We rarely stored leftovers when I cooked, though.
It was something that I carried around with pride.
I kept stealing glances over at her while she flipped the bacon in the pan. Every once in a while, she pulled the pan off the stove and dumped the grease into a little foil dish she had made for herself. I took a moment just to study her. The way she had to lift her elbows just to use the stove properly because she was so short. The way she yipped a bit and dodged the popping hot grease. The way she worried her lower lip with her tongue while dropping fresh bacon into the pan.
I moved before I had a chance to correct myself. “Here, you’ve got some…”
She whipped her head in my direction, sending that black hair of hers fluttering about her head. I reached my thumb out, moving slowly in case she swatted my hand away.
But she didn’t.
“What?” she asked. “I got something on my face?”
“Just a bit of grease,” I said as my thumb ventured closer.
She simply stood there, though.
Watching me.
Like she waited.
My thumb slid along her cheek, carrying with it the small dollop of grease that splattered onto her tan skin.
She had a beautiful complexion.
So soft.
I cleared my throat and turned my attention to the strips of eggplant. I wiped my hand off on my pants. “Just gotta blot these off, and then I’ll be ready for that pan.”
“Yeah, yeah. Right. Just got a few more strips to fry off.”
“Sounds good. I’ll get a pot boiling with some salt in it.”
“Salt it like the ocean. Three times what you’d normally put in it for boxed noodles.”
I wasn’t sure when the hell I started taking orders from her, but I simply nodded. “Fifteen cups of salt, coming up.”
“Fucking hell, Bee, we’re not trying to stop everyone’s heart tonight, my guy. I just didn’t put salt in the noodles when I made them. That’s all.”
I grinned as I pulled a pot out from the drawer. “I’ll salt it until the water’s murky. Fresh noodles don’t cook long, right?”
She nodded her head. “Right. I’ll roll out the dough and shape it up while you’re dealing with the veggies and sauce, and then all I’ll have to do is drop them into the boiling water for two minutes.”
Working alongside her in the kitchen was much more comfortable than I wanted to admit. Hell, if I knew she had skills in the kitchen, I would have enlisted her services sooner. She had a way about her that screamed grace despite the fact that she walked with a heavy foot just like her brother did. She whirled around the kitchen like she owned the fucking place, and I had a hard time not staring.
But before I knew it, we dumped everything together, swirling it around in the homemade alfredo sauce I whipped up, and pulling out drinks from the fridge.
“Dinner’s readyyyyyy!” Anna bellowed through the safehouse.
Before the sound of rushing footsteps engaged in our direction.
7
ANNA
I stepped out of the way just as the stampede hit the kitchen. I stood by the fridge, opening it up every time someone came over for a drink.
And the entire time, I kept stealing glances at Brutus.
