“I wore him out with a ball launcher before we drove over. Believe me, he’s ready to take a rest. When we’re done eating, he’ll probably follow us around.”
They walked into the kitchen and Bekki nodded to the fridge. “There is beer in there. A couple different brands and a few microbrews. I keep it around for my brothers when they show up, or I have wine. Speaking of which, could you open it for me? The opener is on the counter by the bottle.”
The kitchen felt very small with his big body moving around in it, but they did a dance in the small space as they worked. She dished up the plates and put them on the table along with a basket of garlic bread. He handed her a glass of wine and they sat down. “It looks great.”
“Please, eat.” She dug in, the extra three miles today plus the fact she’d forgotten to eat lunch sending a rumble from her stomach. Mortified, she looked up. Killian hadn’t taken a bite yet. She swallowed and wiped her mouth. “Did I forget something?”
“No, I was just… Never mind.” With perfect table manners, he cut a piece of lasagna and lifted the fork to his mouth.
“No, you can’t leave me hanging like that. What?” She cut the pasta with her fork and loaded the spicy tomato goodness on her fork.
He swallowed before he spoke, “Preconceived judgement on my part. I figured you’d push a piece of lettuce around the plate all night.”
She stopped with the fork halfway to her mouth. “Yeah? Why is that?”
He shrugged. “Just thought you would.”
“Ahh, no. I love food. Too much, actually. That’s why I run at least five times a week. Plus, Caitlyn—Caitlyn McBride, my best friend, you’ve met her—anyway, she has us on this marathon training plan. We ran six miles today. Oh, and I forgot to eat lunch, so yeah, I’m going to put a dent in that pan of pasta. Can you keep up with me?”
“I’m sure I can, and why did you forget to eat lunch?” He used his knife and cut a perfect serving again.
Bekki shrugged and used the edge of her fork to slice through the pasta. She could do the table manners thing, but this was her house and damn it, she was hungry. “I was trying to make sense of the information. Connect the dots, you know? It’s just… I know there is something I’m missing.”
He nodded and took another bite, stopping to drink some of his beer. “You know, there is a high likelihood that what you think is a connection isn’t.”
“I’ve considered it, but wait to pass that judgement until you see what I have.” She stabbed at her salad and waved the lettuce at him. “What’s it like to grow up rich?”
He stopped chewing and glanced at her. “Are you always like this?”
“Like what?”
“No boundaries.”
“I’m sorry, was there a boundary around the fact that your dad has mega-bucks?” It was common knowledge.
Killian set down his fork and grabbed his beer. “My father is wealthy. He provided for us as best he could after my mother died.”
“Yeah, but not Ryker. That really sucked for him, huh?” She shoved her bite of salad into her mouth and chewed as she watched him. A lot could be revealed about a person by the way they talked about their family.
He stared at his plate as he spoke, “Ryker is my oldest brother. He was the one who taught me how to use a hammer and saw, and his encouragement fueled my love of construction. Our family isn’t perfect, but then most aren’t.”
“God, isn’t that the truth.” Bekki glanced down at her nearly empty plate and then at Killian’s, which was more than half full. “You don’t like it?” She pointed to the lasagna.
He stared at her. “Have you considered the fact that I may be here to steer you away from my business?”
She leaned back in her chair. “I’ve got a pretty good bullshit filter. Growing up in a crowd of eleven kids and then moving into journalism, you learn how to listen to not only what is being said but also how it is said. Today, when you were yelling at me in that trailer, you were hurt and pissed when I admitted I was questioning your culpability. That made an impact on my decision to tell you the actual reason I was at your site. Then add in the fact that I liked you the first