Chapter 45 Maeve
MAEVE
I opened the cupboard in the kitchen and pulled out the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt, then checked our supply against my planned menu for Christmas. It was only nine days away, and I needed to start prepping the food.
I would spend the afternoon with my family, then come back to the loft for Christmas dinner with the Butchers, and I wanted to make it nice for them.
Even Bram.
He’d been… well, nice might not be the word but definitely nicer since our date.
He didn’t ignore me anymore and he even tried to be helpful from time to time, handing me things in the kitchen and asking if he could do anything when I was cooking, which was pretty funny because I was pretty sure Bram didn’t know how to boil water.
And I hadn’t been very nice after Rafe and Lilah’s visit. Bram had been right: we needed to be smart. I’d just gotten carried away on the excitement of confirming Ethan Todd was at the house on the mountain.
I would make my brattiness up to the Butchers by making them an amazing Christmas dinner.
I was planning a turkey since I hadn’t been there for Thanksgiving.
I was also planning an array of side dishes and several desserts, the most elaborate of which was a Black Forest cake with stabilized whipped cream filling.
“Hey,” Remy said, entering the kitchen. He bent to kiss me — something that had become more common and kind of freaked me out — on his way to the fridge. “I thought you had a shift today.”
“It starts at two,” I said, adding flour to the grocery list on my phone. “And I made your smoothies already.”
He came back to where I stood at the island and pulled me into his arms. “Have I told you lately that you’re the best?”
I looked up at him. “I can’t remember.”
“Well, you’re the best.” He kissed me again, but this time it was long and slow, his tongue tangling with mine until heat blossomed between my thighs. He pulled away with a groan. “Maybe you should call in sick.”
“After that, I’d love to. But I can’t do that to them.”
Holiday shopping was in full swing and the store was crazy busy.
He removed one of the smoothies from the fridge and leaned against the counter. “You could just quit you know.”
“Quit… my job?”
He nodded. “You don’t need it. We can take care of you.”
I shook my head. “That’s an insane thing to say, Remy.”
“Not if I mean it. Besides, then you could get a job in a kitchen if that’s what you wanted. Or maybe you could open your own place like Rock. Or even a bakery.”
“It costs crazy money to open a restaurant,” I said. “Or even a bakery.”
He tipped the smoothie to his lips. “Believe it or not, we have crazy money.”
I scowled. “Stop it.”
He shrugged. “Something to think about.”
My stomach churned as he finished his smoothie, and I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of my kitchen inventory. It wasn’t the money, the ability to quit my job that was enticing.
It was the unspoken part of the deal: that I would stay with the Butchers.
My heart beat faster and my face felt flushed.
I was relieved when Remy’s phone rang and I didn’t have to make small talk.
“What’s up?” he said into the phone.
I could hear the timbre of a male voice on the other end of the line but couldn’t make out the words.
“Damn,” he said. “That sucks. What would I have to do?”
I looked at him, wondering if it was about his family. Work calls were usually brief and terse, and when they weren’t, the Butchers took them in another room.
“And it’s tonight?” he asked.
“I can do it,” he said. “I’m sure.”
He listened again, then laughed. “I’ll bring the Hummer. See you then.”
He slipped his phone in his pocket.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“My parents both have the flu. Someone needs to take their chaperone gig at Owen’s winter formal.”
It took me a second to realize what he was saying, mostly because it was really weird to think of Remy being the responsible adult at a high school dance. “You’re going to chaperone the dance?”
“Owen asked.” Remy grinned. "So what do you say, killer? Will you be my date for the winter formal?”