“Bedbugs,” Hel repeated. She wasn’t staying there if they had bedbugs.
Her mind whirled. The other hotel was an hour away. It would be annoying but not a deal breaker, she could do that commute.
“You’re trying to work out what other hotel you can stay at rather than accept my offer. Aren’t you?” Frost sounded amused.
Hel opened her mouth to deny it, then decided to be truthful. “Yeah.”
“You would be doing me a favour if you stayed. I’ve proved I’m a liability alone.” Frost’s voice almost sounded hopeful.
She was a little surprised when she found herself saying, “Yes. Thank you. If you really don’t mind. It would be amazing to stay until Clara’s cottage is free. I hope it won’t be too long. She said it should be before her wedding.”
“It’s fine. You can stay as long as you want.”
“You shouldn’t say that. What if I’m a terrible housemate?” Hel joked.
“You forget I’ve lived with other hockey players.” He gave an exaggerated shudder. “Some of those men are feral. If you don’t chew your toenails when sitting next to me while we watch TV, then you’ll be better than several of my previous roommates.”
Hel shivered involuntarily at the thought of sitting next to him, watching television, eating dinner, and examining his tattoos. Dammit. That derailed fast. She tried to hide her errant thoughts and not let the blush she knew was there out by making vomiting noises instead.
“Ewww. No.” She thought about the toenail chewing for a moment. “Although, I’m impressed by their flexibility.”
“He did a lot of yoga, and to be honest, I was too. It was disgusting, but seeing a six foot four man, who weighed over one hundred kilograms, merrily chew his toenails was weirdly fascinating.”
“What I’m hearing is you don’t mind toenail chewing,” Hel said, her tone serious.
Frost mimicked the vomiting noise she had made, which caused Hel to burst into laughter, giggling as she said, “Okay. Ground rules. I won’t chew my toenails, and you can kick me out any time. No hard feelings.”
“Deal,” Frost said and held his hand out to her.
She took one hand off the steering wheel and shook it, trying to ignore the sparks that flew when her skin contacted his calloused palm.
“Sit down.” Hel pointed at the dining room table.
“I can help.” Frost hopped toward the kitchen.
Hel rolled her eyes. ‘You’re still drunk, and you’ve not long had surgery. Please sit down. I can find the plates and glasses.”
Frost didn’t sit down at the table. Instead, he leaned against a chair so he didn’t have to balance on one leg and began to unload the takeaway bags, laying the food out.
Hel sighed. “You’re very stubborn.”
“I know!” Frost carried on with what he was doing.
When they sat down to eat together, Hel expected it to be awkward. After all, they barely knew each other. But it wasn’t. The conversation flowed easily between them.
“Maggie is my younger sister. She married into money and now insists on being called Margaret.” Hel used her poshest voice when she said Margaret.
“Oh, right,” Frost said, putting on a fancy voice as well.
“The hilarious thing is, it’s not her actual name. Maggie is on her birth certificate, and she hates it. But I always remind her that at least she wasn’t named Ethel. My parents are lovely people, but their taste in children’s names was abysmal. Ken, Ethel and Maggie. What were they thinking?”
“It sounds like Maggie got the best of the bunch,” Frost chuckled.
Hel raised an eyebrow but otherwise kept her expression blank. “Are you saying my name is terrible?”
She watched him squirm until he eventually blurted. “You said it was terrible, and you threatened to kneecap me if I used that name.”
Hel stared at him. Had she threatened to kneecap him? It definitely sounded like something she would say.
