Page 15 of Hammer’s Fall

“There’s no need for you to get up. Sleep a little longer. I’m going to hit the gym. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” He snagged a pair of sweats to work out in and headed for the bathroom. He needed some time to clear his mind, and a workout was a great way to do that.

Chapter Twelve

Camila tossed and turned, trying to sleep, and finally giving up. She didn’t know how long Hammer had been gone when she pushed the blankets back and sat up. A noise came from somewhere near the door. Her scalp prickled as she listened, trying to decide if it was something that needed her attention.

When the sound didn’t come again, and there were no other noises, she dismissed it as someone passing by, despite the way her stomach quivered. Sliding out of bed, she grabbed something to wear from the bag of things they’d bought when Winter and Miranda had taken her out the day before, and went into the restroom.

She stood in front of the sink, brushing her teeth when the door behind her opened, startling her. She let out a squeak as her eyes went wide and she stared at the man behind her. Her eyes went first to the tattoos that covered his arms and torso before snaking up his neck. They made him look even larger, even more intimidating. Or at least that’s what she imagined as she took him in. Her face heated when she realized she was staring and dropped her gaze.

“Whoops. Sorry. It was quiet so I thought you’d gone.” Hammer spoke quickly and started to close the door.

“No, wait,” she said around her toothbrush before spitting out the toothpaste and quickly rinsing her mouth. “I’m sorry. I’ll get out of your way.” Camila rinsed her toothbrush as she spoke and quickly gathered the clothes she’d slept in, holding them in one arm as she slipped past him and into the bedroom. “You can have the bathroom. I’ll just go see if I can find some coffee.”

“No problem. And thanks. I’ll take a quick shower then I’ll come find you. I had a couple of ideas that I’d like to talk to you about.”

Camila nodded and headed for where she’d left her shoes.

“All right,” she said, pulling on socks and slipping into her shoes without looking back up at him. She didn’t want to get caught staring again. And she didn’t want him to see how watching him made heat pool low in her belly.

He went into the bathroom, and she let herself out of the bedroom, heading for the common room. Winter had said there was always coffee on and food in the kitchen for anyone who wanted to help themselves. Maybe she’d see if there was anything there she could eat. Not that she knew how to make anything but maybe there would be cereal. How bad could she screw that up?

****

To Camila’s surprise, she needn’t have worried about what there was and if she could prepare it. When she made it to the common room, she found one of the men, one she didn’t think she’d met yet, in the kitchen manning what looked like a large griddle, food over the entire surface.

“You’re the new girl.” The man at the grill said as she stepped into the room.

“I am.”

“Coffee’s in the pot,” he motioned to one of the tall coffee makers like she’d only seen on TV that sat on the counter on the far side of the room from where he worked. “Anything you can’t eat?”

“No. I’m good with anything.”

As she stood wondering what she should do, Winter came in. She picked up a large pan of some kind of bread and carried it out.

“She’s setting things out, then you can help yourself.”

Camila looked around, wondering if she should pitch in and help. She stood back a moment, waiting until Winter returned.

“What can I help with?” Camilla asked.

“All this needs to go out into the other room. Loki will add things to this table as they’re done, and we’ll carry them out. When we’re done, we get to go through the line first.”

“Que?” Granted, she was new here, but she’d never heard of the cook, or any of the help, getting first choice of the food.

“Cooking isn’t anyone’s job. It’s something someone does either because they want food or they want to feed everyone. It doesn’t come with a lot of advantages,” the man at the grill said, partially turning so his back wasn’t to her, but instead his side so he could glance at her as he kept an eye on what he was doing. “Getting to eat first is a small reward for doing all the work.”

“True. I guess that would also make it easier for clean-up, since you’ll likely be among the first done.”

“It would, but I don’t do the cleaning. That’s a prospect job,” Loki said.

Winter came back into the room and grabbed a large bowl, turned and carried it out without a word, reminding Camila that she’d offered to help. I can ask a billion questions later, she thought as she picked up a large bowl and followed Winter into the common room. They worked for about ten minutes before the man at the gridle, Loki she thought Winter had called him, followed them out of the kitchen carrying the large coffee maker. He set it on the bar on the opposite end of where they’d lined up all the food, then nodded to Camila.

“You two first. I’ll be right behind you.”

Not knowing what else to do, Camila followed Winter’s example, marveling at how much food was piled on top of the bar. She filled her plate and followed Winter to a table.

“Mind if I join you?”