Page 71 of Why Cheese?
Roq gives it a quick once over.What’s he going to do with it? Tear it in half? Throw it on the fire? Cackle while it burns and Brie cries?Without saying a word, he pulls one of the old framed photos off the wall and hangs the painting in its place. “That brightens the place up,” he declares. “Now, come on, before the milk curdles.”
With a sad sigh, Cam and Cheddy put down their lasagna plates. I drape the tin foil back over it in the hopes it’ll keep a little while longer. As Cheddy joins Roq, I lean close to Cam to ask, “Can that really happen?”
“Only if Roquefort breathes on it.”
“I heard that!” Roq shouts as he slides down the ladder.
Cam and Cheddy take my hands, both of them helping me to the ladder. “Au fromage,” Cam whispers, before he plants a kiss to my cheek. “Thenménage à trois.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Melting Manchego
“THE FIRST TASK is—” Roq claps his hands and rubs them in front of the jugs of fresh milk. Then he looks me over as I stand before the other men. “You should change.”
“Why?” As I ask, fabric rustles in the wind. From the corner of my eye, I catch Cheddy stripping off his shirt and hurling it to the side. Cam shows more care in undoing the laces on his until it billows out like a nightdress. He adds it on top of Brie’s on an old chair in the corner.
Cam and Brie both pick up a metal jug of milk while Cheddy goes for two at once. Roq nods to all three. “Unless you want that pretty dress of yours to stink of milk, you’ll want to put on old clothes.”
“I don’t, I didn’t bring any?”Is he going to call this off? Did I fail before even starting?
Sighing, Roq pulls the knot in his apron. Ducking his head through the top tears his hairnet clean off. His blue locks fall into his eyes as he hands me the apron. “This should suffice for now. Though you might still want to disrobe, just in case. Things can become rather wild down here.”
Brie and Cam approach the first vat to dump their milk inside, while Cheddy handles the second. After pulling off his shirt too, Roq combs his hair back so his steel eyes pierce through the darkness. He picks up a rock from the counter by the sink and hunches over to reach the bottom of a vat.
Four shirtless men with dangerously distracting muscles are doing manual labor in front of me. Oh god, Cheddy’s biceps are twitching. A drop of milk splashes from the vat onto his chest, drawing me to his Captain America pecs. Though Cam’s the one with Cap’s ass which he keeps sticking out while he clings to the lip of the vat and peers down. Sweet Brie keeps jotting down notes on a chalkboard hanging on the wall. The way he keeps biting his lip while concentrating makes me do the same.
Lastly, there’s Roq. The one that hates me. I shouldn’t look at him. He’s only shirtless because of me. He didn’t even want me down here. So I really,reallyought to not drool over his shoulders and those bulging lats, and—damn it—he’s got those ass dimples hiding above his fallen waistband.
He rakes his fingers through his blue hair, then shakes his head back. Firelight glints off of his granite jaw and sculpted full lips.
Breathing fast, I spin around and weigh the apron in my hands. It’d be easy for me to slip it on over my dress but…
I don’t know why my fingers start to undo the belt, then reach for the zipper. Feeling lightheaded, I want to laugh when my dress hits the floor. Splashing sounds and the strike of a rock break from behind me. I quickly slip on the apron that acts like a dress, ignoring the fact my sides and back are only covered by underwear.
What am I doing?
This is so stupid. They’re going to get angry and send me away.
“Wow!” Cheddy cries out. He’s abandoned the vat to stare at me.
“You look…wow,” Brie adds.
A long wolf whistle breaks from Cam and the milk jug hits the ground. “Never has an apron looked finer than around your luscious curves.”
“Hmph,” Roq grumps as he hunches over to inspect the second vat.
“Very well. Disrobe her, then we’ll see if you can don it better,” Cam says.
“I, uh, I didn’t want to stain my dress,” I say, hoping that echoing Roq’s earlier statement is enough.
Sparks catch under the vat of milk. Roq rises as he juggles the rocks in one hand. I wait for him to give another derisive snort and look away. But, instead of his eyes pinning me to the ground, they swoop and swerve down my body barely hiding below the apron. He swallows hard and reaches up to touch his chest. The rock in his palm scrapes up his chest, leaving a red path. Roq blinks in surprise before he tosses the stones back into a box.
“Step up, Miss Reely,” Roq says. “You can’t see anything in the dark.”
I ease closer, sliding into the rising musk of testosterone and sweat. While Cam and Cheddy openly stare, Brie takes quick glances my way.
“The first step is to heat the milk, which is what we’re doing here,” Roy says. He points to the underside of the vats where flames lick against the underside.
