Page 46 of Purrfectly Mated

“Oh, really? I could make a call and see if they can rush—”

“No, it’s okay. The manager was a dick, anyway.”

Elissa shrugged, and Jessica laughed.

“Well, it is not unusual for a Pride to be mostly males, with a few mates and single females scattered in between. And I’m not saying cooking is a female only thing, not at all,” she was quick to insert.

“Actually, Lance, he’s the youngest Tiger in Hunter’s Honor Guard, that’s like a group of Tigers who work directly under the Neta, anyway, he is trying to learn to cook. But he is awful, burns everything,” Jessica said.

Elissa thought back to the young man who’d brought her the towel. That must be him, she thought, nodding absently while searching for just the right ingredient. She moved cans and bottles on the shelf, then paused. She couldn’t help herself, she yelped.

“OMG! What is it?”

Jessica gently pushed her aside and faced the shelf of jars with her hands up like she was ready to duke it out with the pickled cauliflower. Elissa snorted.

“Are these all freshly canned?”

Row upon row of gleaming jars of canned fruit, vegetables, preserves, and pickles sat next to bundles of dried herbs. It was beautiful.

“Oh. Well, yes.”

Elissa beamed at her, and the younger woman cleared her throat.

“I can’t cook, but I do grow things. What we don’t eat, I sort of can,” Jessica said, tucking her hair behind her ears.

The woman blushed bright pink, and Elissa reached out and hugged her. She had nothing but love for someone who could grow and pickle veggies. Back in her apartment, she had a small herb garden on the fire escape, but the thought of having a vegetable patch was just amazing.

“Is the garden here? Can I help? OMG! I am so excited, tell me more,” Elissa said and pulled a few jars of peeled plum tomatoes off the shelf.

With her grandmother’s recipe for her Sunday meat sauce simmering on the stove, Elissa instructed Jessica to fill a huge pot with water and salt before setting it to boil.

“Wow, that much salt?”

“Oh yeah. Then you don’t need any extra when you sauce it,” she explained.

Elissa figured four pounds of pasta should be enough if Jessica was telling the truth about Shifter appetites. Judging from Hunter’s insatiable lust the previous night, she tended towards believing the pretty redhead. On second thought, she turned and grabbed two more boxes of the 100% pure semolina pasta.

After mixing up the ingredients for meatballs in a giant stainless-steel bowl, Elissa taught Jessica how to scoop and mold them properly. After a while they had roughly six dozen ready for the oven on cookie sheets. Once the ovens reached the correct temperature, in they went.

“This really is some kitchen,” Elissa sighed, and set the timer.

“Wow. I can’t believe we did all this already,” Jessica replied, looking at all the food they’d prepared.

“Wait till you see how I cook for the holidays,” Elissa said, only half joking.

“OMG! I can’t wait. Hunter is going to love this. He’s been looking for a cook for a long time, and the interior designer who worked with him on the renovations thought she was the woman for the job. I have never seen my brother shut down a woman like that, and fast. He never was one to mess around, though he’s had plenty of girlfriends. Oh no, I, I didn’t mean-” she stuttered when Elissa’s face fell.

“It’s okay, Jessica, I mean, of course he’s had experience. I mean, just look at him,” Elissa replied and tried to shrug it off.

The sting of unshed tears had her blinking, and she turned away. Sheesh! Why was she so emotional? She turned back to the fridge to dig out some grated cheese.

“No seriously, Lissa. Hunter hasn’t dated anyone in years. He’s been waiting for his mate all this time. He’s been waiting foryou,” Jessica said in earnest.

Elissa nodded. She wanted to believe her, but it was difficult. How could she compare to a Shifter female? Looking at Jessica’s tall frame and pretty face, Elissa figured she was up against some serious competition when it came to the women he was used to.

“I see what you’re doing, Lissa,” she said and shook her head.

“Don’t go there. Look, I opened my big mouth when I shouldn’t have, but I swear on my mother’s grave, a mated Shifter never ever cheats on his mate. Like never ever. He couldn’t, even if he wanted to. The animal inside of him wouldn’t allow it. Besides, if my brother ever thought about it, I’d kick his ass for you!”

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