Chapter 4 I'm No Spitfire!

• Kelsie
• Felix makes small talk for a little bit and then says goodbye and ushers him out the door. The movers have long gone by now. The house was mostly furnished already when he bought it from an older woman so he only bought enough to make our move in day seem real. I sit down on the god awful green couch and am pleasantly surprised when I find out it’s actually really comfortable. I smile to myself and bounce lightly on the cushions. Felix snickers and I shoot him a glare.
• “Having fun?”
• “A blast, actually.” I spit dryly.
• He frowns. “Attitude.”
• I roll my eyes. “Oh stop it. There’s no one around to hear or see me.”
• He sighs and pulls a plate out of a moving box. “It doesn’t matter Kelsie. You heard what Martin said about you being a ‘spitfire’.”
• I cross my arms over my chest. “Well that was rude of him.”
• He grins and put the plate away in the cabinet to the right of the sink. “You are a little spitfire. For someone your size you sure have a bite. You’re like a little chihuahua.” He laughs to himself.
• I scoff. “You know, for the great and impressive Felix Miller, you’re not very creative.”
• “You better watch it. I won’t tolerate you speaking to me that way in public. I’m your father and a stern one at that.” His lips press into a firm line as he opens the silverware drawer and puts a few spoons away.
• “Good thing we aren’t in public then.” I get off the ugly sofa and walk around the kitchen peninsula so I’m facing him. “Need any help?” I figured I have nothing better to do and it’s too early to go to sleep.
• He smiles and nods and damn what a smile. And also damn because his smile isn’t supposed to affect me. It isn’t supposed to make me feel anything. It’s just teeth and lips and... and... dammit. Knock it off he’s your partner and your fake father and everything about those thoughts are wrong.
• “Kelsie?”
• I snap out of my funk and find Felix staring at me strangely. “Hm?”
• He chuckles and rolls his eyes. “I asked what you wanted to do for dinner?”
• “Oh.” I give him a small smile. I have to get along with Felix for this to work so I might as well try to be civil. “It doesn’t really matter to me... I saw a good Chinese place on the way here though. Seems like the only takeout in this small town.” I joke and surprisingly, Felix laughs.
• “Definitely. Unless you know how to cook, I’m guessing we are gonna be eating a lot of rice and lo mein.” He grins and winks at me.
• And damn my face flushed again. What is with this Texas heat? You know it’s not because of the heat, that annoying voice in the back of my head snickers. I push the voice aside and think about what Felix said before the mind numbing wink. Cooking. Oh yeah. “I actually like to cook. I’m no Gordon Ramsey but... I can try some meals.”
• Felix studies me with an odd expression before nodding. “Sure. It’s very traditional around here, I’ve come to learn, so having a woman cook might be beneficial.”
• I open my mouth to rebuke his statement but he cuts me off, hands out in a placating gesture.
• “Not that I think women belong in the kitchen. I just think the more traditional we are, the easier people will open up to us.”
• I nod. “You have a point and speak of people... what did you think about Mister Martin Hanson?”