Forged in Steele (KGI #7)(92)

The sense of rightness hit him hard, and for a long moment all he could do was stare until he realized he was making her uncomfortable with his silent scrutiny.

“Uh, hi, everyone,” she said with a small wave. “I completely forgot you all were coming today. I sorta slept in.”

Everyone greeted her warmly and her awkwardness visibly disappeared. Steele went to her, steering her toward the kitchen.

“I’ll catch up to you guys in a second,” Steele called back. “You can head out to the shed where all the equipment is stored and also unload the stuff you brought with you.”

As the others left, Steele sat Maren down at the bar and then went to the stove to turn on the burner under the kettle of water he’d already prepared.

“I thought you could start with tea and some crackers. If that works for you, I’ll fix you something a little more substantial. I have bagels and cinnamon rolls, or you can have toast. If you think you can stomach eggs, I can scramble some up for you.”

She smiled and propped her elbows up on the bar. “Thanks, Steele, but you don’t have to pamper me, though I won’t lie and say I’m not enjoying it. But you have stuff to do and I don’t want to keep you from it. You go ahead and do your thing with the others so they aren’t kept waiting. I’ll finish up the tea and if I’m hungry after the crackers I’ll figure out something to fix. Want me to make lunch for everyone? How long will this all take?”

“A few hours,” he said. “I hadn’t thought about lunch, and it’s not like we get pizza delivery out here. Or anything else, for that matter.”

“Want me to do burgers or something like that for everyone? It’s the least I can do since you and they are all doing this for me.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t think you have to repay any kind of debt. We look out for each other. I have their backs and they have mine. This is them having our backs. But yeah, burgers sound fine. You sure you can handle the smell of raw hamburger meat? Or for that matter the smell of frying them up? If you want, just make the patties, if you can stomach it, and after we’re done I’ll throw everything on the grill. We’ll have beer and burgers. I guarantee my team isn’t going to turn that down.”

She laughed. “No, I imagine they wouldn’t. That’s a deal. I’ll season the meat and make the patties and stick them in the fridge so they’ll be ready to go when you’re finished. Then I’ll rustle up all the fixings, slice a few tomatoes and onions and wash the lettuce and we’ll be set.”

He rotated her bar stool so she faced him and he pulled her into his chest. “I like you in my kitchen. I like having a perfectly ordinary mundane conversation about who does what for the food preparation. I like having you here. Period. I think you’re domesticating me, Maren.”

She cracked up and rested her forehead against the hollow of his throat so his chin rested atop her head. “Oh, the horror. The world may well be coming to an end. Who would have ever thought the almighty Steele would admit to being domesticated, never mind actually becoming domesticated.”

“How about me admitting, at least in the short time of my newfound domesticity, that I like it?”

“Stop,” she said dramatically. “There’s only so much I can take in one day. That kind of shock can’t be good for the baby.”

He tugged teasingly at her hair and then tilted her head back to kiss her. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours. If you need anything at all, just stick your head out the back door and holler. We won’t be far and one of us will hear you.”

“Okay. Thought I’d wait until after lunch and everyone clears out before I call my parents to arrange their flight out here. Then we can both sit down while I talk to them and hash out the details.”

“Sounds good.”

He kissed her again and then reluctantly pulled himself away from her.

“Try to eat something,” he said as he headed toward the door leading to the back porch. “And just so we’re clear, that was a request. Not a direct order.”

She laughed, her eyes twinkling in merriment. “My, my, looks like you can be trained, Steele.”

He grinned back, enjoying the playful banter that came so easily between them. “For the kind of reward you offer, this old dog can definitely learn a few new tricks.”

CHAPTER 34

MAREN sat in the living room with Steele and the others and nibbled on her burger while the others wolfed theirs down. It tasted wonderful, but she was taking it slow and savoring each bite, hoping her stomach wouldn’t protest and the food would stay down.

She could see just how close Steele and his team were. Sure, she’d seen them plenty of times and could witness the bond they had, but she’d never been around them in a completely relaxed setting where there was no mission involved and no injuries for her to tend to.

They laughed and joked, the ease with which they communicated showing her more than words how tight-knit they were.

Everyone got a kick out of ribbing Steele over his impending fatherhood, and to Steele’s credit, he took it with good humor. Not once did his characteristic scowl cross his face, and each time there was a mention of his becoming a father, his gaze slid to Maren’s, warmth radiating from his eyes.

He seemed happy and content. More relaxed than she’d ever seen him around others. Even when he and his team had come to her clinic for treatment, he’d been distant and standoffish and spoken in clipped sentences, using only a few words to get his meaning across.