Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
He’s right. Liesje’s not a child. She’d understand if I sent her a comm and said the weather was too bad…but she’d be disappointed anyhow. The last thing I want is to disappoint her right now. So I turn back toward my bedroom. “Let me get an extra blanket for Jerry. It’s cold and I read his breed should be hibernating.”
I pick up my pet, cuddling him, and return to the living area. Sure enough, Sinath takes one look at Jerry in his sweater and laughs. He holds his sides, shaking his head. “That animal is ridiculous and he’s absolutely growing on me.”
That makes me chuckle. “He’s smart, too. I can show you a trick he’s learned for food. Watch.” I set Jerry down on the counter and then pick up one of the baked cookies I’ve made and put it to my mouth. “Mmmm. Mmmm, soooo good,” I moan.
Like he always does, Jerry races to my side and sits up, making a digging motion with one paw in the way that he’s learned gets him treats. I reward him with a bite of my cookie and turn to look at Sinath, proud of my pet.
He’s not looking at Jerry, though. He’s staring at my mouth, his expression dazed.
“What did you think?” I ask, my voice throaty.
“Amazing,” he breathes. “Just…amazing.”
I’m blushing all over again. “We should get going. I made some cookies and I baked a pie that I’d like to bring over. Do you want to get Jerry or help me with the food?”
He moves to the counter and picks Jerry up, to my surprise, and even scratches him behind the ear. Jerry makes a sound of pure delight and scrambles up Sinath’s shoulder, clutching the tip of one curled horn. He looks like he was born to be there, the traitor. I like seeing them together, though, and I fold up a blanket and add it to the box I plan on taking with me over to Liesje’s. The presents are in there, and when I add the food, the blanket on top, I’m ready to go. “All good.”
“You should get a coat. It’s very cold outside.” Sinath frowns at the poncho I’m wearing, the very one he gave me. “Tell me you have more than that.”
“I’m wearing a warm tunic underneath,” I say, pulling up the edge of the poncho.
“Yes, but you’re supposed to have warm fabric to make cold weather clothing,” he tells me with a frown. “And your legs will be cold with only the poncho. Don’t tell me, you don’t sew.”
I shrug. “I’m using the fabric as a blanket. I thought the growing season here was long and the winter short?”
“It is, but you’re still going to be cold. I don’t like it.” He studies me and then looks around. “Where are the rest of your blankets? We’ll wrap you in one and I’ll carry you out to the air-sled.”
I blink up at him in surprise. He’s going to wrap me in a blanket and…carry me? Outside? Just so I won’t get cold? “I’m pretty sure that’s not necessary.”
“Don’t argue. It’ll stress Liesje out if you end up getting sick and running up a credit account at the doctor in Port.”
Yeah right. “Is this just an excuse to carry me and make me feel silly?”
“Not an excuse. A convenient happenstance.” And he grins like a naughty child.
That does it. I burst out laughing. “At least you’re honest. Fine, let’s cater to your carrying fetish, then.” I take a second blanket from the bedroom—my last blanket, actually—and wrap it around my shoulders. A moment later, Jerry is deposited into my grasp and then Sinath scoops me up before I have a chance to think about it.
I’m surprised at how effortlessly he picks me up. I’m a nice, solid girl and I’m on the taller side. Any boyfriend that picked me up in the past always cracked jokes about how I wasn’t a dainty thing or how movies made it look far too easy, and I tried not to take that personally. Some women are just easier to pick up than others. For Sinath, though, it’s clear I weigh nothing. He gives me a little bounce in his arms, settling my weight, and grins down at me as if he’s just won a prize.
“Do I look silly?” I ask, Jerry squirming in my arms. Sinath’s thoughtful, focused gaze is making me nervous.
“You actually look like a noodle and veg wrap I had on a station once.”
Well. Romantic, he’s not. I can’t decide if that makes me feel better or worse.
“Come, my merry female,” he says in that teasing voice of his. “Let us get you settled in the air-sled, and then I will return for your foodstuffs. Ready?”
I nod, and then a moment later, he opens the door and charges outside to the idling sled. Biting back a shriek at just how cold it is, I huddle in the blanket and clutch Jerry tight. We’re bounced in Sinath’s arms and he carries me around to the far side, then opens the door and settles me in with care. With another grin, he turns around and races back inside. Shivering, I glance around at the inside of the sled.