Joker in the Pack (Romantic Suspense, Completed, Watty Winner)

Chapter 24

I pulled half of my clothes onto the bed the next morning before finally settling on a pair of jeans and a soft V-neck jumper. Anything smarter would have looked out of place. Dammit, Nye had seen me in my pyjamas! And not even one of the classy silk pairs Edward had bought me with their lace trim and fancy buttons. Why hadn't I been wearing those? Because they were uncomfortable, that was why. For years, I'd sacrificed comfort for style to please him.

Nye looked depressingly awake as I tripped over the cat and fell into the kitchen. My gawky entrance made him glance up from his computer and smile faintly as he gave his head a barely perceptible shake.

Yes, I was an idiot. I already knew that, okay?

"I made coffee," he said.

"My hero."

"Don't get too excited. I can't make anything else."

"I'll cook." Making him breakfast was the least I could do. And lunch. And dinner. "What do you fancy?"

He looked at me for a full ten seconds before answering, and his scrutiny reduced me to the size of a Barbie doll, minus the tiny waist and long legs.

"I'm not fussy. Not when it comes to food, anyway."

Good to know. "And what about the men outside?"

I'd seen the Jeep parked outside next to a new BMW I assumed was Nye's.

"I've already taken them coffee, and they'll eat anything you care to make."

If I'd known I'd have extra mouths to feed, I'd have stocked up on food. The cupboards were almost bare, but I found a packet of part-baked baguettes, a few rashers of bacon, and a box of eggs—enough to make breakfast rolls all around.

"Where are you going?" Nye stopped me halfway to the door with a tray in my hand.

"Taking breakfast to the men in the car."

"I'll take it."

"But—"

He'd already gone, leaving me empty-handed in the middle of the kitchen, so I set his plate on the table with a napkin and orange juice instead, smiling as I did so. Edward would have thrown a fit at a breakfast roll. He only ate organic muesli in the mornings.

But Nye tucked in the moment he got back without a murmur of complaint.

"Babe, a man could get used to this."

A blush spread across my cheeks. "It's nothing."

"To you, maybe."

Surely plenty of women must have cooked for him in the past? He probably had them queueing around the block, aprons on and recipe books in hand. He gave me a strange look as I giggled, and I hastily banished that vision.

"What are your plans for today?" he asked once we'd finished eating.

"I need to package up anything I've sold on eBay and take it to the post office, do some work on the computer, and buy groceries."

He glanced at his watch. "I've got a video conference at eleven, but I'm yours after that. Call me when you want to go out, and I'll come with you."

"I'm sure I'll be fine on my own. I mean, it's daylight now."

"Liv, until we catch this guy, you don't set foot outside by yourself. I'm your shadow, got it?"

A big sexy shadow wearing a T-shirt that stretched across his pecs and a pair of jeans made to hug the curves of his ass. I could think of worse things.