Thirteen
Deirdre retreated to the sanctuary of her room after her bout of weeping, and Amaal did not try to stop her. He was not entirely certain why she had disintegrated like that, shivering in his arms, her tears wetting the shoulder of the sweater he wore, but he was glad that she had turned to him for comfort. Perhaps her little breakdown meant she had begun to let down her guard, that the softening he’d seen after he’d kissed her had progressed a little further. He wanted her to feel safe with him, despite everything.
For now, it seemed that she did.
The cooking show ended. Amaal reflected it was a good thing he could use his djinn powers to summon their meals, for otherwise it seemed he might spend half his life in the kitchen. It was one thing to brew one’s own cup of coffee, he
