“Why don't you all play hide-and-seek?” he said to the Svensson brothers. “I'll help Holly cook.”
“You don't know how to cook,” Davy insisted before Isaac picked him up.
“See, this is why I need a large condo,” Owen said matter-of-factly after the boys and Rudolph scampered off.
I snorted and took the chicken from the fridge. I was very aware of Owen in the kitchen with me. Usually I was not an anxious person. I liked to think that my time in the restaurant trenches had made me impervious. Owen, however, was making me slightly nervous. He watched me intently as I moved around the kitchen. I was starting to rethink the decision to offer to cook.
“I was thinking,” I said, starting to ramble to fill the intense silence. “I'm going to make fried chicken strips and a big salad, but I should probably make some carbs, or they're going to be hungry again in an hour. I guess you don't have any pasta? But at least you have cheese. That's something.” I opened the fridge and bent over, pawing through the cheese drawer. There were blocks of various kinds of cheese. I found some sausage as well.
A strangled cough came from Owen's direction.
“You can spare some cheese,” I said, picking up several large pieces. “Hopefully you don't mind me using all of it?”
“Not at all. It was left over from the premiere ofThe Great Christmas Bake-Offlast night,” he explained as I dumped the ingredients on the counter.
I'd spent the last several years living in tiny shared apartments. I'd never had this much counter space all to myself. I wanted to just sprawl on the marble, but that might be weird.
“I can have pasta brought here if you need it,” Owen offered.
“Like, Santa brings it?”
He smirked. “Like I can ask the concierge to go purchase some.”
“That seems excessive. You have eggs, flour, and salt, so I can make it,” I assured him as I cleared off the counter. “Why do you have so much flour, by the way?”
“Part of an experiment,” he said gruffly.
“Uh-huh.” I narrowed my eyes at him, but he didn't crack.
“I’m going to makespätzle, a German pasta,” I told him, dumping cups of flour on the counter. I made a well in the flour and added the wet ingredients. “I just have to brown it in a skillet and add cheese sauce. Everyone loves it.”
“Do you need help?” Owen offered, undoing the cuff links on his shirt and rolling up his sleeves.
“Um, sure.” I swallowed. The tendons and muscles on his forearms rippled as he began mixing the flour, eggs, salt, milk, and white pepper together.
“Am I doing it right?” he asked, noticing me watching.
“Yeah, just use your hands to really work it,” I said, lightly placing my hand over his much larger one. “Don't be afraid to be forceful. This isn't pastry dough. It likes it rough.”
“It does, does it?” he murmured, his breath drifting across the back of my neck.
I turned my head and was caught in his gaze. I took a breath, inhaling that clean masculine scent like basil and fresh snow. “I'm going to make the—” I gestured helplessly to the stove.
I started making the cheese sauce while Owen made the dough. While I cubed the cheddar, Gruyère, and other cheeses he had in his fridge, I also heated the oil to fry the chicken tenders. Some wise soul had built a literal deep fryer into the counter. As a self-proclaimed fried food junkie, I was in heaven.
While I worked, I snuck glances behind me. Watching Owen knead the dough with his hands, the way his broad shoulders tapered down to his waist, was doing… things to me.
“Is this going to be enough?” he asked, gesturing to the balls of dough stacked on the counter.
“Sure! Plus you have some meat that I'm adding. You have a really nice, thick sausage, which is just what I like!” I said cheerfully.
26
Owen
Icouldn't quite tell how Holly felt toward me. If the kids hadn’t been there, I probably would have pushed her against the counter and slid my hands up that impossibly sexy dress. While that would let me know immediately one way or the other how she felt, I forced myself to remain in control.
“The nice thing about spätzle,” Holly said, demonstrating how to make the small noodles, “is that you don't have to use a special machine to make the shapes, you simply roll it out. It should be rustic and handmade.”
