Chapter Fifteen

Angel was still asleep when Colton stopped in the living room on the way to the kitchen early the next morning.

Pudge raised his head from his spot on the end of the sofa, and Colton rolled his eyes. He wouldn’t scold him. He’d earned the luxury the night before.

But just that small movement from the dog caused Angel to wake with a start. He remembered sleeping with her in his bed, and the way she always woke up ready for battle. There was being ready…and there was overkill.

He’d asked her once who she thought she was fighting, but she’d never answered. She kept her demons a secret, but he knew they lurked under the surface.

“Shh. It’s just me,” he whispered, though it was too late to be quiet. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” she mumbled.

She squinted at the clock and frowned. No doubt she was irritated with herself for sleeping an entire hour straight through. He didn’t know how she functioned, but he was pretty sure she’d managed that way for a long time.

“Coffee?” he offered, heading into the kitchen.

“Yes, please.”

“Frittata?” He’d been eager to try a new recipe, but it had seemed silly to go to the fuss for one person.

“Is that the egg thing that is basically an omelet that you don’t flip?”

“It’s a little different. The egg mixture isn’t quite the same. It’s dense, whereas you want an omelet to be light and fluffy.”

“Wow. That’s a lot more about eggs than I ever needed to know.” When she smiled, he squeezed the handle of the spatula hoping to keep a grip on the utensil as well as himself. “Maybe you should have asked that kid last night if he had any extra eggs.”

“That kid is one of my students. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t tell everyone in the world I pulled a gun on him.”

She frowned. “We may need to move you if there’s trouble.”

She must have forgotten she didn’t have the authority to help relocate him at the moment.

“Let’s deal with your problems before we start worrying about mine.”

His comment wiped the smile from her face and turned her skin slightly pale. He hadn’t meant to snap her back to reality so harshly. Still, she needed to realize the trouble she was in. Last night it was students with eggs, tomorrow night it could be the SWAT team and the FBI. They needed to be prepared for anything.

As soon as they finished breakfast.