He tightens his lips, laughing to himself. “Yes, ma’am. You think you have everything undercontrol?”
“Yep.” I scan the recipe and directions on my phone. “It says add Parmesan andpeppers.”
“Pepper, like blackpepper.”
“Oh, well that makes more sense. Okay, so addpepperand then remove from heat when it reaches the consistency we’d like.” I pause and grin his way. “I don’t know about you, but I like itthick.”
“And you said I couldn’t make a dick joke? The shit isthat?”
“I’m cuter than you, so I can do what Iwant.”
He stalks toward me, chuckling. “Is thatright?”
“Yep.”
“Even in this apron ofmine?”
Giving him a onceover, I screw up my lips, contemplating what he’s offering. I gave him my apron that has a hand-painted portrait of Chris Hemsworth onit.
“Well…youdohave Hemsworth on your apron, so that’s giving you at least a few points.” I push onto my tiptoes and lean into him. “But I’m stillwinning.”
He places a gentle kiss on my cheek. “I’ll just keep letting you believe that. Watch the food. I’ll be back in tenminutes.”
“Ten minutes?” It comes out asqueak.
“You can manage ten minutes on your own. You’ve been doing great sofar.”
“Yeah, because you’ve been here. That makes me relax and notpanic.”
“There’s nothing to panic about. You’re turning the sauce off and you’re boiling water. You’ve boiled water plenty of times for your mac and cheese obsession. You gotthis.”
“And if I burn the apartmentdown?”
He shrugs. “It’s not myapartment.”
“Hey! Istoo!”
“Fine. I’ll be mildly upset. There’s a lot of money worth of comics in thatbedroom.”
“PlusMittens.”
“Well I was hoping in your haste to escape, you’d at least think to grab thecat.”
“You’re right. Goodpoint.”
Caleb grabs my keys off the counter. “Youmind?”
“You remember how to drive,right?”
“I think I can manage a three-mile roundtrip.”
“I hope so.” I pat him on the shoulder twice as a good luck gesture. “I’d hate to have to chop off your nuts when I haven’t yet had the chance to seethem.”
“If it’s nuts you wanna see, baby…” He pretends to begin unbuttoning hispants.
I push at his chest, sending him closer to the door. “Get out of there. Out of mykitchen!”
He just laughs, shaking his head atme.