“So, what are you going to make?” Grey made her way to the barstools on the other side of the counter so that Lauren had the room she needed to work.
Lauren pulled a Ziploc bag full of scallops that she had picked up that morning from the fridge, along with an onion and another baggie filled with an assortment of mushrooms, and set it all on the counter in front of Grey. “Scallops and mushroom risotto.”
“So…fancy rice.”
“It’s really not,” Lauren said, shaking her head as she pulled out a cutting board. “Actually, could you grab me two large boxes of beef broth and the Arborio rice from the pantry?”
Grey nodded and slipped off her stool to retrieve the requested items. “Why beef?” she asked as she set it all onto the counter beside Lauren.
Lauren nodded her thanks and began dicing the onion. “I could use vegetable broth, but the beef broth pairs well with the mushrooms and adds a better flavor to the dish. If anyone was vegetarian, I would go with the other, but since I’m not working around that restriction, I just like this way better.”
“Okay.” Grey retook her seat opposite Lauren and watched with open interest at how quickly she was able to cut up the onion. “That’s impressive.”
Lauren looked up at Grey through her lashes and smiled as she pushed the pile of onion she had just diced into a pile at the corner of the cutting board. “Thank you.” She dumped the bag of mushrooms onto the cutting board and gave them a rough chop into large, bite-sized pieces. “You want to help with the risotto?”
“You don’t trust me with regular rice, but you’re going to trust me with risotto?”
“I am offering to teach you how to make risotto.”
“Will you be pressed up against my back helping me stir?” Grey asked with a sultry smile.
“I could be,” Lauren chuckled. “Would you like that?”
Grey laughed and nodded. “Probably way too much,” she admitted. “But I’m game if you are.”
“Okay.” Lauren set a large saucepan and a medium-sized stockpot onto the stove. “You can pour the broth into the saucepan,” she instructed as she pulled a knob of butter from the fridge and dumped it into the stockpot. She drizzled a two-count of oil on top of the butter and turned on the flame.
“Now what?” Grey asked once she had finished with the stock.
Lauren handed Grey a wooden spoon and reached in front of her to turn the flame on under the stock. She moved behind Grey and whispered in her ear, “Start by sautéing the onions.”
“Oh, I’m gonna like this,” Grey murmured as a shiver rolled down her spine.
“Me too.”
“Ooh, what are you making?” a new voice called out.
Lauren’s stomach dropped as she turned and found Lily standing on the other side of the peninsula with the now-empty appetizer platter in her hands. “Mushroom risotto.”
“Is it hard?” Lily asked, clearly intrigued.
“Not at all.” Lauren looked at Grey and sighed. “You want to watch? I was just going to teach Grey how to make it.”
Lily grinned and nodded. “Yes, please. That would be great.”
“And here we go again with the cockblocks,” Grey muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Lauren to hear.
“We weren’t going there right now anyways.” Lauren laughed and gave Grey’s hip a light squeeze. “Besides, you have to admit that this is better than puke-a-palooza.”
Grey shuddered and nodded in agreement. “Anything is better than that.”
“So what do you do first?” Lily asked as she sidled up beside Lauren and Grey at the range and peered into the two pots.
“Well—” Lauren took a discreet step away from Grey so that she was no longer pressed against her back, “—you start by sautéing an onion, which is what Grey’s doing now.”
Forty minutes later, Lauren looked over the eight perfectly-plated dishes of risotto and scallops and smiled as she gave Lily a high five. “It looks awesome.”
“Thank you for teaching me how to make it,” Lily said with a small tip of her head. She looked at Grey, who was on the other side of the counter, preparing to take the dishes outside, and added, “I’m sorry I took over your lesson.”
