She fidgeted, as they both seemed to contemplate the stalemate situation they faced. Shifting her
butter knife into her other hand, she held out the coffeepot, her only olive branch. “Would you like to come up? I can make coffee.”
Lucian eyed her skeptically, hope clear in his dark eyes. It would only be coffee. She couldn’t
manage anything more.
Without taking his eyes off her, he withdrew his phone and pressed a button. After a second he said
into the phone, “I’ll call you when I need a ride.”
Chapter 6
The Chipped Teacup
Scout anxiously glanced back at Lucian as she took the stairs slowly. His expression was blank, but
his eyes moved, observing their surroundings as though he were cataloguing every aspect. As her feet
reached the landing, she smiled nervously at him.
Once he reached the top she nearly giggled out loud at how ridiculous he looked in her tiny home.
He hunched under the low ceiling and scanned the area, turning his frown on her.
“Evelyn—”
Rather than stand through a lecture, she went to her little coffeemaker, which she was proud to own.
He was not going to come in here and shame her with comparisons of his life and hers. Her home was just fine! “I’ll make coffee.”
He sighed and went to peek in the bathroom, then the closet. She set the pot to brew and righted the
covers on her bed. No table or chairs were available as she’d yet to purchase those items. Luckily the
bed was small and likely didn’t look inviting to a man like Lucian. He was not invited there. However,
she needed to offer him a seat.
Flipping her pillow against the wall, she tried to convert the tiny bed into a sort of sofa. “I haven’t bought any furniture yet.” He stared at her with a look she couldn’t interpret. Fisting her hands so as not to fidget, she moved to the small fridge and withdrew the quart of milk. “Coffee should be done
soon. You can have a seat if you want.”
He slowly crossed the room and sat on her bed. She couldn’t expect him to stand when he was
nearly as tall as her ceilings. Removing two teacups from the shelf, the ones she purchased at the thrift store in a set of five for twenty cents apiece, Scout noted how small they were. Trifling, compared to
the gargantuan tubs people drank coffee out of nowadays, but she liked them.
She took the one that had a chip in the rim, not minding the flaw the way Lucian might. She liked
that she’d given these five cups a home when they were a step away from being thrown out like
yesterday’s trash.
After filling the cups, she handed Lucian one. He was Alice trapped in Wonderland, right about
when she got her head stuck in the chimney. Scout giggled. He simply didn’t fit in her home. He
glanced at the petite teacup, swallowed by his large hand, and chuckled. His eyes met her gaze and
they laughed.
“Well . . .” She giggled as she sipped her coffee.
Dark eyes glanced at the delicate scrollwork on his cup and the tiny flowers. “These remind me of a
set my grandmother used to have.”
“I doubt it. I got them at a thrift shop.”
His smile faltered. “Evelyn, how much are you paying for this place?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I don’t want you living like a pauper.”
“Believe it or not, Lucian, to me, this is living like a queen. I can come and go as I please. There’s
running water that’s hot when I want it. I have electric, a bed, and a place to keep food. I don’t need much more.”
“I thought when you asked for money you’d use it as a down payment on a condo.”
“No. This is it.”
She gave him credit. It was clear he wanted to say more about how unacceptable her home was by
his standards, but he kept his mouth shut. He scooted over. “Sit down. I want you to tell me again what happened yesterday.”
She sighed. “I don’t want to talk about that anymore.”
“Well, I do. Those men will get theirs, I promise you that.”
“Do me a favor, Lucian. Don’t make me any more promises.”
His lips parted. “Please sit.”
She didn’t want to sit on her bed with him. That was dangerous. “I’m fine.”
“Evelyn, you were attacked less than twenty-four hours ago. Sit down.”
Relenting, she huffed and sat on the opposite end of the small mattress. “There. Happy?”
“No, but I’ll take that much for now.”
She’d invited him into her home, but the sad truth was she was still so very angry with him. “I saw
Parker yesterday,” she said suddenly, not knowing where the confession came from.
Lucian stilled, his lips an inch from his coffee cup. His jaw ticked and his throat worked under the
stubble there. His shoulders slowly lifted as his breathing became labored. He said nothing.
“You did quite a number on his face.”
“He deserved a hundred times worse,” he snarled.