Page 37 of Forever Fickle

She never expected to be hosting a guy at her place… much less having him cook.

“Where’s the hot pads?” Jace said suddenly, interrupting her thoughts.

“Drawer,” she replied, pointing beside him.

He got them out, pulled the garlic from the oven, and poured it into a bowl – before squeezing the foil it had been wrapped in. The softened cloves fell into the oil and had browned nicely. It all smelled so incredible… drawing her over to where he was working.

He glanced up at her and smiled, before continuing to work. He took a fork and was mashing the garlic cloves, before turning to remove the bacon from the skillet. Getting out a pot, he filled it with water and turned on another burner.

“That smells divine…” she breathed, fascinated. “Is there anything I can do?”

“You could open the wine,” Jace invited, turning back to scrape the bacon drippings before adding some of the garlic to the grease. “Do you have mayo?”

“Yeah, in the fridge.”

“Okay, thanks.”

The pan was splattering and Jace cracked open a few eggs, adding it to the cheese in the bowl. Getting out the mayo, he immediately began slathering it on the bread.

“Hey… I thought you said garlic bread?” she balked immediately and then flushed with embarrassment at his smile.

“Trust me… it’s a trick I learned over the years,” he uttered, continuing to cover both sides of the bread with mayo before putting dollops of garlic and egg/cheese mixture in the spaces between the bread. She watched as he wrapped it in foil and set the entire loaf on the bottom rack of the oven to bake.

Karen opened the wine and set the bottle beside him, only to see his smile.

“What?”

“It’s for us to drink with dinner – not to cook with,” he offered, looking so at home and relaxed. “But I’m happy to have an amazing helper in the kitchen. This is really nice.”

“I can honestly say that I’m truly enjoying the preferential treatment,” she teased. “I’ve heard about guys cooking before, but there might be something to all of this…”

“Oh really?”

“C’mon…” she laughed openly, smiling at him as she poured the wine. “We both know you’ve cooked for other women before, haven’t you?”

“I guess I have,” Jace admitted. “My mom and my sister.”

“What?” Karen said, stunned and looking up at him, while pouring the second glass. “You’ve never cooked for other women before?”

“Wine…” he prompted quickly.

She pulled the bottle back just before it spilled. Setting the bottle down, she looked at him in disbelief as he used a wooden spatula to start melting the cheese mixture in the skillet.

“Really?”

“Yeah…” he began quietly. “I don’t meet a lot of people that I would want to get to know past the introduction. I mean, you don’t meet a girl you want to bring home in bars, you know? They are fun to talk to, get drunk with, but that’s about it.”

“Why are you here then?”

“Because this time I met a girl that I’d want to bring home someday…” he replied without looking at her, as he pulled the limp noodles from the water with a set of tongs, adding it to the skillet. “I wasn’t anticipating meeting her, but she threw a very obvious sign at me when I least expected it.”

“Ha…” she said bravely, trying to play off his words and keep them from taking root in her heart. “You just like the chase, Jace Sorensen, and we both know it.”

“Sure,” he said evasively, stirring the skillet. “Ilovethe chase… but for the first time in my life? I’ve seen the finish line and it’s a little more appealing to me.”

“We barely know each other,” she sputtered.

“Which is why we are taking our time.”

---