Page 14 of Please and Tease (Sweet Treats 6)

Naomi shoots us a sassy grin.

“I love guys who know their way around housework, did I mention?” she asks. “I find it very sexy.”

I laugh.

“Well, you’ll be even more excited to know that Andrew and I cook. We’re both gourmet chefs, in fact.”

Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open as we begin loading our clothes into the huge, over-sized dryers.

“Are you serious?” she asks. “But how do you cook while you’re on the road? Don’t you miss having a kitchen?”

We nod.

“Yeah, definitely,” responds Andrew. “But we had our truck outfitted with a top of the line kitchen. Of course, it doesn’t compare to a real kitchen, but it’s a lot more than the hot plate or two-top that you get in a standard cab. We also put in an oven, and we keep a deep fryer and a sous vide pressure cooker on board too.”

The pretty girl gasps even as she throws in some dryer sheets.

“A deep fryer? A pressure cooker? Really?”

Andrew nods, grinning.

“Hell yeah. You never know when you’ll be craving a turducken. The only thing to cook that behemoth is a deep fryer. You know what turducken is, right?”

Naomi smiles and nods uncertainly.

“I think I do. But people only cook turduckens around Thanksgiving right?”

I shake my head.

“Nope, not us. We cook it when we have the urge because it tastes good. There are three types of meat. It’s a chicken wrapped in a duck wrapped in a turkey, and then all dumped into the deep fryer at high heat. Yum.”

Naomi giggles a bit. We’ve finished starting the dryers, and we head upstairs.

“Do you want to visit our suite?” I ask.

“Sure,” she nods. “But back to the turducken,” she says. “How in the world do you cook it in your cab? I know some of the new trucks are quite spacious, but still: a deep fryer is really dangerous. You shouldn’t have that near your beds.”

“Of course not,” Andrew says seriously as we stride down the hall. We’re making our way to where the single men have their rooms. For obvious reasons, there’s a wing where single men sleep, and another where the pretty bachelorettes sleep. Not that anyone stops us from associating, morning, noon, and night. There are plenty of escapades going on at all hours, but the Lodge can be old-fashioned sometimes, and I find it quaint and charming. I hear that college kids these days live in mixed-gender dorms which takes the magic out of relationships. Then again, maybe I’m the one who’s old fashioned.

Regardless, I’m happy to be chatting with Naomi. The conversation between the three of us flows easily, and she’s obviously intelligent and curious. She asks us about the turducken again.

“So where do you cook this fine fowl dish, if not in your truck?” she asks.

Andrew and I share a glance.

“Good question. We wait until we’re at a suitable location. For example, Wal-Mart doesn’t let us set up deep fryers in their parking lots, but there are certain places that do. Then we pull the deep fryer out into the open, away from humanity so that the hot oil doesn’t splatter. Then we hook it all up, throw the meat in and voila! You’ve got a turducken.”

Naomi giggles a bit when we reach our suite. She nods.

“Wow, I’d love to get a taste of your turducken sometime,” she teases. “I don’t think the chefs here make that very often. We have steak a lot, as well as lamb chops and pulled pork, but I don’t recall ever having turducken.”

I nod, opening the door to let her into our suite.

“Yeah, the chefs here are really talented, but they like to stick to their tried-and-trues. After all, how can you go wrong with a filet mignon? All you need is a good cut of beef. But with turducken, a lot of things can go awry. The duck isn’t good, or the chicken wasn’t raised right. It’s triple the trouble, but triple the goodness too. Would you like to sit?” I ask, gesturing to our comfortable living room while Andrew rummages in the kitchen for some glasses.

“Thanks,” Naomi smiles, plunking her curvy form on our overstuffed couch. “Nice place here.”

I grin and look around.

“It’s homey, but we like it. Andrew and I don’t love overdone décor. We like things simple and comfortable, so yeah, we did this place up to our heart’s content.”

I’m referring to the big brown leather couches, as well as the club chairs and heavy wooden side tables. Our suite is very masculine, in line with the rest of the Lodge. However, Naomi turns and surveys the space. It’s not big, so she can see through the open doorway to where Andrew is puttering around. The bathroom is on the left, and then there’s a closed door to the bedroom.

“Wait a minute,” she says slowly. “So do you guys share a bedroom? Or is this a pull out couch?” she asks, bouncing up and down a bit on the big sofa.

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