Hazel in the Demon's Den

Will texted her to let her know he would be home around six so Hazel got started on dinner at 5:30. She settled on a chicken and pasta bake. Since there were only two of them, they would be able to eat the leftovers for lunch for a few days.

She used to do this sort of thing cooking for Billy when they were roommates. She would cook a few big meals early in the week and they would spend the rest of the week working their way through leftovers.

When Will walked through the front door the first thing he said was "I'm glad you didn't get lost in the woods."

What was it with this guy and thinking she would get lost in the woods?! Just because she was inexperienced in mountain life didn't mean she was stupid enough to wander off the path on her own.

Hazel scowled. "I'm not an idiot."

"I didn't say you were. I thought you might be interested in looking around to paint and accidentally wander off the path in search of the best scenery."

She wanted to refute but honestly it sounded like something she might do. How had he managed to guess that after knowing her for two days?

Since he had a reasonable excuse, she let it slide. Had he seriously been worried about her though? Why? If something happened to her he wouldn't have to provide for a fake wife anymore.

As it was, Hazel still wasn't sure why Will even felt compelled to prevent her from marrying some random creep in Las Vegas. He could have simply tried to talk her out of it and left her on her own after that. Why go as far as marrying her himself?

She would figure him out eventually. But that wasn't terribly important right now.

"I concede your point. How was your day?" she asked.

Hazel rolled her eyes. He was such a tease. "I worked on my character designs, went for a walk, met the neighbors, and hitched a ride from Marissa into town to get groceries."

Will seemed pleasantly surprised. "Look at you taking the initiative. I'm sorry; I didn't even think of you being stranded here. We can get you a car over the weekend so you can go wherever you want."

Get her a car?! Cars were expensive, which was why she didn't have one. Billy had a car and was always complaining how much the payments were even though he bought it used. He had saved money for nearly a year to have enough for a sizeable down payment.

This guy was too good to be true. Suddenly Hazel found herself wondering what was wrong with him. No normal man would suddenly take in a stranger and drop a bunch of money on them without expecting anything in return.

Was Will trying to lull her into a false sense of security before striking? Or was he actually trying to get her to fall in love with him like he had claimed she would? What exactly was going through that man's head?

"Um, okay," Hazel managed to get out.

The timer for the pasta bake went off and she hurried to get it out of the oven. Belatedly, she realized she didn't know where the oven mitts were. Will saw her look around frantically and called out "second drawer down."

She found them easily and thanked him before pulling the casserole dish out and setting it on top of the oven to cool. It smelled delicious and she had finally recovered enough from her earlier grape gluttony to be hungry for it.

They ate dinner in silence though it wasn't an uncomfortable one. Will gave off an interesting aura. It was calm but friendly and oddly indulgent.

He definitely indulged her though she didn't understand why. There had to be fondness for there to be indulgence. How could he be fond of someone he didn't even properly know?

He probably wouldn't be so kind if he knew the truth about her. The moment you tell someone you've had a history of mental illness, even if you're fine now, people look at you differently.

Hazel didn't want him to think she was crazy though it was a bit odd that he didn't already. After all, she had proposed to a room full of strangers at random. That was a pretty crazy thing to do.

Once the table had been cleared, Will looked at her expectantly. "Would you like me to teach you how to play pool? I've wanted to play forever but haven't had anyone to play a real game against."

"Sure," Hazel said with a shrug. It would give her something to do that didn't involve wrist cramping. She had drawn more than enough for one day.

They headed down to the basement and Will began explaining the rules before showing her how to make a shot. Once she said she understood it, he began a practice game. Hazel wasn't terribly great at it. She only managed to get two balls in before Will won. He told her it would take practice.

Feeling determined, she asked for another game. This time she managed to get five balls in. Will still beat her but not by such a wide margin. She might need to practice shooting the balls into the holes on her own so she could beat him at some point.

"You're doing pretty well for a beginner," he praised.

"I am, aren't I?" she bragged jokingly. "Probably because I have a good teacher."

When Will smiled Hazel realized that may have come off a bit flirty. That wasn't her intention. He was her husband but only on paper. She didn't want to flirt with him.

She didn't really know anything about flirting anyway. She had responded to Billy Lawson's flirt attempts but never really initiated any herself because that wasn't her style.

It wasn't like he did it terribly often either. He probably turned to another woman partially because of her inability to play into what kind of romance he wanted. That jerk didn't deserve having another second wasted on him.

Hazel had already wasted six years of her life on that liar. Those six years could have been spent bettering herself rather than revolving around a man she didn't even really love.