Body and Soul (Twist of Fate 3)

I pulled out the more attractive of the three patchwork quilts and folded it into a diamond shape to lie over the sofa, giving the room a nice splash of red, navy blue, and kelly green color blocks.

I glanced down at Boo. “Better, don’t you think?”

She huffed before hopping up to the corner of the quilt that was lying on the sofa cushion and curling up in a ball to test it out. We made a good team.

If only I’d had a piece of that patterned fleece I’d almost bought for one of my designs. It would have coordinated perfectly with the quilt and would have taken me all of ten seconds to sew into a basic throw pillow cover. Those tired leather pillows needed some serious help. Hell, the entire cabin needed a makeover.

I left Boo in the living area and wandered into the bedroom, only to notice the same boring lack of color there. The simple comforter was solid beige over a cream-colored wool blanket. I shuddered at the lack of personality in his most private room. I could see the door to his closet was open, and I couldn’t help but peer in to see what was in there.

Who was I kidding? I wanted to sniff it. I already knew that Jake himself smelled like a combination of pine, firewood, and antibacterial soap, and I couldn’t help but wonder if his clothes retained that smell too.

I stepped forward into the tiny space and immediately set eyes on a thick cashmere scarf hanging next to a formal wool coat. The scarf was a gorgeous deep blue, similar to the color found in the quilt I’d selected for the sofa. After flipping through his closet for an item in the coordinating green, I carried them both back out to the sofa and tied first one, then the other around one of the old leather pillows. I tied the ends off in a decorative knot and admired my handiwork. The quilt over the back of the sofa, the blue cashmere scarf pillow in one corner and the green twill work shirt pillow in the other. A little color for Jake’s place.

Much better.

Once his place was a little more welcoming with the soft lamplight and the splashes of color, I felt more at home and finally allowed myself to find the coffee maker in the kitchen. By the time the pot was full, I heard Jake kick off his boots by the front door.

“Any luck?” I called out, carrying the last of the coffee supplies to the little table in the main room. I’d also found some store-bought cookies in a cabinet and had put a few on a small plate I’d found in one of the cabinets. “Coffee’s ready if you’d like some.”

He looked from the little table set with the only pair of matching mugs I’d been able to find to the touches of color in the sitting area where my dog was clearly making herself at home on his furniture.

“What… what’s all this?”

“Coffee,” I said. “How do you take yours? I take mine black, of course. Took me forever to give up those final calories and fat grams, but I did it. Not that I wouldn’t mind you having cream and sugar. I’ll just watch and pretend mine has them too.”

Okay, so maybe I rambled when I got nervous.

Jake studied me, like really studied me. I felt his eyes graze my body like he was running strong, assessing fingers down it. I felt the saliva build up in my mouth and the oxygen jam in my lungs.

“Why in the world would you need to cut calories and fat?” His voice was low and firm, almost threatening in a way. As if I’d better have a damned good explanation for my dietary choices.

“Never mind,” I mumbled. “Maybe I’ll put a tiny bit in just this once. A consolation prize for ruining my marshmallows in the fire.”

Jake seemed to clamp his lips against a smile. “Is that what I found melted against the side of your flue?”

I rolled my eyes. “Go on. You can laugh. But it wasn’t my fault. When Zoey told me to open the flue, I panicked. I forgot I’d already loaded the marshmallows on the long skewer thingy before I jammed it up the flue. So then I had to reach in there and open the flue with my hand instead. And, well… you know the rest.”

It occurred to me that I’d normally bat my eyelashes when trying to get out of admitting something stupid like that, but with Jake, I didn’t feel like playing those silly games, not that they’d get me anywhere anyway. Honestly, I was tired. I wanted to get back to my place and assess the damage I’d done to the fabrics I’d already purchased. Thankfully, there were more that hadn’t arrived from New York yet, but I’d had a fair amount of expensive silk and wool in that room when the smoke had overtaken the place. More than likely, it was all ruined.