Compromising Kessen (Vandenbrook #1)(32)

He rolled his eyes. “Kessen, I’m actually tired. Exhausted from the preparations for leaving today. I don’t have energy for games.”

“You’re grumpy. Did you eat?”

He appeared to be thinking about it. “No, actually I haven’t.”

“Great! Let’s stop for something. I forgot to eat too.”

“We don’t live in the land of fast food, Kessen,” he snapped.

“Wow. You really do need carbohydrates and sugar. Seriously. You’re dangerous when you’re grumpy. What are you? Hypoglycemic?”

She was shaking her head when she heard him clear his throat. “Oh no! You are! I’m so sorry! We must stop then; you need food.”

“Fine,” he grumbled.

She could tell he wasn’t one who liked being taken care of.

****

Christian hated that he liked being taken care of. What was wrong with him? He was a grown man but still went to stay with his mother when he was sick, thinking she was the only person who could bring him back into the land of the living.

Kessen had that same nurturing side to her. It was odd how he hadn’t noticed it before. She probably rescued stray cats and dogs and…

“Kessen?”

“What?” She was looking curiously out the window.

“Do you rescue animals?”

“Don’t believe anything you hear! It was one time. One time! And the puppy was nearly dead. What did you want me to do, Christian? Just let it die? And then the vet had the audacity to tell me nobody would want such an ugly dog! And honestly, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t! So, I put an ad in the paper and a nice kid in a wheelchair took the puppy, because he felt like they had something in common, what with the dog not having any legs and all. What?”

Christian knew he had the deer-in-headlights look going for him. Sometimes he wondered why he even asked her questions? One minute she was silent as the grave, the next he would do anything in his power to get her to shut up, but she was so endearing all he could do was smile.

“What was his name?”

She looked confused. “The boy?”

He laughed. “No, the dog.”

“Oh. I named him Dog.”

He coughed, hiding his laughter. “How original of you.”

She glared. “I’ll have you know it was a perfect name. He didn’t feel like a real dog, because he didn’t have legs. I was helping him with his identity crisis.” She crossed her arms triumphantly, leaving Christian struggling between staring at her dumbfounded and staying between the correct lines on the road.

“So, you haven’t made a habit of rescuing, then?”

“No, only that one time. My dad doesn’t appreciate pets. He gave me a rock once.”

“A rock? As in a rock from someone’s yard, or a cool rock?” He couldn’t help but ask. The girl was so appealing, it scared him.

“I can’t keep things alive. Not even plants. So my dad decided if we ever got a pet, he would end up taking care of it. Like I said, he doesn’t like pets, so he gave me a rock. He even painted a face on it. We named it Kevin.”

Christian was careful to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “You named your pet rock Kevin?”

She nodded, clearly not getting how odd the whole conversation had become.

“Where is Kevin?”

She giggled. His heart melted a little bit more, then he swerved. After he decided he should keep his eyes on the road as he should have been doing all along, she answered.

“I have no idea.”

“Maybe we’ll find you a new Kevin,” he found himself saying, then realized he sounded like he was talking to a three-year-old.

“I’ve got my hands full enough with you, thank you very much,” she said, patting him patronizingly on the head.

“I deserve that, I guess.”

“Well, you did make fun of my pet rock.”

“I’m not even going to respond to that,” he mumbled.

It was quiet again. Christian found himself praying Kessen would talk. Earlier he wanted to muzzle her, now he wanted to hear her tell stories and never stop. That was it, he needed food. Either that, or he was getting a fever. Never in his life had he wanted any woman to keep talking to him. If anything he had prayed science would develop some sort of listening device to drown out any high-pitched voice within ten feet.

Kessen piped up with more enthusiasm than he thought possible when she saw them nearing the edge of town. “Look, there’s a little convenience store! Should we stop for food?”

He nodded and parked, watching in disbelief as she hopped from the car and ran into the bakery. Just as he was locking the doors and getting ready to step inside, his cell rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Nick.”

“Nick! It’s good to hear from you. Sorry about all the confusion this morning with the flights.”

“No prob. Have you told her yet?”

“No. I’m going to leave the surprises to you.”

“She threatened me with a machete, Christian. Surprising her may not be the best idea.”

“She does have a tendency to become violent.”

“Ya think? Page six and all.”

“I’m not commenting.”