Compromising Kessen (Vandenbrook #1)(60)

She threw a pillow at his face.

Thankfully, he knew her better than she thought and ducked just in time. Instead the pillow struck one of his family heirlooms and sent it flying through the air.

She gasped and closed her eyes. “Please tell me that was not the same vase your great-grandfather gave your great-grandmother in the last book I read.”

He shrugged slyly. “Alright then, it’s not the same vase.”

“Oh no. Oh no.”

“Kessen!” He grabbed her hands. “It’s fine. There are more family heirlooms. I’ll continue reading to get your mind off it, okay?”

She whimpered.

He took that as a yes. “Your biggest fear is you’ll somehow let your father down, which, on a more personal note, you should realize is basically an irrational fear. Your father loves you, and you could never disappoint him.”

She sucked in a breath and stared, obviously not expecting what he said. In fact, he hadn’t expected to respond in that way either. Why was it always easier helping others with their fears instead of conquering his own?

“Ahem,” he said. “Last, but not least. You sleep with a Little Mermaid nightlight, which I believe sufficiently proves you are terrified of the dark.”

Kessen’s mouth dropped open. “You got all of them right!”

“I did?” He tried to sound surprised.

“I can’t believe it!”

“Nor can I!” he agreed, knowing wholeheartedly if he hadn’t cheated, he would have lost miserably. Christian had no idea what her biggest fear was, or that she slept with a nightlight.

“But, but—”

“Use your words, Kessen,” he joked.

“That means…”

He waited, but she just stared, leaving him no choice but to grab her hands and say softly, “It means we’re having a slumber party.”

“Yay,” came her reply, albeit dry and dripping with sarcasm.

He would take it, though. In all actuality, he would take whatever he could get with this woman … and more.

Noticing Kessen wasn’t feeling comfortable at all he decided to lighten the mood. “How about we go outside, start a bonfire, throw in some of Nick and Duncan’s favorite shirts, and roast some marshmallows?”

Her eyes lit up. “It’s like you read my mind.”

Christian held out his hand for Kessen. It always was a stupid idea for them to touch. He clenched his teeth as her smooth hand wrapped around his. Blast, he was nearly brought to his knees just by touching her hand. When had a woman ever had this much power over him? The blood roared in his ears as he delicately led her through the house to the outside area for entertaining.

A small fire pit was located on the far end of the deck, as well as a few skewers to put marshmallows on.

Now all he needed to do was start the fire.

“You do know how to start a fire, don’t you?” Kessen asked doubtfully.

“I am a man,” he snapped.

“And that makes you knowledgeable because…?”

He snorted. “It’s part of being a man, something you’re born with, just like knowing how to spit and shoot things with a gun.”

She nodded her head. “Okay, my lord, so build the fire.”

He scratched his head in irritation, then looked around. No wood, no kindling, no matches. Where did the staff keep all the supplies?

He looked back to Kessen, but by the look on her face, she would rather die a thousand deaths than help him. How hard could building a fire from scratch be? All he needed was to chop down a tree and find some old newspaper.

“I’m going to go get some wood. You go get yesterday’s newspaper.” With that he left to locate an ax. Upon returning, Christian found Kessen sitting with two newspapers in her lap.

He rolled his eyes and walked past her to the Christmas tree farm behind their house. It had been around for years, and now would serve the purpose of being kindling.

The ax was heavier than expected, making him thankful he was the athletic sort. He swung the ax and got the tree to fall after only four blows. It wasn’t extremely impressive, considering the tree wasn’t large, but he had half a mind to turn around and growl just so Kessen could see how much of a man he was.

Then he heard something in the background, some sort of scratching noise. He looked down at the fallen tree and froze.

An enormous badger was staring up at him with hate in its eyes.

Everything happened in slow motion. He turned towards Kessen in horror and began screaming. “Run, run Kessen! It’s a giant animal!”

He nearly tripped on his own feet as he ran back to the house and locked himself inside. It wasn’t until he looked up that he realized Kessen was still outside and bent over with laughter.

Did she have no idea how terrible wild animals could be?

He opened the door a slit and whispered, “Kessen, get in here. It could have rabies!”

She turned towards him with her hands on her hips and sighed. “You don’t venture out into the country much, do you?”

He paused, then shook his head.

She threw him an “I feel sorry for your ignorance” look, and then trotted toward the fallen tree. On her way, she picked up two small rocks and began slamming them together. The giant badger, which now looked smaller than a cat, ran off leaving Kessen alone with the tree.