“Well, how about you stay for dinner and drinks, and then we’ll see if I can persuadeyou.”
“I’mthe one who persuades,Jace.”
“We’ll see about that.” I started for the kitchen, which was on the other side of the living area, behind the island that jutted out from thewall.
Dax pushed to his feet and headed around the island. He leaned against it as I opened the pantry to see what I could whipup.
“Outside your normal dietary needs, is there anything you’re violently allergic to?” Iqueried.
“Not that I’m aware of. And it’s fine. I’m not going to be a stickler about my diet tonight if we’re going by what you have in yourpantry.”
“Hmmm…” I scanned the boxed noodles, bottles of sauces, and canned goods before heading to the fridge and checking out what I had in there. “I think I’m gonna settle on some fried chicken. You like fried chicken?” I glanced over my shoulder to check out his expression. He shrugged. “Okay, that’s what I’m doing because clearly you’ve never had great friedchicken.”
“I’m fine withit.”
“I’m not okay with this laissez-faire attitude you have about fried chicken, so we’re gonna fix that, aren’t we,Mac?”
Mac was watching me searching through the fridge, and I knew it was because I’d encouraged him with pieces of deli meat and leftovers, something I shouldn’t have gotten him in the habit ofexpecting.
I grabbed some chicken from the fridge and set it beside thestove.
“You wanna peel some potatoes for me? I make some good loadedpotatoes.”
“Yeah, I’ll peel some potatoes,” Dax said with alaugh.
“What? Tell me you’ve peeled potatoesbefore.”
“I…um…” He thought about it for a moment. “No, notreally.”
“What kind of person has never peeled potatoes? And here I thought Nance was a good judge ofcharacter.”
“What do you think of that, Mac?” Dax asked, and as I turned to them, Mac lay down at Dax’sfeet.
“Yeah, I guess he’s not a good judgeeither.”
Dax folded his arms and shook his head, that smile as broad asever.
“I don’t have any martinis here, but you can help yourself to what I have.” I indicated my liquor cabinet on the other side of the room, near the livingarea.
“Oh, this is my department—I’ve got the drinks andpotatoes.”
He headed to the bar and fixed us some vodka and ginger ale while I got the chicken started and put a pot of water on the stove. Then I fetched the potatoes, a peeler, and a bowl and guided him through the process, not able to keep from snickering at the way he was doingit.
“What are you laughing about?” he asked as he sat on the other side of the island, peeling in small pieces around apotato.
“If you just run it along the side of the potato, it’ll be easier. Here.” I demonstrated, sliding it around and then making my way in a spiral down thepotato.
“Oh, got it.” Dax took the potato and peeler back and worked it himself. As I mixed spices and breadcrumbs, he inspected my work. “And the Hottie Firefighter cooks too? Don’t let that leak to the press. Then you’ll really be batting them offyou.”
“Okay, tonight was strange. I admit to getting some attention from all this, but that was more thanusual.”
“I have a feeling it’s just the beginning, Jace. I hope you can handleit.”
“I can handle it alright. Just takes some getting used to,” I said. “Like peelingpotatoes.”
“Jace Kruse, I didn’t have this planned for tonight, but somehow this feels very you. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. I just picture you with a beer in your hand, making dinner for some friends and maybe watching a movie or talking aboutwhatever.”
“That sounds about right. We get out and have our fun, but nothing wrong with settling down around the house for a good time too. My buddies and I get enough action on the job, so we typically like to settle down when we’rehome.”
