His Unexpected Lover (The Thorpe Brothers) (5 page)

“Just stop talking,” she said and slid her legs
to the left, getting up off the bed.  It was difficult since she wouldn’t relinquish either the blanket or the coffee cup. 

Axel watched her, shaking his head.  “You never were able to walk around naked with me, were you?” he teased.

Her head snapped around and she blushed.  “Where are my clothes?” she demanded, trying for dignity but knowing that she was losing that battle.  Especially when he was watching her so closely, those ice blue eyes never leaving her body even though the blanket covered most of her skin. 

“In the closet,” he said, leaning back and watching her, enjoying the way she walked and held herself.  She was grace personified and he wished she’d just give in and accept that what they’d had all those years ago hadn’t died out from lack of communication.  If anything, his need for her was
stronger.  He couldn’t believe how intensely he wanted to grab her and make love to her, to touch every part of her delectable body. 

He pushed away from the door and turned around
, trying to shift slightly to accommodate his reaction to her in his bedroom once again.  “I hope you’re hungry,” he called out as he made his way down the hallway.  “I’m making Spanish omelets.”  He wasn’t giving her mercy from his watchful gaze so much as he was giving himself a bit of mercy by moving away from her.  A man could only take so much enticement, he told himself. 

Kiera watched
as he walked out, wishing she could tear her eyes away and remain immune to his physique.  But then, what woman wouldn’t watch?  The man was a god! 

When he was gone, she sighed and clasped the blanket around her more securely and took another fortifying sip of coffee. 

“Spanish omelets?” she repeated suddenly. 

Her stomach growled and she realized that she hadn’t eaten anything since she’d had some yogurt yesterday morning for breakfast.  She’d seen Axel just before she was going to grab lunch and hadn’t had the stomach for anything after that.  And then she’d been drinking with the ladies last night and…she thought carefully…nope, no food for dinner either. 
There had been chips and salsa, but Kiera knew she’d been too busy trying to drown out the memory of Axel’s presence on her mind and body to worry about anything nutritious. 

She opened several doors, finding a bathroom that was made of white and grey wood.  Very rustic, she thought with envy.  There were skylights overhead and the shower was more like a
large room enclosed with glass but with big, smooth stones as the outer walls and matching tiles on the floor.  She blushed, thinking of Axel in that space, the hot water rushing over those muscles and…

She shook her head and looked around.  After freshening up, s
he finally found the closet that had been hiding her dress and pulled it back on.  But she didn’t put her shoes on, carrying them downstairs instead.  She felt a bit silly walking barefoot through Axel’s domain.  But she couldn’t deny that she was fascinated by all that she was seeing.  His large, spacious house was a far cry from the undecorated apartment he’d lived in before.  This house even had plants!  She loved indoor plants, thinking they gave an area a sense of vibrancy and health.  She’d always had plants in her living areas until she’d moved to San Francisco.  At that point, she knew she wasn’t going to be living there forever so she hadn’t wanted to have plants that might not get the attention they needed with her long hours of work. 

After searching through the other rooms and not feeling guilty in the slightest, s
he found Axel in the kitchen and almost swooned with the space and light not to mention the ultra-sleek kitchen equipment.  She stared at the convection ovens and the shiny stove with six burners and all the newest gadgets that made cooking so much fun. 

And then there was Axel cooking.  Still without a darn shirt and looking so delicious that her mouth almost fell open.  She should have been prepared for that.  He’d shown up in the bedroom doorway without a shirt, why would he stop and put one on now?  It was
Saturday, he was obviously relaxed in his home and wanting to be comfortable.  It didn’t matter that his bare chest was making her very, very uncomfortable. 

Looking around, she was stunned by how homey and yet still spacious this kitchen felt.  The stone and brick should normally be one or the other, but the two seemed to mesh together
perfectly, reminding one that this was an older home, a place that had protected generations of families over the years.  The hardwood floors were probably original to the house, but had been sanded and stained to a glossy finish, adding warmth to the whole atmosphere.

She turned and faced the man, a thought occurring to her.  “Are you married?” she asked, furious and hu
rt, feeling horribly betrayed.  Deep down inside, she knew she had no right to feel that way, but she waited tensely for him to answer her question, ignoring the painful hurt at the possibility. 

Axel stood at the stove, the
omelet finished but frozen in mid-air.  “Married?” he asked, noting the fury in her beautiful eyes.  “Why do you think I’m married?” he asked, slicing the omelet in half and sliding it expertly onto two plates. 

The idea of Axel being marri
ed hurt more than she could handle.  And the way he hadn’t answered immediately terrified her right down to her soul.  “Answer the question!” she demanded, storming over to the island, taking in more of the homey details and feeling sick suddenly.  Had a woman actually been in here and made it look so warm and comfortable?  Had Axel married at some point over the past six years?  It wasn’t an impossibility, she told herself but she desperately didn’t want it to be true. 

“No.  I’m not married.  Now tell me why you would ask me something like that.”

He refilled her coffee cup, then carried the two plates over to the table that was doused in sunshine from the large windows that looked out over pastures and gardens. 

She pushed the dizzying relief away to examine at another, more private, moment. 
“Because of all this,” she said, gesturing widely at all the warmth in his kitchen with her shoes still dangling from her fingertips. 

“
This?” he asked, looking around.  “What’s wrong with this?” He’d always loved this room.  He’d thought she would like it as well. 

“
Your house!” she came back with confusion, sure that he was lying about his marital status. “This isn’t like your other place.  This is…” she looked around, shaking with her anger and betrayal, “nice!” she finally finished.

Axel watched her for another moment,
then burst out laughing.  He set the two plates down on the table, adding a generous portion of browned, seasoned potatoes.  “Well, I’m glad you like my home,” he replied, then poured her some fresh squeezed orange juice.  “But I’m not married.”

His words instantly settled her stomach and she relaxed, almost light-headed from relief. 
“You did all this yourself?” she asked, her eyes wide with hope and fear. 

“Sit,” he told her, smothering his laughter at her disbelief.  “Eat something.”

Kiera looked at the omelet and her stomach growled.  So instead of ignoring him or even arguing with him any longer, she took a seat at his sunny breakfast table, setting her shoes down next to her on the wide-plank floor.  When she took her first bite, she closed her eyes in bliss.  “This is incredible!” she gasped, forking another bite into her mouth.  “Who made these?” she asked, looking for the box from the restaurant. 

Since she’d watched him slide the omelet onto the plate, he rolled his eyes at her question. 
“I made them.  Obviously,” he told her, refilling her cup of coffee. 

Her eyes widened.  He’d cooked for her in the past, but nothing this good.  It had been mostly sandwiches or a quick burger. 
More often they’d gone out to restaurants.  Cheap ones if she were buying and more expensive ones when he could convince her to let him pay for the meal. 

“When did you learn to cook?” she asked, taking another bite of the fluffy, cheesy, veg
etable filled omelet.  “This is incredible!” she exclaimed. 

“Thanks,” Axel said, taking a long sip of his cold orange ju
ice.  “As for when I learned to cook, I picked it up here and there.  All my brothers cook so I guess I learned from them.  And once I got into it, I liked looking up new recipes although most of what I cook is pretty simple.”

She sighed as if she were in heaven.  She couldn’t remember ever tasting anything so flavorful.  “Is that
a jalapeno in the mixture?” she asked, not believing that he would be creative enough to think about putting a spicy vegetable into an egg mix. 

“Yes.  I grow them mys
elf.  Sometimes they aren’t very spicy but this year was a good crop.”

Her hand froze as she looked across the table at him. “You grow your own jalapenos?” she asked, stunned and somewhat disbelieving. 

“And tomatoes and other vegetables.  I grew all the stuff in your meal except for the eggs and the cheese,” he said and winked at her.  He knew exactly what she was thinking and loved that he’d surprised her.  Kiera was one of those down to earth women who wasn’t easily surprised so this was one for the books. 

“I don’t believe you,” she came back and took another bite.  “And even if you have a vegetable garden, you probably hire someone to do all the growing for you, don’t you?”

He laughed, shaking his head at her disbelief.  “Of course not.  In fact, I’ll take you out to my garden after breakfast.”  He looked down at the floor where her dressy shoes were laying next to her bare feet. “Of course, you’ll have to borrow a pair of my boots.”

She peered over the table as well but looked at his feet instead of hers.  “I don’t think they’ll fit.”

He shrugged his shoulders.  “Suit yourself.  But you’re looking at my garden. I can’t have you thinking I’m a liar.”

She laughed, still disbelieving but impressed that he would even have a garden. 

Kiera shook her head again, then turned back to her plate, starving for more food and the omelet was exactly what her body needed, lots of protein and veggies.

“Okay, let’s go,” he said when she was finished.

She blinked and looked up at him.  “You’re taking me home?  I can just…”

“I’m taking you out to my garden.  And then perhaps I’ll drive you home.  Don’t you dare tell me that you’re catching a cab because you’ll be severely punished if you think about doing that
again.”

Kiera knew that both of them were thinking about the last time they’d seen each other which had been through the window of a cab as Kiera ran away from him. 

Instead of answering him, he lifted a pair of boots he’d pulled out of his mudroom. “Put these on.”

Kiera couldn’t help it.  She burst out laughing, never having seen this side of Axel before.  She’d spent hours arguing with him about various legal issues, political topics,
preferences on food and the best hamburgers.  He was the ultimate intellectual in her mind.  But at this moment in time, he actually looked eager to show her the garden he apparently was proud of working. 

She looked down at the boots, not sure what to think.  Taking them out of his hands, she slipped her heels off her feet and gestured to the door.  “Lead the way. I’m fascinated by the mighty Axel’s vegetable garden.”
  She quickly slipped her feet into his huge boots, unconcerned about how silly she looked in them. 

He raised one eyebrow at her cynical tone.  “You still don’t believe me, do you?” he asked as he opened the door and stepped back so she could precede him out doors. 

She stepped onto the cement stoop and shrugged her shoulders.  “Let’s just say I’m ready to be convinced.”

As soon as she looked around, she stopped in stunned amazement.  “Axel,
it is gorgeous out here!” she gasped, seeing all the amazing hues of bright orange and red, yellow and even a bit more green as the last gasp of summer held onto the leaves. 

“Thanks,” he said, picking up a water bucket that had fallen over, placing it back against the wall. 

The way he was handling the bucket made her suspect something she wasn’t prepared for.  “Axel, did you plant all of this as well?” she asked, not sure what to believe now. 

“Yes,” he said
simply, looking around at the bushes that were staggered along the pathway, interspersed with perennial flowers.

She stared up at him, seeing the pride on his face and knew that he wasn’t teasing her.  “I’m impressed,” she said softly, her admiration for all that he’d achieved showing through
in her eyes. 

He took her on a tour not just of his vegetable garden but also of the entire
back yard.  There was a small pond at the corner of his property where the horses could drink from but he’d also built a small sitting area, complete with a wisteria covered pergola.  “This is beautiful,” she gasped as she stepped onto the stone patio, looking up at the changing leaves.  “Did you build this as well?”

“Yes. 
With Ash’s help.  Xander and Ryker helped a bit but Ash is the one who designed it.”

She stared up in wonder at all the details, impressed with the curly corners and the way the wisteria plant twisted over the top.  She could easily imagine the wisteria flowers flowing down through the wood in the springtime, creating a lovely, purple cover draping down.  “I love this!” and she smiled up at him.