Page 53 (1/2)

I move to the side of the counter on the opposite side of the stove fros into a bowl My gaze is drawn to his hands, and I cannot help but think of how expertly he’d touched my body, how expertly he handles a paint brush How expertly he’d kno to keep lances at hts Part ofme feel, but the oldfor no apparent reason "I kno to shop in the frozen food section of rocery store and that’s about it My s in a bowl and adds milk, salt, and pepper "Was your mom too busy to cook or she didn’t like to cook?"

How did I let this conversation start? "My father didn’t like her cooking so she didn’t cook"

He rests a hand on the counter "He cooked?"

"Ah no My father doesn’t do domestic tasks"

He fires up the burner and pours a little oil in the pan "So who cooked? You or a sibling?"

"I’lances at me, a curious expression on his face, and I knohy I’ a siarding my father complicated "We had a private chef" The surprised look on his face one there and Idown on my job"

He hesitates a moment, and I think he wants to push e his rees, "That was the deal I cook You brew"

"Aye, Captain," I say with agreen time at the base of the fancy silver and black pot It reads the early hour of seven-thirty Much too early for the knots in my stomach the family drama confessions I don’t intend to make to form

I set the lid aside and draw in the scent of the coffee and think of Ava for a allery Or, I was drunk andht’ "It smells like…Cup O’ Cafe"

"Not even close," Chris says, joiningmine, and I am bloay by the blast of awareness it creates, and thankful for how quickly it untwines the knot in , and still he does this to me

He inhales the beans and then holds the canister to my nose for me to do the sao in Paris I bring it with me when I come to the States I love the stuff"