Elizabeth had just finished setting the table when she was startled by the back door. Nickolas Tate was the largest man she'd ever seen, and his foreman wasn't much smaller. The two men came in the back door, and the dining room instantly shrunk. "Ma'am." Marcus removed his hat, and Nickolas smiled. Butterflies stirred in her stomach. She was still unsettled from their encounter in the washroom, surprisingly she felt more awkward than afraid.
Elizabeth gave a small smile in greeting and turned to ladle stew into bowls. The men sat in awkward silence.
It was sometime before Mark pipped up and complemented the food. Nickolas looked up from his bowl at the awkwardly broken silence. "It is good, Elizabeth." He looked at her then, and Elizabeth's stomach turned. Why was he looking at her like that?
"T-thank you." She managed, but he was still staring at her. Nickolas looked from her clean bowl and back to her face, and she realized what he was asking. Cautiously, she took up the ladle and served herself a small portion of stew. Nickolas gave her an encouraging smile, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She was hungry after losing her lunch, but she wasn't sure if she was allowed to eat with company.
YOU ARE READING
WANTED
RomanceRancher seeks a wife. Nickolas Tate got more than he bargained for when his mail-order-bride stumbles onto his ranch in the middle of the night. What happened to make Elizabeth so terrified? Will she ever trust him? Caution trigger warning
