Page 21 of Magic & Mochas
“I think I might just take you up on your offer.”He searched my eyes, looking for any sign that I hadn’t truly meant what I’d said.When he found none, he placed his hand over my smaller one.“Would you…like to stay for dinner?”
“Absolutely.”
Chapter nine
Spells & Stories
Clove
“IpromiseI’mamuchbetter cook than barista,” Thorne said almost sheepishly, as he held his apartment door open for me later that evening.
“Oh?Then it sounds like I am in for quite the treat.”Since I had cooked for both myself and Rasmus, I also knew my way around a kitchen.However, it felt nice to not be expected to do all of the cooking.“Is there anything I can do to help?”
He thought about it for a moment as we entered the kitchen.“Would you make the salad while I work on the stew?”
“Sure thing,” I said with a smile.
But after I finished washing my hands, I turned around to see that Thorne had donned a frilly pink apron covered in little cat illustrations.I started giggling, then slapped a hand over my mouth to try and contain the sound, but it was too late.
Thorne’s ears turned an adorable shade of pink that nearly matched the apron.“Mrs.Virgil left it behind,” he explained a tad stiffly, then held up a nearly identical apron, but in purple.“Fortunately, she kept extras.”
“How very practical of her.”I grinned as I put the apron on, and tied the sash into a little bow at the back.“She has marvelous taste; I’m sure Silas would approve.”
“I’ve no doubt,” he said drily.
Thorne moved to the fridge and pulled out a bag of fresh lettuce, shredded carrots, and several dressing options, and plopped them in front of me.He then used his shadows to pull out a cutting board, a large pot, and a multitude of ingredients for beef stew.
“Where did you learn to cook?”I asked, as we both set about preparing our ingredients.
Thorne grimaced, but his tone was light as he replied, “I’ve had to spend a lot of time traveling with groups of men—mercenaries, adventurers, and the like.Most of them couldn’t tell the difference between an onion and an apple, and I got tired fairly quickly of subsisting off of cold jerky and hardtack.”
I shuddered.“I can imagine, but I certainly don’t want to.”
The shadowmancer scraped his chopped vegetables into the simmering broth.“My first few attempts at cooking were fairly disastrous; my omelets had egg shells in them, and my stews were chock-full of salt and way too much garlic.It took me longer than I care to admit to figure out that when a recipe called for a clove of garlic, it didn’t mean the entire bulb.”
“Yikes!I hope everyone else in your party liked garlic.”I laughed as I ripped the lettuce into bite-size pieces.“Don’t feel too bad.My first few potions blew up in my face—literally!”
Thorne paused to glance over at me with concern.“They did?Were you hurt?”
“My pride took the biggest hit.Though it took my eyebrows a couple months to grow back.”I grinned at the memory.
“An eyebrow-less Clove?Now that I have to see.”He returned to slicing up the meat.
“I’m sure my mom has pictures somewhere,” I admitted, laughing a little self-consciously.“Probably in a scrapbook spelled against fire, lightning, and water.”
“Lightning?”He raised an eyebrow in my direction, and added the meat to the pot.He capped it with a lid to let it simmer.
I blushed.“Every witch goes through a lightning phase in high school.I tried to burn that embarrassing photo with a lightning strike before anyone could see it.Dramatic, I know.”I rolled my eyes at my past self.
“I would have simply put it down the garbage disposal in the sink.”
I blinked at him.“That’s brilliant!Why didn’t I ever think of that?!”
Thorne shrugged.“I’ve noticed the magically-inclined tend to overthink these things.Simple is usually best.”
“You make a good point.But why do things with your hands when you can have them done for you?”I flicked my wrist, and watched with a satisfied smile as the carrot slices floated into the salad bowl and a balsamic vinaigrette poured itself on top.With a twirl of my finger, the salad mixed itself to perfection.
“Not bad.But can you cook the stew perfectly without burning it?”There was a light of challenge in his eyes that I had no intention of backing down from.
