. Let’s go have some fun.”

Chapter 25

Loki

“Idon’t think you and I have the same definition of fun,” Red mutters beside me.

“Trust me?”

“Always.”

“I love that answer, Red.” My voice takes on a gritty edge whenever I’m close to her like this.

Standing side by side in the field behind the cabin, I set up a small portable table, then lay the firearms flat on top.

“Have you ever held a gun before?”

“Do I look like someone people would trust with a gun, Loki?”

These goddamn insecurities that invade her every waking moment are killing me.

Leveling her with my gaze, I let her know how serious I am. “Yes, Sloane. You do. You look like someone I would trust with just about anything.”

She swallows, and I can see her fingers working inside of her mittens.

When I lift the Glock, she flinches.

“Trust me,” I murmur.

Pressing the release of the spring loaded ammunition magazine, it opens.

“This is a Glock-19. This,” I say, holding up the magazine, “is where the bullets go.”