Colton Christmas Protector (The Coltons of Texas #12)(34)
Grateful for the chance to clean up, Penelope excused herself to the bathroom farthest from where Nicholas was sleeping, hoping the noise wouldn’t wake him. The pounding hot water worked miracles on her tense muscles, though her headache remained. She’d have loved to stay in the steamy bath for hours, but knew Reid was waiting on her for dinner. After drying off, she selected one of the outfits he’d brought her—basic blue jeans and a dark green sweater—and joined him in the kitchen.
When she strolled up beside him, he glanced up from buttering a loaf of garlic bread and grinned. “So...did I choose well? Will those clothes do?”
“I’m hardly in a position to be picky. But yes, these are fine.”
When he didn’t return to his task right away, she tipped her head and eyed him suspiciously. “What? Did I leave a tag on or something?”
“No... I was just was noticing...Piper was right.”
“Piper picked this?”
“Well, I pretended I was buying a Christmas gift for Zane’s new wife. She’s a redhead, too. Piper said that dark green was a good color for redheads.” He stepped closer and gently brushed a hank of her damp hair back from her scratched and bruised cheek. “And she was right. That sweater brings out the green in your eyes.”
Her heart pattered erratically, and she took a step back. “And the blue in my bruises?” she teased, hoping to gloss over her awkward reaction to his touch.
He frowned, then continued working on their dinner. “I’d love five minutes alone with that shooter and the man who hired him for hurting you and terrorizing you that way.”
“Careful, Detective. That sounds a lot like vengeance rather than justice.”
He grunted. “Sometimes vengeance is more satisfying than justice. Besides, I’m not a cop anymore.”
She snitched a piece of crust that had fallen off the loaf when he’d sliced it and nibbled on the bit of bread. Her stomach growled as she savored the buttered bread. “Maybe I’m hungry after all. How long until we eat?”
“Just long enough for the bread to heat. Make yourself at home,” he said, tipping his head toward the adjoining breakfast nook, “and I’ll bring your plate to you.”
She slid into the booth seat around the café table and rubbed the muscles in her neck. As wiped as she was, the day wasn’t over yet. She wasn’t about to let Reid delve into her father’s computer files without her. She wanted to be on the front lines of his investigation, working beside him, an equal partner in bringing her father, the shooter and anyone else involved in these crimes to justice. Was Stanley involved? Surely he was complicit. He had to know something was dirty about his employer after all these years.
Reid carried two plates over and set one with a large steak, baked potato, salad and bread in front of her. The blend of aromas made her mouth water, but she paused long enough to bow her head and say a silent grace...adding thanks that she, Reid and Nicholas had come through the day alive and relatively unscathed. And give me strength for the days ahead.
“Amen,” she whispered and raised her gaze to find Reid watching her. He made no comment about her prayer, but hesitated a moment before he dived into his garlic bread.
Her faith was one of the few things she had learned from her mother, had shared with Andrew and was trying to teach Nicholas, and she knew it would be a source of strength to her in the uncertain days ahead.
“This looks good,” she said as she cut a big bite of steak and poked it in her mouth. The first thing she noticed was the abundance of seasoning. Correction...overabundance of seasoning. She set down her fork, trying hard to swallow without gagging.
“Hope so. I could eat a horse.” Reid forked a bite of steak into his mouth and grunted. Coughed. Spit his bite into his napkin. “Jeez!”
“What did you put on the meat?”
He sipped his water and shrugged. “A little of everything. I wasn’t sure what to use so...”
She grinned and used her fork to scrape some of the seasoning from her steak. “With cooking, a lot of times, less is more.”
“How would I know? We have a full-time cook at the ranch.”
“You didn’t pay attention when Andrew was grilling at our cookouts?”
He waved a hand at his plate and started laughing. “Obviously not.”
Fatigue and the ridiculousness of the situation ganged up on her. She joined his chuckle but soon her laughter blossomed to peals of overtired mirth. They laughed until they were both wiping their eyes. The laughter felt good, even though she knew it was completely incongruous to her situation. Her stress eased, and she felt a tenuous renewed connection with Reid.
As her giggles subsided, she raked her damp hair back from her face and sighed. “Lordy, what a day.”
“You can say that again.” Shoving aside his steak, he sliced open his potato, and they ate in companionable silence for the next several minutes. When he’d cleared his plate, he scooted from the booth and carried his plate to the sink. “Leave the dishes until morning. Let’s get a peek at those files.”
In an instant, the tension that had fled briefly as they ate returned in spades. She followed him back to the den where he opened the cabinet doors to the vast collection of electronics including a high-end laptop computer. He carried the computer to a walnut desk in the corner of the living room.