His Unexpected Lover Page 0,16

asked, slicing the omelet in half and sliding it expertly onto two plates.

The idea of Axel being married hurt more than she could handle. And the way he hadn’t answered immediately terrified her right down to her soul. “Answer the question!” she demanded, storming over to the island, taking in more of the homey details and feeling sick suddenly. Had a woman actually been in here and made it look so warm and comfortable? Had Axel married at some point over the past six years? It wasn’t an impossibility, she told herself but she desperately didn’t want it to be true.

“No. I’m not married. Now tell me why you would ask me something like that.”

He refilled her coffee cup, then carried the two plates over to the table that was doused in sunshine from the large windows that looked out over pastures and gardens.

She pushed the dizzying relief away to examine at another, more private, moment. “Because of all this,” she said, gesturing widely at all the warmth in his kitchen with her shoes still dangling from her fingertips.

“This?” he asked, looking around. “What’s wrong with this?” He’d always loved this room. He’d thought she would like it as well.

“Your house!” she came back with confusion, sure that he was lying about his marital status. “This isn’t like your other place. This is…” she looked around, shaking with her anger and betrayal, “nice!” she finally finished.

Axel watched her for another moment, then burst out laughing. He set the two plates down on the table, adding a generous portion of browned, seasoned potatoes. “Well, I’m glad you like my home,” he replied, then poured her some fresh squeezed orange juice. “But I’m not married.”

His words instantly settled her stomach and she relaxed, almost light-headed from relief. “You did all this yourself?” she asked, her eyes wide with hope and fear.

“Sit,” he told her, smothering his laughter at her disbelief. “Eat something.”

Kiera looked at the omelet and her stomach growled. So instead of ignoring him or even arguing with him any longer, she took a seat at his sunny breakfast table, setting her shoes down next to her on the wide-plank floor. When she took her first bite, she closed her eyes in bliss. “This is incredible!” she gasped, forking another bite into her mouth. “Who made these?” she asked, looking for the box from the restaurant.

Since she’d watched him slide the omelet onto the plate, he rolled his eyes at her question. “I made them. Obviously,” he told her, refilling her cup of coffee.

Her eyes widened. He’d cooked for her in the past, but nothing this good. It had been mostly sandwiches or a quick burger. More often they’d gone out to restaurants. Cheap ones if she were buying and more expensive ones when he could convince her to let him pay for the meal.

“When did you learn to cook?” she asked, taking another bite of the fluffy, cheesy, vegetable filled omelet. “This is incredible!” she exclaimed.

“Thanks,” Axel said, taking a long sip of his cold orange juice. “As for when I learned to cook, I picked it up here and there. All my brothers cook so I guess I learned from them. And once I got into it, I liked looking up new recipes although most of what I cook is pretty simple.”

She sighed as if she were in heaven. She couldn’t remember ever tasting anything so flavorful. “Is that a jalapeno in the mixture?” she asked, not believing that he would be creative enough to think about putting a spicy vegetable into an egg mix.

“Yes. I grow them myself. Sometimes they aren’t very spicy but this year was a good crop.”

Her hand froze as she looked across the table at him. “You grow your own jalapenos?” she asked, stunned and somewhat disbelieving.

“And tomatoes and other vegetables. I grew all the stuff in your meal except for the eggs and the cheese,” he said and winked at her. He knew exactly what she was thinking and loved that he’d surprised her. Kiera was one of those down to earth women who wasn’t easily surprised so this was one for the books.

“I don’t believe you,” she came back and took another bite. “And even if you have a vegetable garden, you probably hire someone to do all the growing for you, don’t you?”

He laughed, shaking his head at her disbelief. “Of course not. In fact, I’ll take you out to my garden after breakfast.” He looked down at the floor where