“Donotopen that oven,” he said when her hand had moved toward the handle. “You’ll let heat out and mess them up.”
“But—”
“They’ll be fine,” Rasker assured her. “Trust the process.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who cremated the last batch.”
He laughed, and Holly decided she liked the sound of it. It was different from his too-smooth consultant voice, warmer and more real.
The timer chimed. Holly put on some oven mitts, held her breath, and opened the oven door.
The muffins were golden. Perfectly golden, with domed tops and visible blueberries peeking through the surface.
“Oh,” Holly breathed. “They could have come from a NuProd.”
Rasker grunted. “They’ll taste better than anything from a NuProd. You’ll see.”
She pulled out the tin and set it on the counter, yanked off the mitts, and immediately reached for a muffin.
“Wait.” Rasker caught her wrist. “They need to rest.”
“But…hmm.” Her wrist tingled where he held it in a loose grip. “Why?”
He released her and stepped away, as if her skin was what had just come from the oven. “They just do. Look at the recipe.”
She did, and it did say to wait, but she did so with impatience. The smell was incredible. Buttery vanilla and warm fruit. Her mouth watered.
“Now?” she asked after what felt like an eternity but was probably two minutes.
Rasker rolled his eyes. “Oh, just go for it.”
Holly popped one from the tin, admired it for a moment, then bit into it.
Flavor exploded across her tongue. The muffin was tender and light, nothing like the dense, charred lumps from before, and nothing like the offerings of a NuProd. The blueberries burst with sweetness, their juice mingling with the buttery crumb. It was simple and perfect and exactly what a muffin should be.
“Oh, mystars,” she said, rolling her eyes. “This is delicious. Can you send me this recipe?”
“Sure.”
“And why are you just standing there?” She held a hand over her mouth as she spoke around a mouthful. “Eat one.”
He selected one for himself and took a bite. “Mmm. They turned out perfect.”
“Theydid.” She took another bite, then another, barely pausing to chew. “Oh,stars. I didn’t realize how hungry I was for something that wasn’t porridge.”
When she looked up, Rasker was watching her.
His expression was strange. Soft in a way she hadn’t seen before. His winter-sky eyes had thawed to a warm gray. A small smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“What?” Holly asked, suddenly self-conscious.
“Nothing.” He shook his head slightly. “You have sweetener powder on your nose.”
She wiped at it with the back of her hand. “Better?”
“Not really. Here.” He reached up and ran a finger over the side of her nose, into the indent beside her nostril. And paused before letting his hand fall away. “Sorry. You eat with such joy. It’s beautiful to watch.”
They were standing close. She wasn’t sure when that had happened. Or when the kitchen had shrunk to the size ofa broom closet. Breathing normally was a problem, all of a sudden.
