I padded across the living room, still dressed in yesterday’s clothes.
“Ouch!” This time, he added a sharp word. I didn’t recognize his language, but I guessed I had just learned my first swear word in it.
“What are you doing?” I asked, rubbing the kink in my neck.
He turned around, holding the spatula as if he intended to spank me with it.
Now there was a silly thought.
“Trying to cook bacon.”
“You’re going to set off the fire alarm.” I noticed the red spots on his chest from the bacon grease popping. “Maybe you should put on an apron. Haven’t you ever fried bacon before?” Another plume of smoke billowed from the pan. “Turn down the heat before you start a grease fire!”
Tak rotated the dial until the burner clicked off. He scooped up the black pieces of bacon, a scowl on his face as he searched for the trash can.
I went to the island and sat down to watch the giant wandering around my kitchen in my blue sarong.
“I’m a good cook,” he insisted, putting a lid over the pan. “I’m just not used to your stove. Something’s wrong with it. Fire doesn’t come from the burners.”
“They’re electric. We don’t have gas stoves in this building.”
After Tak opened the kitchen window, he sat across from me. I couldn’t take my eyes off his massive shoulders as he rested his forearms on the countertop and stared at the door.
“Are you expecting someone?” I asked.
“You don’t have any eggs. I was craving eggs.”
“We have eggs. I keep them in the bottom drawer since Lakota likes easy access to all his meat. We probably eat more processed food than we should.”
He kept looking to my right. “Do you want me to make some?”
“You’re the guest. It’s not right for you to cook anything for me.”
He shrugged. “I’m not an invited guest. You saved my wolf. The least I can do is to cook you a meal.”
Why wouldn’t he look at me? Having a conversation with his profile was awkward and unnecessary, so I stood up and rounded the island. As I passed by him, I gently touched his shoulder. “You don’t have to hide your face for my benefit. I’ve already seen your tattoo.”
“I was just saving your appetite.”
“It doesn’t bother me. Do you want any leftover pizza?”
“I don’t eat that stuff.”
I dumped the cold pizza into the trash and set the empty box against the wall. All the excitement from the night before must have done a number on me. Maybe a little food in my belly would alleviate my headache. I found the carton of eggs in the fridge and a package of cheese. “Omelets it is.”
“Cheese? That’s not how you make an omelet.” Tak rose from his seat and pulled veggies from the fridge before he took my cutting board hostage. “Set the fire, and I’ll do the rest.”
I found it curious that Tak couldn’t manage something as simple as an electric stove. But from what Melody had told me, Shikoba’s people were self-sustaining and had few modern luxuries. They probably canned food, made jerky, and roasted fresh game over an open fire. Just imagining it made me envious.
I put a clean skillet on the stove and moved the dirty bacon pan into the sink.
Butter sizzled when he dropped it into the hot skillet.
“Cast-iron skillets are better,” he remarked. “These never last.”
I regarded him as he cut into a green bell pepper. Even barefoot he was so much taller than me. “My sarong looks good on you.”
Tak had a way of smiling with his eyes that sent goose bumps across my skin. “You think? Maybe I’ll start a fashion trend with the warriors in my tribe.”
