Chapter Eight
Alex had just gotten out of the shower when the doorbell rang. He hastily wrapped a towel around his waist, then padded through his bedroom to the window. Joshua’s truck was parked behind his car.
Damn it. I should have let him know.
Alex opened the window and yelled, “The door’s open.
Come on in.” Then he yanked the window shut.
The cold air chilled his damp skin. He waited until he heard the snick of the front door closing.
“Hey. Sorry about this, but I’m running a little late.
I got held up at the office. I just got out of the shower. ”
“Hey, no problem,” Joshua called out. “Where can I put the groceries?”
“Head toward the rear of the house and turn left. You’ll be in the kitchen.
” Alex rubbed himself dry as fast as he could, then squirmed into the pair of jeans he’d left on the bed.
He pulled on a white T-shirt and covered it with a dark blue sweater.
Once last look in the mirror, and he concluded he’d pass muster—once he’d applied the teeniest amount of gel to that bit of hair that always stood up at the front.
He walked through into the kitchen, where Joshua was unpacking the contents of a plastic bag. He glanced up and grinned as Alex approached. “You didn’t mention your house was in Sleepy Hollow.”
“And what’s so amusing about that?” Like Alex didn’t know what was coming.
“Oh, come on.” Joshua’s eyes widened. “All those cute road names? Ichabod Avenue? Van Ripper Street? Hessian Street? Man, you even live on Brom Street.”
“Who was Brom?”
“Wasn’t he Katrina’s suitor or something? It’s been years since I read that.” Joshua shook his head. “I remember when the movie came on TV and Micah begged to watch it. I think he saw more of the pillow he was holding in front of his face than the TV screen.”
Alex laughed. “I’m gonna pour myself a drink. Can I get you something?”
“You got a soda? Seeing as I’m driving.”
“Sure.” Alex went over to the refrigerator and removed two cans of soda. “I might join you. The day I’ve had, if I start on the alcohol now, I might not stop.”
“Bad day?” Joshua neatly folded the bag and placed it in the pocket of his leather jacket.
Alex couldn’t help noticing how well it fit him, hugging the contours of his body.
Then he kicked himself mentally for thinking like that.
He’s a friend, right? Then he reasoned. Joshua might well be a friend, but Alex wasn’t blind: Joshua was a good-looking man.
He liked the way Joshua’s hair was pure silver at the temples, while the rest of his hair was streaked with it, short all over but for that bit at the front sticking straight up.
The he spied the single flat stud in Joshua’s left ear. How come I never noticed that before?
The next thing to cross his mind was a flash of regret. Damn. Gorgeous, just the right age—and straight.
Joshua cleared his throat. “Sorry. I forgot the rule. No talking about work.” He put his hands on his hips and surveyed the ingredients. “So. How you wanna do this? Dinner then cheesecake, or vice versa?”
“I think we said dinner first, but unless you’re absolutely starving, maybe it’s best to make the cheesecake first. It takes about four hours to chill until it’s set.” Alex peered at him. “Is that okay?”
“Sure. It’s not like you’re tearing me away from my busy social calendar.” Joshua’s eyes sparkled. “So what do I do first?”
Alex gestured to his jacket. “You might want to take that off. Cooking can get messy sometimes.” He waited while Joshua shrugged off the dark brown jacket that matched his eyes, then placed it over the back of a high chair.
“Should I be wearing an apron?”
Alex hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t have an apron. The problem was what was on it. “Sure.” He reached into a nearby drawer and handed Joshua the folded apron.
Joshua shook it open, before giving Alex an amused glance. “I… see.” He smirked.
“It was a gift, all right?”
Joshua snickered. “Saying nothing.” He put the apron over his head and tied it at his back. “That better?”
The sight of Joshua wearing a black apron emblazoned with the words I RUB MY MEAT FOR TWO MINUTES…
but enough about my grilling secrets! was enough to have him biting back his snort.
Alex cleared his throat, before reaching into a cabinet and pulled out the tin.
“We’re going to make it in this. First things first, you need the crust.” He pointed to the scales already waiting on the countertop.
“Weigh out three ounces of butter, and then take out all of those chocolate wafers, put them in a plastic bag, and bash them with the rolling pin. You want them to end up as crumbs.”
Joshua shrugged. “Okay, I’m no expert, as I think we both know, but… don’t you normally use Graham crackers for a cheesecake crust? Why these?” He brandished the box of wafers.
Alex smiled. “Think about it. You’re going to mix chocolate-coated wafer crumbs with melted butter.
The chocolate will melt, and it’ll all stick together beautifully for the crust.” When Joshua licked his lips, Alex chuckled.
“Aha. You like that idea.” He pulled open a drawer, removed a plastic bag, and handed it to Joshua. “Get bashing.”
Minutes later, Joshua was pounding on the defenseless wafers with glee. “This is sort of… therapeutic.”
Alex laughed. “I get the same feeling when I’m bashing turkey fillets to get them nice and thin, before I coat them with flour and breadcrumbs, and then fry them gently.”
Joshua rolled his eyes. “Can you stop saying things that make my mouth water? I mean, I wasn’t starving when I walked in here, but Jesus, Alex!”
He made a mime of zipping his lips. “I’ll melt the butter in the microwave.”
When Joshua had thoroughly mixed the butter and crumbs, he pressed the concoction into the base of the tin, using the back of a metal spoon, before placing it in the refrigerator to chill. “What’s next?”
Alex got a saucepan from one cabinet, and two glass bowls from another. Then he pointed to the carton of heavy cream. “You’re going to whip that until it’s stiff. You’ll find the hand mixer in that cabinet above your head.”
Joshua poured the liquid into one of the bowls, then retrieved the mixer. “I think we’ve got one of these at home somewhere. Not that I’ve ever used it. Rachel—my wife—used to ban me from the kitchen when she was cooking.”
Alex bit his lip. “Ah, I get it now. You’re dangerous in a kitchen.”
Joshua gave him a hard stare. “Oh, come on. I mean, what’s so difficult about whisking cream?
” He lowered the two beaters into the bowl, and switched it onto its lowest setting.
Joshua grinned. “See? Child’s play.” He nudged the speed up a notch or two.
“I don’t know why my kids complain about me in the kitchen.
I can cope just fine.” Another notch. “This is easy.” Another notch, and he reached the seventh and highest speed.
“Sure, you just have to remember to keep your eyes on what you’re doing and not lift the—”
“What was that? I didn’t catch that.”
Suddenly, the kitchen—and Joshua—was spattered with cream.
Alex sighed. “Not lift the beaters out of the cream without turning it off first.”
Joshua glared at him. “You think you might have mentioned that before we got started?”
Alex tried not to laugh as he tore off a square of kitchen paper towel and wiped the cream from Joshua’s eyebrows, cheeks and lips, not to mention the few drops that had reached his hair. Joshua’s lips twitched, and seconds later he was laughing. The sound was so infectious, Alex had to join in.
“If you could have seen yourself,” Alex murmured, removing the last spots of cream.
“I think I’m glad I didn’t.” Joshua glanced at the countertops and sighed. “Jesus, it looks like it snowed in here.”
“Not for much longer.” Alex grabbed a cloth and wiped down all the surfaces. “Now. Ready to continue?”
“That depends. Will the next part be as messy?”
He laughed. “Only if you lift the beaters again. Finish whisking the cream.”
Joshua got on with the task, this time never once taking his eyes off the bowl. When the cream began to thicken, Alex moved closer. “Okay, When you can switch off the mixer and leave stiff peaks in the cream when you lift the beaters, you’re done.”
Joshua spent another couple of minutes whisking, until he was apparently happy with the results.
Alex nodded. “Okay, put that bowl aside, along with the mixer. You’ve done the technical part.
Put a couple of inches of water into that saucepan, then set it on the stove on a low heat.
Put the large glass bowl over it, and break the bars of white chocolate into small pieces and place them in the bowl. ”
Joshua did as instructed. “Now this, I can do.”
“I did say it was a really easy recipe. I just hadn’t expected you to be so…”
“Mechanically challenged?” Joshua suggested with a gleam in his eyes. “You wanna know what’s really weird about this? I remodeled our house. I’m pretty handy with a saw or a hammer or a drill. But put me in a kitchen, and I morph into this… geek.”
Alex handed him a spatula. “Let’s see how you do with one of these.”
Joshua took it and scraped the chocolate off the sides of the bowl as it gently melted. “Why do it this way?”
“It’s better than doing it in the microwave. We just want to melt the chocolate, not cook it. And when it’s all melted, you’re going to beat in all the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and sugar. Then all that’s left is folding in the cream.”
Joshua frowned. “Folding in?”
Alex smiled. “And there I go, blinding you with technical terms. Just keep your mind on that chocolate.”
“Yes, sir.” Joshua shook his head. “If I wasn’t holding onto this bowl, I’d salute ya,” he muttered.
Alex bit back a snicker and peered into the bowl. “There. You’re done. Lift the bowl carefully with the towel, and place it on that mat. Then add all the remaining ingredients except the cream. Be warned. The cream cheese will be a little stiff.”
Joshua snorted. “Ha. That’s why I bought the whipped variety.” He gave Alex a smug look.
Alex laughed. “At least tell me you’re enjoying this. I’m not torturing you, am I?”
Joshua paused. “Actually? This is a lot of fun. Except the getting a cream bath part. That, I could’ve done without.” He added the ingredients to the bowl and beat the mixture until it was smooth. “So. What does folding in entail?”
“Like this.” Alex plopped all the cream, plus what coated the blades of the beaters, into the bowl, then reached for a large metal spoon.
He slowly and methodically did a figure-eight motion.
“Easy does it. You keep doing that until all the cream is mixed in evenly. Don’t beat it.
All that air you’ve put into the cream? You don’t want to lose that. ”
“Gotcha.” Joshua took the spoon from him, and continued the motion.
“Perfect. That’s it, a nice, light touch.”
Joshua didn’t take his eyes off the bowl, but he beamed. “Thanks.” When the mixture was smooth, all the cream evenly distributed, he let out a relieved sigh. “There.”
“Now use the spoon to pour it all over the crust. Then cover it with food wrap, and we’ll leave it in the refrigerator to set.” He held out his hands. “Here. I’ll hold the bowl and tip it while you get all the mixture out.”
“Cooperation,” Joshua murmured. “Reminds me of watching Sesame Street with the kids.”
Alex laughed. “I hear ya. I grew up with that.” When the tin was full, he got Joshua to smooth out the surface with the spoon. “Beautiful. Your first white chocolate cheesecake.”
“Screw that. My first cheesecake, period.” Joshua grinned. “Thank you.”
Alex pulled off a layer of wrap and covered the tin. “You’re welcome.” As he placed the tin onto the shelf in the refrigerator, his stomach growled. “Oops. I guess it’s dinner time. Which is defrosted homemade mac and cheese, by the way. And I’ve got garlic bread too.”
Joshua rolled his eyes heavenward. “Bliss.”
Alex pulled his phone across the countertop to peer at the screen.
Nothing yet from Manda. Which reminded him…
“Something else I should mention. We might not be eating alone. My friend who stayed a few weeks ago? She’s in Montana, visiting her grandmother, and she may be staying here again. We’re kind of playing things by ear.”
“More people? Not sure if I can handle that,” Joshua said with a smirk.
Alex chuckled. “You’ll like her. Although this is probably the time to mention that she says whatever comes to mind. Usually without thinking first.”
Joshua laughed. “Sounds like my daughter Naomi. That girl has no filters either.” He grinned. “I think I’ll like this friend of yours.”
Alex had to admit, he liked the idea of Joshua and Manda getting along. Why, he wasn’t certain. Joshua needed to meet people, that was for sure, and if he could cope with Manda, he could cope with anyone. But it felt good to bring one of his oldest friends together with his newest.
The more time he spent around Joshua, the more Alex liked him.