Running on fear and adrenaline, Sarah hurried into the bathroom and shoved her toiletries into her backpack. She came out on shaky legs, added her clothes and looked at the packages of instant soup on the nightstand. She paid good money for the food and wasn’t about to leave them for the next schmuck so she put them in a plastic grocery bag along with her paperbacks.
She took one last look at the crappy room and said a silent goodbye to
Peach’s love seat.
Nathan
gingerly led her down the stairs. Her hand was so small he was afraid her wrist would snap if he pulled too hard.
“W
ait…,” she cried. “I…oh…” She swooned and grabbed for the railing.
Nathan wheeled around to
find Sarah looking like she was ready to faint. Her already pale skin was stark white and she gripped the railing for dear life with her bony fingers. He took the necklace from her clammy hands and slid it into his pocket for safekeeping.
“Here, I’ve got you, sweetheart.” He
took the backpack from her and swung it onto his shoulder. Before she could protest, Nathan bent down, put his hands behind her knees and swooped her up into his arms. She didn’t weigh much more than his goaltending equipment.
Sarah held tight to the shopping bag of instant noodles.
The way Nathan was holding her, she had no choice but to rest her cheek against his chest. Taking comfort in his body heat, she sighed. He smelled like fabric softener.
“When was the last time you ate something?” he asked, his breath hot against her ear.
“This morning.” She’d finished off the last of the muffins for breakfast and had worked through lunch because it was too busy in the salon to take a break.
He grunted something she couldn’t make out
, his breath minty and fresh. He didn’t smell like booze or cigarettes or sweat. He smelled extremely pleasant and…wonderful.
Sarah fell into the easy rhythm in which he carried her and felt her eyelids grow heavy.
* * *
It was getting dark as the sun settled down behind the mountains for the night.
Nathan drove across town in silence. Sarah was too woozy and too busy trying to plan her next move to talk. There wasn’t much to say anyway. She’d been roughed up and duped by a man named Skeet. Her humiliation meter had reached its limit for the day.
When
Sarah did speak up to tell Nathan to drop her off at a motel up ahead, he ignored her and kept on driving.
“You need to eat something
,” he told her. “I’m taking you to my place.”
S
arah didn’t argue. One, he was right. And two, he seemed upset and she didn’t want to provoke him. She’d had her fill of angry men for one day.
To stay awake, s
he decided to add up how much money she had left and figure out if it was even enough to get another motel room, but her head was too fuzzy to think.
Before she could decide on a total,
Nathan turned into a nice neighborhood where all the houses looked like the model homes used to advertise the American Dream on television. He pulled into the garage of the house at the end of the cul-de-sac and parked. A press of a button sent the garage door clattering closed behind the truck.
Nathan
got out and went around to the passenger side. Before Sarah could get out on her own, he scooped her up again, carried her inside and carefully set her on a barstool in the kitchen. He set her backpack down at her feet and she placed the plastic grocery bag next to it.
The marble countertop was cold and smooth under her palm.
She blinked when he flicked a switch and the recessed lighting came on overhead, illuminating the sparkling state of the art kitchen.
He
went to the refrigerator and poured her a glass of orange juice. “Drink this,” he said, sliding it across the counter to her.
Sarah took a sip of the juice and savored the tart, sweet flavor. “This is delicious.”
“I squeezed it this morning,” he told her. “It’s much better than the store bought kind with all that extra sugar and preservatives.”
“Thank you.”
“You aren’t getting enough nutrition and vitamins and you’re probably dehydrated. You really should take better care of yourself. You only get out of your body what you put into it,” Nathan said before giving himself a good mental kick in the pants. The girl was scared out of her mind and here he was lecturing her on proper nutrition. He didn’t mean anything by it. It was the first thing that had popped into his head while trying to avoid talking about the situation he’d just driven them out of.
“Are you feeling any better?”
he asked gently.
“Yes.” Her hands weren’t so shaky and the fuzziness in her head was starting to clear.
Just in time for the butterflies to show up at the thought of being alone with Nathan in his house.
Nathan
seemed to be upset about the scene at the motel. Who
wouldn’t
be? But why had he been there in the first place? Everything had happened so fast she hadn’t even stopped to wonder what he was doing at the motel.
Sarah wasn’t sure if
Nathan was angry at her for what had happened with Skeet or just angry in general. He certainly didn’t look happy as he pulled plates and ingredients from the cupboards.
He moved around the kitchen like he must have on the ice.
Fluid and graceful with no wasted movements.
“Nathan, you don’t have to cook for me.”
“I want to,” he said gruffly. “And I’m hungry.” He was too riled up to go out to a restaurant. Besides, it was nice and quiet here with just the two of them.
So,
Sarah sat perched on the barstool and quietly sipped her juice while Nathan cooked.
He focused on preparing the meal with an intensity she imagined came in handy in his profession.
As he chopped, his long fingers handled the knife with precision. She watched his muscles move under his shirt as he stirred something on the stove. The huge stainless steel stove made the one at Dwight’s look like a secondhand Easy-Bake Oven.
Sarah had never cooked before. Having ingredients to prepare a meal were a luxury she’d never had. A stolen French fry or a forgotten bag of half eaten chip crumbs were all she’d ever know in the way of nutrition, much less cuisine.
The wonderful aroma that wafted from the stove made Sarah’s mouth water. “What are you making?” she finally asked. She hated to disturb him but she liked the sound of his voice when he talked to her.
“Chicken
and brown rice. I’ll show you how to make it sometime. Right now you need to focus on drinking your juice. I don’t want you passing out on me again.”
He turned back to the stove and Sarah took another sip of juice.
She pried her eyes from Nathan’s back to look around the room. The beautiful modern kitchen opened up to a large family room complete with a big screen TV and a huge, overstuffed couch.
Like at Kim’s
condo, everything here was clean and shiny. The house suited Nathan and seemed like the kind of place a professional hockey player might live.
Up until now,
Sarah hadn’t given any thought to where Nathan lived or where he rested his head at night. The only thing she could think about when he was near was…
him
.
“
This wasn’t what I planned on having for dinner,” Nathan said, breaking the silence.
She looked back at him but he was still facing the stove.
“I’m sorry.” She’d interfered with his plans
and
disrupted his evening. She should leave. Right after she finished her glass of delicious juice.
“Don’t be sorry, Sarah.
” He turned to look at her. “I was coming over to ask you if you wanted to go to dinner anyway.”
“Oh.”
The look he gave her made her postpone any thoughts of leaving. “Well, this is better than any restaurant.” If
she
lived here, she’d never want to leave the house. Everything a person could ever need was right here within these walls.
“Would you have said yes?”
he asked.
“Maybe,” she answered coyly.
Their eyes locked from across the room and she could feel heat rising to her cheeks.
The rice sizzled behind him and he wheeled around to stir it. He turned the burner down low and when he was sure it wouldn’t burn he turned back to face her.
Nathan glanced at the bag of discount instant noodles at her feet. “You know, that Top Ramen crap is full of saturated fat and sodium.”
“
Yes, but it’s cheap,” she replied.
He
cracked a smile.
“Are you sure you’re a hockey player and not a chef?”
“I like cooking. It calms me.” Sheesh. He couldn’t believe he’d said that out loud. Next, he’d be telling her how he did yoga and used to sit around in a circle talking about his feelings to a group of strangers.
Sarah cast her eyes
down to her hands. “I’m sorry about what happened,” she said softly.
“
There’s nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t do anything wrong.
I’m
the one who needs to apologize. I’m sorry I resorted to violence.” Lord knew he’d been working on managing his anger, but when he saw Sarah in danger, damn, he’d wanted to rip the scumbag’s arms off and beat him with them.
She looked up at him and searched his eyes.
“No one has ever stuck up for me like that before.”
“Oh,” was all he could say. How had she never had a father or big brother stick up for her
before? Who in their right mind would stand by and watch something like that happen to a woman without doing something about it. Nathan was all for women being independent, but a muscle builder didn’t have a chance against a strung out tweeker like Skeet.
Nathan dished out
a plate of steaming chicken on a bed of rice with broccoli and turned off the stove burner. He set the plate in front of Sarah and the food was arranged like it would be in a fancy restaurant. Well, how she
imagined
the food would be served in a fancy restaurant anyway. She’d never been to one to know exactly for sure. Either way it was a beautiful sight. The stoneware plate didn’t have any chips or cracks and the sterling silver fork tines weren’t even bent.
Nathan made himself a plate
of food and sat beside her on a barstool. He was so close, his arm almost brushed against hers. There was that fresh, clean scent of his again.
The food was such a wonderful sight that Sarah wanted to just look at it on her plate for a while but her stomach and manners won out. When the first forkful passed through her lips she thought she was in heaven.
Each bite was more delicious than the last. “This is amazing,” she said in between bites.
The chicken and broccoli was tender and delicious and t
he rice was warm and dense in her tummy. Sarah couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten a balanced home cooked meal. She took her time chewing so her emaciated stomach wouldn’t go into shock. But after only a few bites, her stomach started to feel full.
They ate in companionable silence.
Now that she knew he wasn’t angry with her about what happened with Skeet, Sarah could enjoy the meal. With Nathan, Sarah didn’t feel the need to fill the silence. It was okay that he didn’t talk nonstop like the women in the salon. It wasn’t awkward but…nice.
She
only ate half of her food before she was so full she couldn’t eat another bite. “I wish I could finish, but I’m stuffed.” She hoped she didn’t upset him by not finishing the meal.
“That’s okay.” Nathan
shoveled the last of the rice into his mouth and stood up. He took their plates over to the sink.
S
arah jumped up to help. “I’d like to keep the leftovers if it’s not too much trouble. I’d hate to waste such a wonderful meal.”
“I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you go into the living room and watch
TV while I clean up,” he suggested. He needed a moment to compose himself anyway. The events of the evening and Sarah’s presence in his kitchen were a lot to process.
“I can help
,” she protested. It was the least she could do after he’d rescued her
and
cooked a gourmet meal.
“I’ll just be a few minutes
,” he insisted.
“
Well…Okay,” she relented.
“Here, take your juice.”
He topped off the glass, handed it to her and she padded out of the room.
While
Nathan put the leftovers into a container and loaded the dishwasher, he couldn’t think about anything but Sarah.
She smelled like
lavender. Her hair looked so soft, he wanted to reach out and wrap a strand of it around his finger. He wanted to touch her hand or her hair or her face, but he didn’t want to scare her away. He could wait. He wanted, no,
needed
, her to feel comfortable around him. She probably needed much more than he had to give her, but at least he could try.