The Light of Day by Kristen Kehoe Page B

big in person as they looked on the phone.  Dainty furniture doesn’t really fit me, literally or figuratively.
                  After my last trip, I close the door to my room, knowing that until I get to unloading the boxes and putting it to rights, Blue will probably appreciate not staring at the mess.  Stripping off my wet jacket, I set it on the coat rack near the door and head into the kitchen where Yogi is digging into his dinner.  Cora’s standing at the stove stirring something that smells suspiciously healthy.
                  “If I’d known you cooked, too, I’d have been here ages ago.  Ryan makes fun of his mama, but he’s no wiz in the kitchen.”
                  I open the fridge and take out a beer I crammed in there earlier.  When I offer one to her, she shakes her head and I close the door, popping the top and draining half before I turn and lean against the counter.
                  “What’s in the pot?”
                  “Kale, white bean, and carrots with some rosemary and onion.”
                  “No meat?”
                  “When you cook, we can have meat, though I should warn you, I only eat happy meat.”
                  I smile.  “Who doesn’t? Every cow deserves to have a smile on his face.”
                  “ Organic, grass fed, that sort of thing.  I don’t eat meat from farms or slaughterhouses that abuse or mistreat their animals or inject them with hormones.”
                  “Does it say that on the packaging?”
                  “It’ll say if the animal was humanely treated.”
                  I sip from my beer and try to hide my smile.  Can’t, I just can’t.  “Aren’t they slaughtered and eaten no matter if they see a cage or a field?”
                  Her eyes flash fire and I hold out my hands.  “Never mind.  Happy meat.  Got it.  Anything else I should know before we get too far into this relationship?”
                  “It’s not a relationship, it’s a lease.”
                  “Semantics again.  We’re roommates, Blue, which means we’re going to get to know each other, whether you want to or not.  Living in the same space is intimate no matter who it’s with.”
                  She releases a breath and turns away from the stove to face me.  “You’re right, and I’m sorry, I know I’m being a bitch but I can’t seem to help myself.  You scare me, Handsome Jake, because you make me feel things I don’t want to feel.”
                  I grin.  “Tell me where you feel them, maybe I can make it better.”
                  “Interested,” she says on a laugh.  “You make me feel interested in whatever it is you’re offering me, and I don’t want to be interested.”
                  I cross my feet at the ankles to keep my stance relaxed and non-threatening, but my body is humming.  My feelings shot past interested the first time I saw her, but it’s nice to know she’s catching up.  “Interest isn’t a bad thing, especially when it’s reciprocated.”
                  She shakes her head.  “It is when you’re me.  Interest often leads to intent, which leads to action, action I’m not ready to take.”
                  Not ready.   That’s a whole lot different than not willing , but I don’t call her on it.  Instead, I nod.  “Well, why don’t we try this? Let’s get to know each other, not because we’re roommates, but because I want to be friends too.”
                  She watches me for a minute and then inclines her chin.  “I can live with that.  Where do we start?”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Twelve
    Cora
    “I’m not answering that.”
                  “Blue, the game is questions , you