The Fae Book 2: Burr and Daisy

Chapter 20: Too Late

He was making me nervous.

For the last few weeks, whenever I walked into the front of the bakery, Burr's eyes were on me, intense and serious... Whenever he came into the back to re-stock or request more whatevers, his eyes locked on me and wouldn't let go.

On my lunch break, he made sure I was eating and throughout the day, he'd randomly pop his head in the back and demand, "Drink some water, Daisy!"

Other times, he'd come in and hold my hand, watching my face as he poured his energy into me. "You're needing more and more energy each week," he'd grumble. "I don't like that."

Every night when he came over to change Purr's litter, he watched me, as if I was some new lifeform he had never seen before and was trying to understand, to figure out.

Like I said -- he was freaking me out a bit. Before, I had always been the one watching Oberon, not the other way around -- or so I thought. Harmony had told me otherwise and, if she was telling the truth, which I believed she was, then he had been watching me for years. But only now was he making no attempt to hide that he was following my every move. Only now were his eyes soft with...something, some emotion I'd never seen there before.

This emotion was there in his eyes every night when he either brought me healthy dinners or, after asking my permission, whipped up a quick but healthy meal for me with groceries he'd brought with him. He took care to point out all of the nutrients my body needed that the various ingredients provided.

"You're doing all the heavy lifting with our prionsa," he'd say. "This is the very least I can do. Just put your feet up and let me take care of you."

And then, after he made sure I ate every bite and had eaten until I was full, he'd not only clean up after dinner, but he'd run the dishwasher and every couple of nights he'd clean my bathroom and vacuum and dust my apartment. With a flash of insight, I realized Burr was trying to pamper me in the only way I'd allow.

One memorable night, Purr threw up on his shirt while Burr was snuggling him. Whipping off his T-shirt, he wiped it off with a paper towel, sniffed at it and made a face.

"This smells rank," he said. "Not sure how such a tiny creature can cause such a stink...but would you mind if I ran a quick load of clothes for you and tossed my shirt in with it?"

My eyes were on his torso. His very beautiful, defined, muscular torso. I remembered my hands gliding over his chest on two occasions, loving the feel of his soft skin and hard muscles. I thought of my lips pressing against that skin, the way he'd shivered and groaned -- that feels like fucking heaven, Daisy -- the way he'd growled when I'd kissed him, lower and lower, his hands tangling in my hair, until --

"Daisy?" 

Startled, so lost in my thoughts, I jumped when Burr called my name. "What?"

Those silver eyes were on me, as if he could almost read my thoughts. "Do you mind if I throw my shirt in with a load of your clothes?"

"Nope. Not at all. Go ahead. Feel free. It's fine. Have at it," I rambled, making things even worse. "Did any get on your pants? Because you could wash those, too. If you need to. I mean, if Purr yakked on your pants, you could definitely wash them. With your shirt."

His mouth ticked up at the corner. "No. He just nailed my shirt."

Now that was a fucking shame, I thought, liking the idea of Burr walking around my apartment wearing only his skintight boxer briefs, muscular legs bulging, maybe other things bulging -- 

Shaking off my wayward thoughts, I watched as he went to my bedroom, gathered my clothes from the hamper, and began a load of clothes in the tiny, stackable washer and dryer in the bathroom closet. He came back pushing the vacuum, Purr held to his chest. His naked chest. Shit. Didn't they have calendars dedicated to bare-chested hot guys holding tiny, helpless kittens? If they didn't, they should. They definitely should. And if they did, I was going to buy ten because...hello. Then Burr did something even sexier -- he started vacuuming my living room while holding Purr snuggled against his chest.