“Hope you’re hungry. We’re having steak, mashed potatoes and spinach for dinner.”
Spinach. Ick.
“I take it from that look that there’s something you don’t like in that list.”
“Spinach is gross.”
“You’ll try it.”
She shook her head. “Nope. I’ve tried it before. Yuck.”
He just gave her a look. “How long since you’ve have it?”
“Umm.” Truth or lie? Maybe something in between. “Can’t remember, but I remember it was like eating slime.”
He rolled his eyes. “I promise it won’t taste like slime.”
She felt her lower lip drop out.
“And no pouting or you don’t get any ice cream afterwards.”
Hey! That wasn’t cool. But she quickly stopped her pout. Then she thought about what just happened.
“I’m an adult,” she pointed out.
He ran his gaze over her, leaving a wave of heat in his wake. “Yep. You sure are.”
“So, you can’t take away my dessert.”
“I’m cooking so it’s my rules.”
Well, that sucked meatballs. Hmm, meatballs sounded quite good. Maybe she could convince him to make meatballs and spaghetti. No disgusting vegetables in sight.
“Maybe we should have meatballs,” she suggested. “I could go get some ground beef.” What was she doing? Did she really want to go to the grocery store right now? With Jed here, in her house?
That was a big fat nope.
Jed turned and looked at her. “You like meatballs?”
“Sure,” she said happily.
“All right, I’ll cook them another night. Tonight, we’re having steak, spinach and mashed potatoes.”
She sighed. Long and loud. She saw his mouth twitch, but his gaze remained stern.
“So, when I cook it’s my rules?”
“Nope,” he replied as he peeled potatoes.
“That’s not fair.”
His eyes crinkled, but he didn’t crack a smile. She might just make it her mission in life to make him smile.
He reached over and tapped her nose with his finger. “I let you cook; we’ll probably be eating fish sticks with a side of gummy worms.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“I can cook,” she told him. She’d had to learn how. She didn’t much like it, though. And now that she no longer had younger siblings to take care of, she had figured she didn’t much have to worry about creating balanced meals.