“Let me guess,” Sadie said. “You don’t have much cooking experience.”
“Not really. Eli’s always done that. Throw meat on the grill, bring home pizza or whatever. Why are you cooking rolls for a bed-and-breakfast?”
“Well, I have to eat so I thought I would offer additional meals for an additional price a few days a week,” Sadie said. “Anyway, I like cooking.”
“Oh.” Kate moved in closer and stood at the counter.
“You sound surprised.”
“Eli never seemed to like it. But, I mean, he did it. And his food is edible. Unlike Connor’s...”
“So Eli did all the cooking for you guys?” Sadie asked, unbearably curious and slightly guilty. She should not be interrogating Kate about her brother. Especially because Kate’s brother was her secret lover. And if Kate knew that Sadie and Eli were sleeping together, she would probably make a horror face and run screaming from the room and never speak to Sadie again.
And thus, Sadie would lose one of the very few friends she had.
“Yeah. He did. Connor kept the money coming in, and, I mean, Lord knows that was important, but...Eli was the one who made sure I was ready for school. He learned to braid my hair,” she said, her hand going to the hairstyle she still wore.
Sadie’s stomach squeezed tight, her eyes stinging. Eli’s strength was sexy, no question, but this? This was even sexier. It was a part of the strength, really. A part that most people wouldn’t see.
Braiding a little girl’s hair.
Sadie saw it, though. An older brother, a teenager, getting his little sister ready for school. Cooking meals. All things that would never be public, but that had shaped Kate into the woman she was.
Eli was all that had stood between Kate growing up to feel safe and secure...and growing up feeling like Sadie had. Like no one cared. Like she was better off cutting ties and leaving parents who didn’t want her anyway.
It was Eli who’d protected Kate’s trust. Her openness. Eli who’d given her her strength.
Sadie couldn’t help but be envious. And she realized then that the little fascination she’d had for him when she was a teenager hadn’t been about a bad girl wanting a cop. It had been about wanting a man with that kind of strength to protect her. Care for her.
Well, he didn’t. No one did. Deal with it.
“That’s...really sweet,” she said, grabbing a measuring cup and pushing it down into the flour bag, a white cloud rising up around them.
Kate smiled. “Well, don’t let him hear you say that. But then, if he’s still avoiding you, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Sadie felt a twinge of guilt, which made a sucky companion to the envy. “Yeah,” she said. “Not sure when I’ll see him again. So, let’s make rolls.”
* * *
“Potato sack racing.”
“Lame,” he said, lying back on the bed, keeping his focus on Sadie, who was sitting next to him, completely naked, her hair tumbling over her shoulders.
“It is not lame. Not for kids.”
“Three-legged race is better.”
“Unless you have to run with a boy who is stupid, doesn’t listen and stinks.”
“But what if you get to run with the cute girl that you have a crush on?” he asked, leaning in and kissing her shoulder.
“Did you have crushes?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Sure, didn’t everyone?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I kind of picture you like you sprang out of the ground wearing your uniform and a frown.”
“Your flattery is almost embarrassing.”
“Sorry if it didn’t sound complimentary,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t like you. Scratch that, I would be here, you wouldn’t be. And I would be alone.”
“Well, I wasn’t born in uniform.”
“And I wasn’t born running,” she said, smiling faintly.
“Life has a lot to answer for.”
“Sure does.”
She flopped backward, raising her arms above her head, and his eyes fell to the little silver scar on her side. A surgical scar. Sometimes he wanted to ask her about it, but ultimately, her medical history wasn’t really his business. So he didn’t ask.
“Where are you at on your big barbecue plans in terms of booths? We’ll put three-legged races to the side for now,” he said, shifting so that he was lying on his side.
“I’ve got pony rides. Cookie decorating, face painting. John from the Farm and Garden is going to bring over one of those mini-sheds that looks like a playhouse for the kids. And the pie eating. There will be pie eating.”
She ran her fingers through her hair and the temptation for him to do the same was too much. He wanted to pull her close. Play with the silky blond strands. Braid it. Which was not something he’d ever done for his lovers, but something about the idea appealed to him.
He wanted to take care of her.
