His lips twitched, as if he knew exactly what she was fishing for. Releasing his grip on her arm, he held his hands wide. “As you see, I’m at your disposal.”
The temptation was so great to slug him right in the jaw that Amaryllis felt a wave of nausea wash over her when she tamped it. She really, really didn’t want to go into the kitchen with him, but she was just as reluctant to bear up his low opinion of her. “Fine!” she said tightly, turning and stalking to the kitchen.
He followed her at a leisurely pace. She was tapping her foot on the tile floor impatiently when he arrived. Ignoring the obvious signs of temper, he began by instructing her on the equipment.
“I got that already from the ‘bot.”
He ignored that, too, continuing until he’d demonstrated each appliance. When he’d finished, he turned to look at her. “Now. We’ll start with something simple. Can you boil water?”
Her temper was already on slow boil. She gave him a narrow eyed look. “You put water in a pot and set it over the heat, right?” she said sarcastically.
He nodded and crossed his arms. She stared back at him for several moments, but she could see he wasn’t going to say anything else until she’d shown him. Snatching a pot from the rack, she filled it with water and slammed it down on the cooking top. When she’d switched it on, she stood over the pot, staring down at the water. It didn’t seem to be doing much of anything. “How do you know when it’s boiling?” she asked finally.
“You could always stick your finger in it to test the temperature.”
“Very funny.”
He moved to the refrigerating unit and removed a tray of eggs. “When it’s bubbling and churning.”
It was a rocky start to say the least and Amaryllis was convinced he was just trying—and succeeding really well—to make her feel stupid and useless. The lecture became more interesting, however, when he began placing the eggs in the pot and explaining the different dishes she could make with cooked eggs.
She did so well with the first couple of recipes she tried she decided she was pretty darned good at it. She threw a grin at Cain. “This wasn’t too hard.”
His lips twitched. Lifting one finger, he flicked a crumb of egg yolk off one cheek. “Aside from the kitchen looking like a battle zone, you seem to catch on quickly.”
Amaryllis glanced around self-consciously and saw that he hadn’t exaggerated a great deal. “Guess I’ll have to work on the technique,” she said wryly.
He picked up a stuffed egg and held it up to her. “The real test is here—the taste.”
Amaryllis studied it doubtfully but finally took a bite. Relief flooded her. “It’s good!” she said happily. “It really is. Teach me something else. Something—grander. Really impressive. Dante and Reese are going to be so surprised when….”
It was unnerving to see how quickly he transformed from amusing companion to frozen wasteland. He smiled thinly. “Another day, perhaps. I need to get back to my study.”
Amaryllis felt her jaw go slack in stunned surprise. As he turned and strode away, she called out to him. “Cain?”
He stopped at the door, turning to look at her questioningly, but his expression wasn’t at all welcoming and she found she couldn’t gather up the nerve to ask him what she really wanted to ask. She forced a smile. “Thank you.”
When he’d gone, she stared absently at the food on the counter for a while and finally put it into containers and set it inside the refrigerating unit. The encounter left her feeling uneasy and guilty, vaguely angry and confused.
She missed having him to talk to, having him tease her. It had nothing to do with being lonely, or having no one to talk to now, though. It was Cain she missed and she couldn’t figure out how to get through that stone wall he was steadily building between them.
She couldn’t think it was because he wanted sex and needed that outlet. If he had, he had only to ask, and he knew it. For that matter, he didn’t actually have to ask. He could have come to her room.
She’d wanted spontaneity but had realized being completely spontaneous could create problems. Reese was fighting a running battle with possessiveness. If she’d left things completely up in the air, Reese would have planted himself firmly in her bed and challenged anyone that wanted to take his place.
She’d told both Reese and Dante that, since Gallen had an eight day week, three nights of the week were hers. Period. She could spend them alone, or, if she wanted to spend the night with one of them, she’d do the choosing. She’d given each of them a special night that would be theirs alone and the remaining two nights were up for grabs—for spontaneity.
She had never quite gotten up the nerve to tell Cain which night was his, but she knew the three of them had discussed it. She’d heard them.
But Cain hadn’t come to claim his nights yet.
Irritated, Amaryllis concentrated on cleaning up the worst of the mess she’d made, summoned the ‘bot to clean the rest, and went up to her room to bathe. Dante and Reese would be back soon. She might not have anything special to offer them, but she figured edible was pretty special considering her last couple of attempts to feed the crew.
She mulled over the problem with Cain while she soaked. She wasn’t much for subtlety. She far preferred just to go straight for the root of a problem and make a hole. Unfortunately, she just hadn’t been able to bring herself to force a confrontation on Cain.
Indifference? Or jealousy? That was the real question.
She decided if she couldn’t find the spine to demand to know point blank, then there had to be a way to find out which of the two it was—short of provoking a fight.
