Read Online Unexpected Love by Melissa Price - Free Book Online Page A

starving.”  He gave her a huge smile and left.
    When he came back down, he helped her get the table set and took the lasagna out of the oven.  “I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
    “I hope you like it.  Maggie said you liked Italian.”
    “Oh, been checking up on me, huh?”  He grinned again.  He saw color in her cheeks as she looked down and watched her shrug.
    “Well, for the record, I do like Italian. I also like Mexican and steak and most other foods.  I’m not too picky.” 
    She cocked her head slightly to one side.  He had noticed that about her.  When she was thinking or trying to decide to do something, she did that.   
    “Well I have to warn you that one thing I don’t like most seafood.  You’ll have to go out to eat for that.”
    He smiled, “I’ll remember that.  What else happened today?”
    “Just shopping and cooking.  How was your day?”
    “Typical.  Pulled over a stroppy man hiding drugs, gave out some tickets, and helped an older woman change her flat tire, the usual stuff.”
    She gave him a puzzled look and then he realized what he had said, “Sorry, the language thing.  I haven’t made a conscious effort to stop using it.  Stroppy means a man with an attitude.”
    “Oh, I think you shouldn’t try.  I was listening to the radio this afternoon and I heard a song and it reminded me that I wanted to ask you what vegemite is?”
    He laughed, “That song.  It’s kind of like a paste made from a few vegetables and spices and yeast.  It’s salty, a little bitter, and malty tasting.  It’s used on bread or crackers as a paste.”
    “Yummy.”  She made a face.  “Do you like it?”
    “No, not really.  I can eat it.  My mom made me take it for lunches at school sometimes when she didn’t want to pack me something I liked, but I tried to trade it for something else.”
    “So a vegemite sandwich is paste between two pieces of bread?”
    “It’s usually spread on buttered bread and sometimes it has cheese on it.”
    She wrinkled her nose at him and he laughed, “It’s not an American thing that’s for sure.  But it’s popular in European countries I think.  So I get to educate the chef on another food item.  Who knew?”
    She laughed, “There’s a lot of things I’ve never tasted or used.  Especially ingredients from other countries.  I know some but there are a lot out there.  I saw a Thailand drink called Tango seed drink on the food channel today.  It looks like it has a bunch of tiny tadpoles in it but they are seeds.  I thought it was weird.”
    “That is weird.  Not sure I would want to try it.”
    “This from a man that comes from a country that eats kangaroo.”
    He laughed, “I have never eaten it.”
    After they had eaten, he told her he could clean up, but she insisted on helping.  He looked over at her while he was putting dishes in the dishwasher, “That was an amazing dinner, thank you.  And the tart is delicious.  I’ll take some to the station the day after tomorrow.  It will be gone fast.”
    “I liked doing it.  I was wondering if I could pay you for staying here.  I would have had to pay if I was at a hotel.”
    “Absolutely not.  That dinner was payment enough for a month.”  Relief washed over him.  She was staying.
    A month?  She wondered how long her stay really would be.  It seemed as if she had known him longer than a couple of days, but there was a lot about him she did not know.  And she had to admit, she wanted to know.
    They went into the living room and sat on the couch in front of his big screen TV.   He sat on the end and she sat on the far side of the middle.  He picked up the remote and handed it to her.
    They watched a game show and both of them bantered back and forth about the answers. On one peculiar question, he gave an answer and she threw him a strange look, “Seriously?”
    “Sure, it’ll be up there.”
    “Won’t.”
    “Will.”
    When all the answers were