“It’s okay. I like all kinds of food.”
She was sure that meant exotic stuff that she’d probably have to force herself to eat. She just wasn’t a foodie. “What’syourfavorite meal?”
“Why are you hesitating?” he asked.
She stopped walking and put one arm around her waist. “I don’t want to say something else that will just make you realize how much I don’t fit in with your life.”
He put one hand on the wall behind her head and the other on her shoulder as he leaned in. “I’m the one who doesn’t fit. That’s why I’m here.”
She reached up to touch his face because she’d been longing to do that since he’d stopped reading. “Maybe we fit because we’re so different?”
“Maybe. Food is how I...well, how I communicate best. Even Dash has said it and honestly, he’s the one person I’m closest to.”
“My favorite meals are my dad’s barbecue, my mom’s hush puppies and boxed macaroni and cheese,” she said. “I’m also a fan of fast-food chicken sandwiches. Those foods all connect to my happiest memories. Sometimes it was the aftermath of disappointment but those meals...”
“I get it. Food is love,” he said as he started to walk again and she followed him.
“Did I shock you with my basic food loves?”
“No. I like barbecue too and hush puppies. The only food I don’t really eat is fast food,” he said.
She had a friend in New York who had never had fast food, so that didn’t surprise her. She couldn’t imagine him eating in that kind of place. “So what are you going to make?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “But I’ve got a few ideas.”
“Like what?”
“Something simple.”
“Simple?”
“Don’t say it like that’s an insult. The best meals are simple. Made with fresh ingredients.”
“Like those cheese sandwiches you made for us,” she said. “I had no idea those ingredients from my fridge could taste that good.”
“Yeah, well, this will be better than that,” he added.
“I don’t see how,” she said as he led her into the kitchen and motioned for her to have a seat at the long butcher-block island. There was a stool set up and she realized that he’d planned this.
This was truly Conrad’s world and she believed she’d learn a lot about him in here. She told herself that was what she wanted, but she already liked him more than was healthy and that possibly this wasn’t her smartest idea.
“I’m thinking a creamy pasta, maybe with a smokey element.”
“Sounds great. Where do you keep the pasta? I’ll make that.”
“I don’t have dried pasta,” he said. “I’m going to make it fresh. Want to learn?”
She did. “I’m not a very good cook.”
“You say that but the biscuits you made at the cook-off were delicious. I think you’re better at it than you let on.”
“Thanks. I deliberately didn’t cook at my best during our challenge and let you win.”
He gave a loud laugh and shook his head as she started to pull ingredients together. She knew that she was never going to be at his level but there was something about watching him that made her realize how much passion and joy he brought in the kitchen. Cooking seemed to bring down all of his barriers. It was all she could do to stay where she was and not go and wrap herself around him. She wanted this afternoon to be one of her best memories and hoped that it would be.
Hoped that she could find a way to keep her cool and make the most of her time with him. He had awakened her desire and it was impossible to watch Conrad in the kitchen and not get turned on.
He was seducing her without realizing it. Watching his hands move as he took a bunch of herbs made her want to feel his hands on her skin. This was a slow, sensual seduction of her and her senses.