She smiled sympathetically and shrugged. “I suspect she just is not used to her food looking back at her.”
Justin shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I suppose I should go back in and start cleaning up. I made a hell of a mess in the kitchen and—”
“I’ll do that,” Gia interrupted. “Why don’t you go pick up some subs or something and take one up to Holly? I’m sure she’d like that. She was so hungry she was nauseous while we were waiting for you to finish.”
“Was she?” he asked with surprise.
Gia nodded and then pointed out, “That probably did not help.”
“No,” he agreed, a little relieved that it might not have been all down to the meal he’d made. “Subs, huh?”
Gia nodded. “Or something else if you like. I just said subs because the boys like those second only to pizza, and if you got pizza they might—”
“Eat it all on us,” Justin suggested with wry amusement when she hesitated.
Grinning, she nodded and then said with a shrug, “They are big boys.”
“Yeah,” he agreed dryly. “I’ll have to keep that in mind the next time I cook.”
“Good thinking,” she commented.
Nodding, he started away, then paused and turned back to hug her, offering a soft, “Thanks.”
“For what?” she asked with surprise.
“The suggestion,” Justin said as he straightened. “And the encouragement. I appreciate it. This life mate business is a little trickier than I expected, what with Holly being married and everything. I’m sure it would have been a breeze for me otherwise, but this was an unexpected complication.”
“Oh yes, I’m sure it would have been a breeze were she not married,” Gia agreed.
Justin peered at her closely. Despite being straight-faced, he got the feeling she was mocking him, but after a moment he shrugged that concern aside and checked his pocket for the keys to the SUV that had been delivered earlier. Satisfied that he had them, he thanked her again and headed out of the house.
Holly turned restlessly onto her side and sighed unhappily. Despite her charming bout of hanging over the porcelain throne, she was still starved. Unfortunately, she simply couldn’t go downstairs in search of food without having to hurt Justin’s feelings by refusing the fish.
That thought made her remember the fishy eyes staring dully at her from the platter and Holly shuddered and closed her own eyes on a grimace. She was not a fish eater to begin with. She didn’t mind fish-and-chip-type fish, but she had never cared for the fishy flavor some fish had and that fish down on the table in the kitchen had looked pretty fishy to her. Disgusting even. What had Justin been thinking? Good Lord, it was like serving a cow with its head on instead of a roast. Nothing like reminding the eater that their meal had been alive and kicking before it hit the table. Gad!
Rolling onto her back, she tried to sleep, but her thoughts returned to Justin. Despite the debacle it had turned out to be, it had been terribly sweet of him to go to all that trouble. And the man could cook more than spaghetti, which was impressive, she thought. While she didn’t care for fish, it had been obvious that what Justin had provided was a gourmet meal. It made her wonder what else he could cook.
Justin also had impeccable manners, she thought as she recalled his holding the door and then seating her at the table like she was a lady of old. It wasn’t something she was used to and it had made her feel . . . fussed over, she supposed. Delicate, maybe. Like a lady.
A knock sounded at the door and Holly’s eyes popped open.
“Yes?” she said uncertainly after the briefest of hesitations, and then quickly sat up when the door opened to reveal the man she’d been thinking of.
“Hi,” Justin said, hesitating in the doorway. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” Holly got quickly to her feet and offered a stiff smile. “What—?”
“I thought if the nausea had passed, you might be hungry,” Justin said quickly and held up a take-out bag she hadn’t noticed until then. “So I picked up a couple of subs.”
“Oh,” Holly breathed and was hard put not to launch herself at the man, or at least at the bag he carried as he now closed the door and carried his offerings to a table and chairs positioned in the corner of the room.
“I wasn’t sure what you like so I just ordered you an assorted,” he said as he set the bag on the table and opened it to begin retrieving items. “I hope that’s okay?”
“Fine,” Holly assured him, hurrying to join him at the table. She normally ordered a veggie one, or chicken, but right now assorted sounded like heaven. Her eyes widened though when he pulled out a second sandwich, and then a third. Good Lord, he must think she ate like a horse if he thought she—
“I got myself a couple too and thought I’d join you,” Justin announced as he began to remove bags of chips and bottles of pop from the bag. “I hope that’s okay?”
“Of course,” Holly said politely. What else could she do? Say, “No, give me my food and get out”? But she did ask, “What about that . . . er . . . lovely fish you made?”
“By the time I got back to the kitchen Dante and Tomasso had staked their claim to all of it but the head. I’m not big on fish head.”
Holly felt her stomach roll alarmingly at just the mention of the fish head and almost groaned aloud.
“I should have grabbed glasses,” Justin muttered as he set the bottles of pop on the table. “Again I didn’t know what you like so just got Coke.”
“Coke is fine,” she assured him, and then as she noted the variety of chips he’d chosen, added, “And I love salt and vinegar chips with my sandwiches.”
“Me too,” he said with a grin, then set the now empty take-out bag aside and headed for the door. “Sit down and start. I’m just going to grab a couple of glasses. Do you want ice too?”
“Sure,” Holly murmured, settling at the table and reaching for the nearest bag of chips. She wouldn’t even open the sandwich until he got back, but couldn’t resist the chips while she waited. Dear God, she was hungry enough to eat a horse . . . as long as its head wasn’t still attached, she thought wryly as she opened the chip bag. The astringent scent of vinegar hit her nose as the bag opened. Much to her relief the smell did not make her nauseous like the spicy, curry scent had earlier, so Holly popped a chip in her mouth and moaned as the sharp flavor hit her tongue. Salt and vinegar had never tasted so good as they did in that moment. She really had been hungry. Still was, she acknowledged, her gaze moving idly around the room until it stopped on the bed.
Her eyes widened then as she realized that she was entertaining a man in her bedroom . . . who wasn’t her husband. There was nothing sexual about it, but . . . well, Anders and Decker had warned against it.
Biting her lip, she glanced toward the balcony doors and then stood and walked over to peer out at the balcony off her room. It was small and quaint, but it also held a table and chairs . . . and didn’t have a bed.
Holly quickly opened the doors and stepped out to examine the table. It looked clean enough, but as she’d expected, there was a fine dusting of dirt or dust across the surface from being outside all the time. Hurrying back into the room, she crossed to the bathroom, found a fresh washcloth, dampened it, grabbed a hand towel and rushed back out to the balcony to give the table and chairs a quick cleaning. She then returned the now dirty items to the bathroom and then gathered up the sandwiches and chips and rushed out to the balcony with them. She’d just set them on the table when she heard Justin call her name.
Stepping back into the room, she noted that he stood in the open door, confusion on his face as he stared at the table in her room that now held only the bottles of pop. Smiling brightly, she hurried over to collect them, as well as the empty take-out bag, announcing, “I thought it would be nice to eat on the balcony.
“Oh.” Justin relaxed and closed the door, then followed her outside with the glasses of ice he’d gone to collect.