“Come in,” she said gently and walked into the house, followed by Bear. I followed her into a high-ceilinged living room with wooden beams and a huge stone kitchen island. A pot stood on the stove, and a spicy smell wafted over to me.
“I made chili for us. I wasn’t sure if you would get the chance to grab food somewhere.”
I watched her as she opened the lid and smiled hopefully at me. Slowly she put the lid down on a wooden cutting board, her expression becoming more restrained. “I don’t know how to act around you.”
“Be yourself. No need to act.” I strolled over to her. Bear sat on her other side, never taking his eyes off me. I met his eyes, because I was sick of him staking his claim. If I wanted to be close to Greta, I sure as fuck wouldn’t let a dog stop me. His teeth flashed but I didn’t avert my eyes and took another step closer.
He stood but didn’t attack. With a low grumble he turned and walked over to his bed where he curled up beside Momo.
“You don’t need that.”
Greta motioned at my gun. With a nod, I put it back into my hip holster. She leaned her hip against the kitchen island, regarding me.
“I’m actually hungry,” I said, nodding toward the steaming red chili.
Greta took out bowls and scooped generous portions into them before she carried them over to a rustic wood table around the corner. Floor to ceiling windows granted us a view of the paddocks. Greta motioned at the wooden bench and I sank down.
She sat down across from me and handed me a spoon. “I hope you like it. I made it with soy granules to imitate meat.”
I took a spoonful. “It’s good.”
Her face lit up, and she ate a bite herself.
“What is this place?” I asked quietly as I watched her enjoy her food with a pleased expression.
“It’s a safe haven for abused animals. It’s still only in its beginning. I want to add more stables and a house where dogs can live in a pack, and I need a house for cats.” She smiled embarrassedly.
“My best friend used to live in a place like this with his family.”
“My cousin.”
I nodded.
“Not anymore?”
“He has his own place now.” I didn’t mention Sara, it would have only brought attention to my own wife, and I had no intention to talk about Sara and Maximus anyway.
Instead, we talked about the farm as we sat across from each other, enjoying Greta’s cooking. “My sister and her husband have two dogs as well,” I said, nodding toward Bear.
“Really?”
“From a shelter.”
“That’s wonderful.”
My eyes were drawn to another dog bed I hadn’t noticed before where a black and white dog slept soundly. It’s hind-legs and tail were bandaged. “The dog you saved?”
She nodded, compassion filling her face. “Dotty. She’s sleeping a lot because of the medication but I think she’s on the mend.”
I didn’t follow her gaze to the broken creature because I couldn’t take my eyes away from her face.
Sitting like that with a woman and talking felt foreign, but at the same time right in a profound way I couldn’t quite figure out and I knew it wouldn’t ever be like this with any other woman, especially not Cressida. I’d either have ulterior motives or try to escape the situation as fast as possible. With Greta I was content just being close to her and hearing her take on things, which was so unique, positive and inherently kind that it felt even more foreign than our situation in itself. That didn’t mean that I wouldn’t have liked to kiss her, to touch her. Fuck, to do so many things to her, but right now, I was content. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d just been content, without my mind running a hundred miles an hour thinking about all the problems ahead.
This moment here was what my parents shared. It was what I’d never hoped to have, and now, with Greta, for a fleeting moment, I experienced it. But this couldn’t last.
Anger at myself rose up like a flash flood. I put the spoon down. “I’m not here to chat and eat.”
Greta jumped at the sudden change in my tone. She put her own spoon down. “Why are you here then?”
Fuck. If I knew why. “Greta, our families are at war.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
I smiled bitterly. “Your brother and cousins kidnapped my aunt and cousin. Isa still has nightmares.”
Greta lowered her gaze, her lips thinning. “I know it was wrong. But you attacked us first. Kiara had a concussion.”