Tall, Silent & Lethal (Pyte/Sentinel #4)(33)

“I’m not so sure about that,” Cloe murmured, her lips twitching with amusement as she inspected the sandwich, layer by layer.

“Did, um,” she said, clearing her throat as she bit back a smile that had his eyes narrowing, “did you make Marta’s sandwiches like this?”

“Yes,” he answered defensively, wondering what her problem was. The sandwich had everything that she liked to eat and would fill her up quickly. It was the perfect meal in his book. It was easy to make, cheap and provided everything that she would need; bread, meat and cheese. What more could she ask for?

“I see,” she said as a smile broke free before she managed to pull it back. She lightly touched the top of the sandwich which caused an obscene amount of mayonnaise to seep out and pool on the plate.

Sighing in irritation, he grabbed a spoon from the drawer and grabbed the plate away from her so that he could fix the sandwich for her. He pulled the top layer of bread off and quickly scooped up the mayonnaise that had escaped and put it back in the sandwich. When he was done, he pushed the plate back to her.

“Um, thank you,” she murmured as she looked around the kitchen. “Where’s Marta?”

“I dropped her off at the Senior Center this morning,” he said, moving to clean up the mess as he waited for her to finish her sandwich.

“Oh,” she said, looking oddly disappointed as she slumped in her chair and focused her attention back on the sandwich where it belonged.

“They’re having a spaghetti dinner there tonight and she wanted to help,” he explained, frowning when he caught her poking the sandwich and watching with fascination as more mayonnaise poured out.

He was just about to demand that she eat the wonderful sandwich that he’d made when he heard her stomach growl, demanding that she eat the sandwich and doing his job for him. Since she was now his responsibility that meant that he had to make sure that she was well taken care of and he had to admit that he was doing a damn fine job of it so far.

“I guess I could hang around to say goodbye to her,” she said with a sigh as she got to her feet.

“What about your sandwich?” he asked, gesturing to the home cooked meal that he’d slaved over for her.

“I’m afraid that I can’t handle eating something that delicious, Christofer,” she said with a sigh of regret, which somewhat appeased him. “It would wreck me for all future sandwiches.”

That was true, he had to admit. He was just about to offer to make her a bowl of cereal when she took him by surprise and did the one thing that he’d truly never expected. She walked over to him and….

She hugged him.

“Thank you for everything that you did for me last night,” she said softly, pulling away only to pause long enough to press a kiss against his cheek. Then she was moving away from him before he could stop her or at the very least, wrap his arms around her and savor the warmth that she was offering him.

“You’re welcome,” he said softly, not sure what to make of this woman. One thing was for damn sure, she wasn’t like any other woman that he’d ever met.

And he wasn’t ready to let her go.

*-*-*-*

“May I help you?” Cloe asked, pausing at the top of the stairs even as she made a backup plan just in case the large, grumpy man in front of her decided to play caveman with her luggage again.

“That depends,” Christofer drawled, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall and momentarily drew her attention to the bulging muscles flexing beneath the tight gray tee shirt that he wore.

“On?” she found herself asking as she forced herself to look up and focus on the stubborn man that refused to let her quit.

“On where you’re going,” he said, gesturing to her luggage with a slight nod.

“Well first, I thought I’d go to the diner and get a bite to eat before I pass out. Then I’m going to head over to the Senior Center and say goodbye to Marta. After that I thought I’d head south for a while and see where life takes me,” she said, picking up her luggage and moving to take a step down the stairs when, surprise, surprise, he blocked her.

“I made you lunch,” he said accusingly as he pushed away from the wall and blocked her path.

“I know and it was sweet, really, but I really don’t think that I could handle something that delicious,” she said with a heartfelt sigh even as she did her best to bite back a smile.

It really had been a sweet gesture even if it had grossed her out to an unbelievable degree. She’d never in her life seen so much mayonnaise and pepper in one sandwich before. It had oozed out of the sandwich, reminding her of pus and that had pretty much killed any cravings for sandwiches for a while.

“I tell you what,” Christofer said, reaching over and gently removing the bags from her hands and the one on her shoulder, “let me buy you lunch and we can talk.”

“I’m not staying, Christofer,” she sighed, moving to pick her bags up, but instead found him taking both of her hands in his and giving them a gentle tug that had her reluctantly following him down the stairs.

“And we can discuss that while we eat,” he said, giving her a hopeful smile that had her narrowing her eyes on him.

“And if I decide to leave afterwards?” she asked, eying him suspiciously.

“Then you can leave,” he said with that damn smile that did funny things to her. “No worries.”