Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“You want me to show you?” he asked, a bit wary because this was Catie after all. Annoy her too much and the woman might decide to dose his food with a cup of salt.
She smirked. “I should make you crazy by ordering you to sit and watch… but you did make the muffins and the cookies, so okay, fine.”
“Hallelujah.” Heading to the pantry, he hunted out the bottles of soy sauce and sesame oil he’d seen in there, then grabbed a couple of frozen chilies from the fridge as well as the jar of precrushed ginger. “Fresh is better,” he said, holding it up. “But this will do in a pinch.”
He then found the honey and even a small packet of sesame seeds. “Kudos to your mother’s chef.”
“What are you doing?”
“Watch and learn.” He began to put together the ingredients for a spicy sauce with the barest hint of honey. “This’ll give flavor to everything without the need to add extra salt. It’s already in the soy sauce, and with the stir-fry loaded with veggies, it’s healthy. Good way to pack in flavor without compromising on the health side of things.”
Danny’s body was the tool of his trade, and he took care of it. He also found food a pleasure, so he made an effort to balance necessity with delight. “You can also fiddle with it to highlight flavors you like. Me? I love ginger and chili.” Dipping his little finger into the sauce, he held it out without thought. “Taste.”
Catie’s eyes caught his and the moment hung, the world falling silent around them.
Stomach clenching, he was about to pull back his hand when she reached up and swiped his finger with her own, then put that finger into her mouth to suck off the sauce. He was glad he was wearing his T-shirt, because his abdomen was now rock hard. And other things were starting to threaten hardness too.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He wished he could blame the drugs, but his system felt good. Normal. This was just his body being a dick. That’s what it was. Nothing to do with Catie’s soft lips and heavy-lidded eyes as she savored the flavors he’d created.
“Mmm.”
His dick twinged. Hard.
10
THE HALF-NAKED MAN WITH THE THIGH TATTOO
Mixing the sauce with a little too much enthusiasm, he tried to think of the non-sexiest things he could imagine, even bringing out the full-on horror of how, at age eleven, he’d once walked in on his mum and dad in the middle of “naked cuddling.” He hadn’t seen much, but oh hell had he been horrified.
His parents?
Had sex?
More than the twice it took to create him and Jake?
No. As far as he was concerned, they were celibates who happened to sleep in the same bed. Yes, he was quite content with that ludicrous fiction.
“That’s so good, Danny.” Catie’s voice held real admiration. “And you did it with a few basic ingredients. Will you write it down for me? I’m pretty good at following recipes.”
Chest expanding, a ridiculous warmth in his cheeks, he smiled. “Yeah, sure. You can flex the recipe lots of ways. I like using balsamic vinegar sometimes too.”
The smile Catie shot him before she got back to cutting up the vegetables, it held none of her usual snark or attitude. It was just Catie’s smile. Sweet, open, kick-to-the-gut beautiful.
Mouth drying up, he replaced the saucepan with a wok he’d found in the cupboard and added a little garlic-infused olive oil. Of course Catie was pretty. He’d always known that. In the same way he knew his sisters-in-law were pretty. Just knowing without really noticing. But he was noticing now.
The way her roughly tied-back hair suited the delicate lines of her face, how her eyes sparkled with intelligence and humor, how her lips were naturally pink and probably soft as anything.
He brought his thoughts to a screeching halt when his mind wanted to keep on wandering down her body. He seriously needed to rein it in. A little cabin fever, that’s all it was. “Is the snow meant to let up at all?”
“Tomorrow maybe,” Catie said. “I had a look at the latest report just before. Apparently there’s a front coming in that might mean sunshine.”
“Great, then Leon’s play should still be able to open.” Having quickly chopped the chicken into strips while they’d been talking, he dropped it into the oil to fry, stirring all the while so nothing would burn and the chicken would cook quickly and evenly.
The rich scent of the garlic in the olive oil filled the air.
“You still okay to be my date?” he asked.
“Deal is a deal,” she said, her eyes on the wok. “You’re using a higher heat than I normally would.”
And because cooking was safe, Danny went off on a mini essay about perfect chicken-searing temperature, et cetera, et cetera. That Catie actually seemed to be paying attention tangled him up inside, his pride a hot thing in his gut. Man, he was fucked. This was fucked.