Page 23 of Battery Operated

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Unable to sit still, I roamed down the hallway with no particular destination.

“Pssst.”

I passed the entryway to the kitchen and then doubled back. Brady was there, looking in his element even though he seemed to be doing a dozen things at once. There was a pot on each burner. Something in the oven. Meats and veggies on cutting boards.

“It smells good,” I said honestly. I couldn’t identify all the scents, but I was pretty sure that homemade bread was one of them. It made my mouth water.

“Want to help?” Brady asked.

“Me?” My friends generally ushered me out of the kitchen, not into it. “I don’t know how to do any of that stuff.”

“But I do, and I could use some help.”

I took a step back. “Seriously, I can’t cook.”

Brady seemed unfazed. “Luckily, I can. And I’ll tell you a little secret. If you help cook, you don’t have to do dishes.” He gestured at the gazillion pots, pans, and bowls on the counter. “It’s a pretty sweet deal.”

Involuntarily, I stepped toward him. “Honestly, I would if I could, but I don’t know what I’m doing.” But the thought of washing all these dishes was enough to carry me all the way to Brady’s side.

“Let me guess. You have some kind of high-tech combination of pressure cooker, air fryer, and sous vide that you put freeze-dried astronaut food in, and it produces a Michelin-starred gourmet meal.”

“Actually, I have the DoorDash app on my phone.” I smiled as he chuckled, but honestly, I was a little impressed that he knew what sous vide was. I wasn’t sure I did. “And okay, you’re right, helping out sounds better than doing dishes.”

“Smart girl.”

“But wait, what about Penny?” I didn’t want her to be stuck doing all these dishes with Cole and Gideon. That was adding insult to injury. Maybe we could drive into town and get something? If anything was open after six.

“She gets a pass tonight,” Brady said. “She looked wiped.”

I nodded, a little surprised that he’d noticed. “She had a hard time finding this place.” I didn’t want to get into the stuff about her and Jeff.

“Most people do.”

“And yet you wonder why you don’t have more reservations.”

“We’ll get there,” he said confidently.

“How?” The word came out rather baldly, but I wasn’t trying to be snarky. I just couldn’t see how he could be so optimistic about this place.

He winked. “Well, for one thing, after you try my cooking, you’ll be singing my praises to your audience.”

“I told you, they’re not the type to come all the way out in the woods.”

“They are, actually. They just don’t know it yet.”

It was absurd, but Brady sounded confident, making me wonder if there was more to his plans for the inn than I knew about. But that was his concern, not mine. “What should I do?”

Brady plucked a wooden cutting board from a low cabinet. He cleared space for me at the counter. “Can I trust you with a knife?” He set what looked to me like a cleaver on top of the board.

“As long as Gideon’s not around.”

“Well, he’s not in the room. Hopefully, that’s good enough.” Brady took the lid off a pot on the stove and steam filled the air. Using a slotted spoon, he scooped limp, boiled vegetables onto the cutting board. I recognized broccoli, cabbage, and carrots, but not the rest of the mushy mess. “Chop those up in small pieces. Under an inch, if you can.”

Steam poured off the hot veggies, masking the smell of the baking bread. Even someone with my non-existent cooking skills could see that they were soft, soggy, and gross.

Nevertheless, chopping them seemed easier than cleaning the pot they’d been in. Wielding the huge butcher’s knife felt strange, but as long as I kept it away from my fingers, I didn’t see how I could go too far wrong. Plus, the vegetables were so soft that the blade slid easily through them.

Brady set a pie plate next to me. “Put them in here when they’re small enough.”


Tags: Stephanie Brother Erotic