Callie had slept better than she had in years. There had been no tossing and turning, no disturbing dreams about running away from monsters, no impossible puzzles to solve, only complete relaxation.

If not for the sudden loss of warmth, she would have kept sleeping, refusing to wake up and lose that peaceful feeling.

As it was, she reached her hand for the spot beside her, searching for the source of warmth. There was no one there, but there had been. The top of the comforter wasn’t cold.

She popped her eyes open to see Brundar’s back. Holding his boots in one hand and his socks in the other, he was trying to sneak soundlessly out of her room.

I knew it! He has an extra set of keys.

The thought should have bothered her, but it didn’t.

How could it?

To come in the middle of the night and just lie in bed next to her, meant that he couldn’t stay away. Callie felt like pumping her fist in victory.

The change in her breathing pattern must have alerted him to the fact that she was awake, and he turned his head. “Did I wake you?”

“I guess you did. But I don’t mind. Why are you leaving?”

“I need to be at work.”

“Guarding your big shot cousin?”

He nodded.

“Can you at least stay for breakfast?”

“I don’t have time.”

“Coffee?”

He glanced at his watch, then nodded.

“Great. Give me two minutes to get ready. Do you know how to work the coffee machine?”

A small smile pulled on one corner of his lips. “That’s the only thing I know how to make. I’ll get on it.”

If she hurried, she could make him a quick breakfast, and not send him on his way with an empty stomach.

After a quick visit to the bathroom, Callie pulled on a pair of leggings and an oversized T-shirt, ran a brush through her hair and padded to the kitchen.

The coffee machine was just starting to make hissing sounds, which meant she had a couple more minutes before it was ready. Plenty of time to stick a few bread slices into the toaster and scramble some eggs.

Passing him by, she kissed Brundar’s cheek. “Thank you for coming and keeping my bed warm.” She loaded the toaster first, then grabbed a frying pan.

“You’re not mad that I let myself in?”

“No. I figured you had another set of keys. You’re welcome to come in anytime you want. It’s not like I’m afraid you’ll catch me naked.” She winked at him.

If Callie hadn’t been so attuned to the slightest change in Brundar’s expression, she wouldn’t have noticed the impact of what she’d said had had on him.

He looked stunned, though to anyone else he would’ve looked as impassive as always. The guy wasn’t as unfeeling as he pretended to be. A lot was going on underneath that stoic exterior. She just wished he would lower his guard around her, just a little, and let her glimpse the man inside.

“You’re too trusting, Calypso. The world is full of evildoers, and it’s difficult to tell the good guys from the bad.”

Callie cracked two eggs into the pan, then reached for two more. “I know. But you’re not one of them. If you wanted to hurt me, you could’ve done it anytime. Besides, I seriously doubt that this building’s security system or the locks on my door would’ve posed much of a challenge for you. Right?”

Getting up to tend to the coffee, Brundar nodded. “You happen to be right about me. But promise me you’ll be much more careful with everyone else. Don’t let anyone in here without telling me first.”

Callie lifted a brow. “Now, that sounds creepy, Brundar. Don’t you think?” That was something Callie would have expected Shawn to say. She loaded Brundar’s plate with most of the scrambled eggs and added three pieces of toast. “Butter?”

He nodded. “It’s not what you think. You live alone, and anyone who comes in here knows it. You’ll be safer if they hear you call a friend and tell him or her who you’re with. Right now I’m the only one you can call.”

That made sense. But there was one problem with that. “You told me to call you only in case of emergencies. If I invite Miri over does that count as an emergency? Or Donnie?” She cast him a sidelong glance, checking his reaction to her mention of the hunky bouncer.

Bingo!

Brundar’s jaw tightened. “Why would you invite Donnie?”

She shrugged. “He walks me home. I feel like I should at least offer him coffee.” Callie stifled a smile. She was willing to bet that from now on Brundar would be the only one walking her home.

“I can’t always answer calls. But you can text me anytime. Just make sure that whoever you let in knows you’re texting me about them.”

Well, well, wasn’t that a major breakthrough? He was allowing her to text him.

“How are the eggs?” she asked.

“Excellent. Everything you make is.”

Callie waved a hand. “You’ve seen nothing yet. All you had until now were quick impromptu meals. How about I invite you to dinner this evening and show you what I can really do?”

Brundar barely managed to keep his stoic mask on. But Callie caught the excited gleam in his eyes.

“That is an offer I can’t refuse. What time?”

A point for Brundar, even though she was a little disappointed. At least the guy was honest, admitting that he was excited about the meal and not about seeing her. “Is five too early? I want us to have plenty of time before I have to leave for my shift at the club.”

“I can be here at four if you want. I’ll ask to be released from duty earlier.”

Again with the military lingo. She wondered where he’d served and in what capacity.

“Perfect. Now eat your eggs before they get cold.”

While Brundar got busy cleaning his plate, Callie went through a mental list of her best recipes. She didn’t dare try something new in case it didn’t work out. Not all recipes were as good as they looked on the screen.

The same applied to plans. Not all worked out as well as anticipated. An idea that seemed great in theory could crash and burn when implemented.

Her seduction plans aside, Callie still owed Brundar a huge debt of gratitude, and the only way she knew how to repay even a fraction of what he’d done for her was to cook him dinners every night from now until about forever.

It wasn’t as if she had much else to offer him.

She would’ve gladly done his laundry and picked up his dry cleaning too, but she knew he would be offended if she offered.

Brundar would refuse any attempt on her part to repay his kindness.

Callie didn’t like being in his debt or anyone else’s. But there were several factors at work forcing her to swallow her pride and just say thank you.

One was that she couldn’t have done it without Brundar’s help, and that cooking him dinners would never come close to repaying that debt.

But more importantly, Brundar deserved to feel good about what he’d done and was still doing for her. To look for convoluted ways to repay him was like telling him she felt bad about accepting his help, and therefore taking away from his pleasure of providing it.

Oftentimes, the giver got more out of the giving than the receiver got from the receiving.