Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Kyle

I knew what she was doing. Watching Imogen wrench open the pantry door, then the other cupboards, she was taking stock of what we had in the kitchen with more passion than it warranted. I knew it and so did she, but something unspoken between us kept us from talking about it.

"Celery seed?" I asked, wondering if we were going to start a kitchen garden on the grounds.

"Ground celery seed is good for adding taste," she informed me. "A lot of the foods you like use it. It can give you a salty flavour without using as much actual salt. I assume that'd be better for kids." She grabbed out a big container of garlic powder only to find it'd turned into a solid lump. That was tossed into the bin along with the other expired items she found. "Garlic powder, minced garlic, garlic salt."

"That's a whole lotta garlic," I said to myself, tapping out everything she asked for onto a list on my phone.

"Keeps the vampires away," she said with a smile, turning to the next cupboard.

But not the bears. I thought that as I watched Imogen bend over, trying really hard not to notice how the track pants Ursula found for her hugged her arse. No easy feat, especially when my memory of that little moment from before came back all too easily.

I'd grabbed her because I knew she was running: from Mary, from Scott, from whatever had her trailing towards the doorway in the first place. Imogen's entire face transformed when she stared at the art room, seeing something I didn't. Her expression hadn't registered that kind of happiness since the moment I met her. Not when we moved her into her new apartment, not even when she unpacked. No, there was a bliss in her eyes as she surveyed the kids' artwork. Not their work, I realised, the art materials. The bear and I squirrelled that knowledge away, holding it close to our chest, right as she straightened up.

"OK, I think that's it. So, do we just order enough for dinner tonight?" She scratched her head. "For everyone or just us?"

"I think everyone," I replied.

"Does everyone like burgers? Are some people vegetarians, vegans?"

"Um—"

"Should we get some chicken for chicken burgers? Fish for fish burgers?"

"Yum, fish burgers." Ursula strolled in at just the right time, taking in my look of alarm with amusement. "So I hear you're going to do some of the cooking for us?" Imogen nodded. "Asher sent me down to give you a hand, make sure you have the numbers of the suppliers and have no problems putting orders in. Dickhead here." My eyebrow jerked up as she nodded to me. "Real good at carrying heavy shit. Not so good at remembering important details."

"I…" My voice trailed away and then I was forced to smile. "Resemble that statement. OK, so I've got the list."

As the three of us bent over the kitchen bench, working out the dinner menu and then submitting a food order that would be sent over with the first courier available, I understood Imogen's motivation. When it arrived, when I was ferrying heavy boxes from the back entrance and into the kitchen, when Imogen unpacked them, putting everything away exactly where she wanted them, I felt it, the blissful peace that comes from moving your body and letting your mind stop thinking.

We fell into a rhythm, Ursula peeling and chopping a mound of onions as I dumped the various minced meat into four bowls. Imogen flew around the kitchen, adding seasonings to each bowl to suit the different kinds of burgers. Once the last of my bags had been emptied, I stopped, just watching her go.

Competence was always sexy. A woman who knows what she wants and just goes for it always turned me on, so I found myself pausing to watch the way Imogen muttered to herself, adding a little herbs or spice, then going back for more. It was a weird kind of alchemy, cooking, where she mixed together the raw ingredients into something far more than the individual parts.

"What?"

With the sixth sense women seemed to have, she looked up, catching me staring. Ursula just smiled and shook her head, scraping the onion she'd just chopped into the nearest bowl before peeling the next. She knew exactly what I was going through.

"Just wondering what to do next?" I asked, even though that was not what I was thinking about at all.

"Rolling burgers. Clean your hands and make sure not to dry them too much when you're done." She pulled out a couple of trays and when I was finished at the sink, she did the same. An ice cream scoop was handed over and I took it without understanding why. "Helps with portion control," Imogen explained. "One scoop per burger should mean everyone ends up with an equal amount."

"Some of us are more equal than others," I said, dropping a couple of scoops of meat into my palm and then rolling it into one massive burger. "I'll put them aside for me." Ursula snorted. "What? I'm a growing boy."

"Growing out if you don't hit the gym after dinner." Ursula pointed a knife my way. "You deadlifted what, 450 last time? Time to try and hit 500."

"500 kilos?" We both realised our mistake when Imogen looked at the two of us.

"Pounds," I corrected hastily, my inhuman strength not something that needed exposing right now.

"Still, that's about 250 kilos, isn't it?"

I had no idea, but rather than meet Imogen's curious gaze, I focussed on rolling more burgers. Her eyes were on me, the bear made sure I was aware of that, so I may or may not have popped my biceps a little as I placed the burger onto the tray. I wanted to declare it, how strong I really was, and that the bear and I would deploy every damn ounce of muscle we had to keep her safe, but not now. Not yet, I amended.

"I like to stay in shape," I replied nonchalantly, looking up in time to see her looking me over more closely, seeking evidence that confirmed exactly that.

I liked her attention, the way her eyes seemed to measure my chest, taking in the span of my shoulders, my arms. If she just kept on looking at me, we'd get through this, somehow I was sure. As if to prove that wrong, Lucas and Asher came walking in through the door, Lucas holding a sheaf of papers.

"You'll need to stay here for a while," Asher informed her, and I sighed. No hello, no hi Imogen, how are you? He seemed unable to maintain politeness at the best of times, but around our mate, he was a mess. Her head jerked up and she frowned as she stared back. "I've been in contact with the police. They're looking for Phil in all his usual haunts?—"

"At Mike's?" Her lips thinned as she said that. "He's just as likely to be protecting him at our… his place."

"I mentioned Mike, and he's down as a person of interest," Asher replied.

"So…" I watched Imogen struggle with something a lot of people who didn't have much to do with the police did. "He's just out there. I saw…" She straightened up, her jaw firming. "I saw what he did to Scott and Mary."

"He was released on bail for that." Asher's voice sounded like his name, grey and colourless. "It was his first offence as far as the courts were concerned, so bail was deemed a reasonable option. He's breached the conditions of it, but…"

But to enforce that the police needed to find him. Who the hell knew where the weaselly prick was in a city this size?

"They'll find him," I said with all the confidence I didn't feel. "They'll bring him in and he'll rot in a jail cell waiting for his trial." Hopefully forever, if we had anything to do with it. "You just need to sit tight until he's found."

"I can't go to work." She dropped the ball of meat she was rolling into a burger. "I can't go back to my place. I can't?—"

"It must seem like all your choices are being taken away from you right now," Ursula said, and who would know about that more than her? "But all you can do is make the best choice from the options you do have."

"Right." Imogen snatched up some meat, rolling it and placing it on the tray like it personally offended her. "Is the cook job still open, because apparently I'm going to need a new position."

"Of course." Asher's voice was far softer now as he crept closer. He wanted to touch her, hold her close, I could see that in the way his fingers flexed. I wanted the same damn thing, but Lucas stepped forward.

"In some more positive news, I've found a bunch of the books that need replacing and a few more." He set the pages down on the table beside her.

" Vixen's Pleasure ?" she said, craning her neck to peer at it. " Wolf's Heart ?" She went to the sink and washed her hands clean before picking the paper up. "How the hell did you find these? They've been out of print for ages."

Yeah, how did he do that? Lucas hid away in his little geek den, but suddenly I was keen to learn his ways. That same look of pleasure I saw when our mate was in the art room rose.

"You can get these?" she asked him, as if barely able to believe it.

"All of them." Luc started to smile. "If you confirm that you want these, they'll be with a courier and expedited over here as fast as possible."

Oh yeah, I was jealous. The look she was giving him was everything I wanted, but I knew. Together we would make our mate's dreams come true, and if he started with this, I wasn't going to hate on him.

"I…" She wanted to say thank you, to throw her arms around him, but the sling quickly made clear that wasn't possible. She stepped back with a flush and then turned back to the meat. "I better make you all the best burgers possible if I'm going to keep this job."

I picked up the ice cream scoop and grabbed another ball of meat and got rolling.