Page 32 of Tamed By Her Touch

“I did not!”

He smirked at her.

“Oh, but you did. It was most entertaining.”

“I don't remember that,” she protested.

“You also called me ‘Captain Grumpy-pants,’” Kaelus told her.

Clair put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“Oh my God.”

“And then you informed me that your plants liked you better than they liked me.”

“I was asleep!” she protested. “I don’t know anything about a pink bunny or who the plants like best!”

He nodded.

“I assumed as much.”

Clair couldn't help laughing.

“All right, well…thank you for not holding it against me.”

He frowned, but the expression held no real ire.

“I did not say I wasn't holding it against you.”

She smiled—then she noticed something else. There was a fresh cup of coffee sitting beside her.

Clair picked it up and inhaled the aroma gratefully. It was still warm and just the scent of it made her feel like she was coming back to life.

She looked up at Kaelus.

“You made me coffee?”

He nodded reluctantly.

“I hope I did it right. I attempted to replicate your usual preparation.”

Clair took a cautious sip and her eyebrows rose. It was good. Not exactly the way she made it—Kaelus had gone slightly too heavy on the cream—but it was close.

“You've been watching me make coffee,” she said.

He frowned at once.

“No I haven’t.”

“Then how did you know how much cream and sugar to put in?” Clair asked.

He tapped his temple.

“I have an excellent memory. You told me when we first met how you liked your coffee. It wasn’t difficult to duplicate your method.”

“Mm-hmm,” Clair said skeptically and took another sip. Then she looked back at the screen she'd been working on before she fell asleep and frowned.

Something was different—the analysis was finished. Not just the one sequence she'd been running—all of them were done.