Page 4 of Contracting with the Mountain Man
My mouth dropped open. “No way.” I never thought I’d hear a guy say that, never mind a delicious, irresistible, mountain man. But I guess he was good with his hands, right?
I clenched my thighs together, desperate for the friction as my pussy throbbed between my legs.
I wanted him. And I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold back for much longer.
CHAPTER THREE
Maverick
“Okay,I need to know everything about your sourdough starter.” Genevieve said as she handed me a bowl of cookie dough.
I had watched while she mixed the first batch, working quickly and efficiently and leaving little mess behind. I’d have to ask her for some tips. When I rolled out my bread, flour went everywhere.
“I’ve had to learn most things on my own from a young age. I taught myself how to cook and bake and I always wanted to bake my own crusty sourdough. With a quick Google search, I started my own and I’ve kept her alive for over a year now.”
“A year? No way!” Genevieve laughed and unwrapped a stick of butter. “That’s impressive. You must take good care of her.”
“That I do.” I winked at her, my insides twisting at the way her cheeks flushed. She liked me too. It was easy to read her cues.
And I really enjoyed making her cheeks flush.
“It’s rather easy. I feed her the night before, I want to make a loaf, she’s ready by morning, and I’m good to go. If I plan on making bread again within the next day or two, I feed her and leave her out, otherwise she gets fed and goes in the fridge. I think that’s the key for making it last long.”
“Wow. I think you know more than me. We briefly touched on sourdough and starters in my bread class, but most of the curriculum for my degree was heavy on desserts and cakes. I loved when I got to take a classic baking class, the focus on pies, cookies, and other less fancy desserts.” Genevieve handed me another bowl of cookie mix as I finished scooping the last of the dough on this first batch.
“I’d rather bake the classics, too. Bread pudding, pineapple upside down cake, chocolate cream pie. The list is endless.” I pushed the sheet pans to the side, grabbed a few empty ones, and a clean scooper. “Did you have to do any fancy French pastries?”
Genevieve made a face, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Two words. Not fun. Way too particular for me, but I enjoyed learning new skills and pastries. Pate a chou will forever be the death of me.”
“Pate a choux?”
“A French dough used in eclairs and puff pastries. It doesn’t have a rising agent. It’s a very wet dough that turns puffy in the oven when the high moisture content creates steam. You cook it on the stove at first and you have to stir it quickly while it’s on a high heat setting. Talk about an arm killer. I’ll be fine if I never make it again.”
“Sounds complicated. But I’d try it.”
“Watch some videos on making it and then get back to me.”
“Point taken. What’s your favorite thing to bake?”
“Definitely pie. I love to make it, bake it, and eat it, mainly fruit ones. A warm slice of pie with a scoop of creamy ice cream could turn any bad day into a good one.”
“Agree. But I don’t think pie beats cheesecake.”
“Mmm, cheesecake. With cherry topping.”
“Strawberry.”
“Nah, cherry is better.”
“Cherry is boring.” I teased. “Strawberry is perfection.”
She rolled her eyes, but I saw the smile she tried to hide and failed at it miserably.
We talked and worked quickly, as I scooped out the cookies and she handed me a new bowl of dough. The last dough we scooped out together and placed all the sheets in the ovens.
“This time, I’m setting a timer.” Genevieve said as she pressed the button on the oven and set it for ten minutes.
I helped her clean up and while she grabbed the cookies from the oven after the timer buzzed, I cleaned up the front area and flicked on the display lights, needing to test them out. The cases lit up brightly from the inside, each one working like they should. “Hey, Genevieve, check out the new lights.” I called towards the back and moments later, she popped around the front. Her eyes expanded into large saucers.
