“Do I just warm it until it melts?” he asks.
“I think so. I’ve never done this.”
“I doubt we want it to boil. I’ll just warm it to start.”
As Arisanna watches, he hovers his hand over the bowl, and the caramel squares slowly melt into a puddle.
“That’s probably good.” She lifts one of the apples and dips it in the melted caramel, swirling it around to coat the entire apple. It’s not pretty like the ones the cook at Levina makes, but it looks close enough. “Here.”
She hands the apple to Cerian, and he eyes it uncertainly. “This doesn’t look appetizing. I believe you just ruined a perfectly good apple.”
“You haven’t even tried it.”
“My eyes have tried it. And it’s drippy.” He holds it over the bowl, and she frowns. Perhaps it needs to cool.
“Maybe you should take off your shirt.”
He swings his eyes toward her. “Maybe I should take off my shirt?”
“So you don’t drip caramel on it?” She shrugs.
“I don’t want caramel on me, either!”
“You’re easier to clean.”
They stare at each other for a few moments.
Then he looks down at her gown, and a flush creeps up her neck.
“Oh, it stopped dripping. I think it just needed to cool a bit.” She reaches for the other apple to dip, willing her cheeks to return to their usual color.
Why is she even blushing? Because he was thinking about her getting caramel on her gown? Or not getting caramel on her gown?
Because he was thinking about her without her gown?
She’s still blushing. She needs to stop doing that. She definitely wasn’t wearing her shimmeron dress this morning. Stars above.
“You must love caramel,” Cerian says.
“What?” She snaps her gaze to her apple, which is now drenched in caramel and dripping all over the bowl. Good heavens.
“Perhaps you should take off your gown.” He whispers the words near her ear, and her lips twitch as she tries not to smile. Or turn beet red.
“It just needs to cool.”
“I could warm it up again.”
She swings her eyes toward him. “Cerian!”
His smile falters a little. He’s as unsure of himself as she is in this new part of their relationship they’re exploring. Perhaps they just need to relax. Both of them.
She pokes him in the ribs, and his smile returns.
“You started this, oh mighty Arisanna,” he says.
“Hush and eat your apple. I think you’re stalling.”
“I can’t deny it because that would be a lie.”
