"Handmade sausage with garlic, cheesy fennel mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, Caesar salad, and chocolate raspberry lava cake for dessert."
"Yum!"
"How was your date?" Nina asked as she grated parmesan cheese for me.
"I know I should be concentrating on the bake-off, but I can't stop thinking about Jack." I looked around in a slight panic. "Hartleigh isn't here, is she?"
"She's out," Maria said. "So you were telling us about your perfect man?"
"I don't know about perfect," I said. "He doesn't like Christmas—in fact, I think he hates it. He needs some cheering up."
"I suppose you could always give him a blow job," Nina said.
I choked on the piece of lettuce I was eating to taste the Caesar dressing. Slapping me on the back, Nina handed me a glass of water.
"Geeze, I was thinking I would make him dinner."
"He's a billionaire. I'm sure he has people to do that sort of thing," Nina said.
"Maybe. He doesn't seem all that excited about food. He probably drinks that Soylent stuff, you know, you mix up wheat protein, oil, and vitamins or something, and it replaces meals."
"That sounds disgusting," Maria said as she stirred the potatoes.
Nina took a bite of the mashed potatoes. "Perfect."
After dinner, I went for a walk. Even though I had been out with Jack, I was still shy of my step goal.
It was freezing, and there weren't any Santas out. I stayed close to Frost Tower, walking briskly down the blocks surrounding the building.
"I thought I told you not to be out here at night by yourself," said a man's gruff voice.
I yelped. A husky barked.
My hand clasped to my chest, I laughed. "Jack! You can't keep scaring me!"
He was grinning down at me, his silver-white hair reflecting the lamplight.
"Are you stalking me?" I demanded.
"No, of course not," he said.
"Then how did you know I would be out here?"
"I didn't," he protested. "Milo wanted to go on a walk."
"The next time I'm in your penthouse, I'm going to check out your view. I bet you can see everything from up there."
"The next time," he said, a crooked grin on his face. "So I didn't scare you." He reached out, pulling me closer to him. "You want to come back up and finish what I started?"
The palms of my hands were pressed against his chest. He smelled clean, like melted snow and basil. He looked down at me, his eyes daring me to tilt my head up and close the distance between us.
"I was just going to cook you a nice meal," I said.
"Cook me food?" His expression changed from hot desire to curiosity.
"You seem like you need it," I told him. "Lonely bachelor with only his billions and his dog to keep him company."
He tucked me under his arm again and escorted me back to the tower.
