Page 28 of Unexpectedly Wanted
“Like it’s a little naked?”
I blinked at him. Why did the naked part catch my attention so strangely? I shook my head.
“That must be it,” I mumbled as I dropped my gaze from his.
“I want to show you how to make bread,” he said.
I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. Why did he bring me here to show me how to make bread? That was the strangest thing I’d ever heard.
He didn’t wait for a reply. He simply turned on his heel and walked deeper into the apartment. I stood there, staring after him, until he rounded a corner and I could no longer see him.
“You need to come into the kitchen,” he called out. “It’s too messy to make out there. Besides, it makes more sense to do this in the kitchen.”
“Right,” I yelled back a little too loudly. Then I headed in the direction I saw him go.
The kitchen was bigger than I’d expected, given how little space the living room actually had. It had a lot of counter space, most of it currently clear and clean.
“My grandpa owned a bakery,” he said as he gathered a bowl and measuring things and ingredients. “He always smelled like fresh bread, and to this day, that smell reminds me of him.”
We washed our hands and got started. Honestly, I was only half paying attention since he was talking so much. I learned about where he grew up and the bakery. He talked about how he’d been making bread since he could remember. I could tell he was very fond of his grandfather. Remy ended up doing most of the work, but he didn’t seem to mind.
I realized that I liked being here. I liked listening to him speak about things that made him happy while he did something he really enjoyed doing. Something he probably didn’t have a lot of time to do with the job he had.
I wasn’t happy about not being at work, but there was something inside my head telling me that I was needed more here. Yes, work was important, but this was important too.
“Get your hands in there and mix it,” he told me.
My nose scrunched up, but I did as he said. The texture was very strange. The more I mixed, the smoother it became. And I liked that much better.
“We’re going to knead it just a little, then set it to the side to proof,” he told me.
I followed his direction. Something about the rhythmic movement of my hands in the dough got to me. It was very relaxing, and when he told me to stop, I didn’t want to. Then he assured me that I’d get to do it again later.
“How long do you leave it to do its thing?” I asked.
“We’ll check it in an hour,” he told me and I blinked at him. How long did it take to make bread? Because it also had to cook or bake or whatever, and I had a feeling that would take a while. “And while we wait, we can ask each other some of these fun questions.” He held up his phone, and I read the question that was there.
“What’s your favorite kind of ice cream?”
“Chocolate,” he answered, though I hadn’t really been asking.
“Your answer is as boring as that question,” I told him flatly. To which he just laughed at me. Laughed hard. I reached up, finger swiping over the screen. Another dumb question. “What do you like to do in your free time?”
“Play video games and read.” He gave another dumb answer. Okay, not dumb. I shouldn’t hate on him for what he liked to do in his free time, but it did feel a bit predictable.
“No,” I told him. “You’re doing it all wrong. If you really want to play this game or whatever this is, you have to answer with things no one would see from looking at you. While chocolate might be your favorite, you need to answer with the flavor you go with when you’re feeling saucy.”
“Saucy?” he asked, brow raised again. “I don’t really think I’m a ‘feeling saucy’ kind of guy. I’m not cool enough.”
“Everyone can feel saucy,” I told him. “And you’re missing the point. Instead of saying playing video games and reading, say something that you don’t want people to know.”
“Like what? How would you answer that question?”
“Watching straight porn and trying to understand what the hype is all about.”
I must have shocked him so much that he forgot how to speak.
“You watch straight porn?” he finally asked. The question came out very slowly, almost as if he couldn’t believe he was really asking that.
