Chapter 14 #2
“Then lasagna it is,” she said.
“Here, you chop the spinach. I get the kind that’s pre-washed, so it’s ready to go.” He handed her the bag, a knife, and a cutting board. She chose a space at his massive island and got to work.
“I wouldn’t have thought you’d be making a vegetarian dish,” she said as she chopped. “Aren’t men all about the protein?” At least, a man as muscular as he was.
“I’m adding meat, but only half as much as most recipes call for. And I cut back somewhat on the cheese and sub in cauliflower instead. Sounds weird, but I promise it’s good.”
“Who knew Max Bennett was a health nut.”
He smirked. “I’m not in my twenties anymore. I have to watch my figure.”
I can watch your figure for you. Lana checked out the way his ass filled out those tailored pants. How his biceps tested the seams of his dressy shirt. Maybe he wasn’t twenty-something, but he still looked pretty damn good to her.
“Fishing for compliments?” she asked.
“The real question is, how do you still look the same as you did back in college? You could probably fit into the same jeans. Those ones with the ripped knees you used to wear. I liked those.”
The knife dropped to the cutting board. “Max, are you flirting with me?”
He stopped peeling an onion to look at her. “Is that okay?”
Yes, Max, she thought automatically. “If you find it entertaining, then I’m not going to stop you.”
He was in a strange, unsettled mood tonight. That had to explain his behavior.
Max heated a skillet to brown some ground beef, along with the onions and minced cauliflower. He told her to add the spinach.
Next, he dumped a pile of flour onto the counter, made a divot in the middle, and broke eggs into the center.
“What on earth are you doing?”
“Making the pasta. Can’t have lasagna without it.”
“You’re making lasagna noodles by hand? That’s a thing?”
He laughed, mixing the dough with his long fingers. She leaned her elbows on the quartz, fascinated as she watched him roll out the pasta into sheets with a metal pasta maker.
“I knew you could cook, but I didn’t realize you were so into it.”
“Most of the time, I’m too busy to do anything this elaborate. But cooking and working out are the two things I do to relax.”
And probably having sex. Because he was pretty good at that too, so why wouldn’t he? How many other women had stood at this counter?
“It’s nice to have someone else to cook for, though. I cook for Aurora when she lets me. But a lot of the time she’s annoyed with me, or I’m busy, so it doesn’t happen too often.”
Aurora had been back in West Oaks for less than a year, and she and her brother were still getting used to living in such close proximity again.
Lana had watched the two siblings go through many stages, from closeness when Aurora was younger, to near estrangement, and now this careful dance of learning to relate to one another as adults.
After Lana headed off to law school, she’d heard secondhand about all the drama when Max had realized that his high-school-aged sister was sexually active. Aurora used to call her up, seething about his latest affront. He’d chased away more than one guy that Aurora liked.
One of the few times the three of them had all been together was Aurora’s high school graduation day.
First time Lana had ever seen him in a suit, his hair military short.
That day, she’d wondered if he had his dog tags underneath his dress shirt.
If he still left the tags on when he stripped everything else off.
“What are you smiling at?” Max was cutting long strips of the dough and setting them aside.
Lana grabbed her wine glass and took a sip. “I was just thinking of when Aurora graduated high school. What a great day that was. We were all so proud.”
Max nodded, his wistful expression matching hers. “Yeah, and relieved too. Even my parents were there, as if they deserved any of the credit. It was all your family. I don’t know what would’ve happened to Aurora without you.”
“Or you. She lived for her brother. We did it together.”
Something like pain passed across his face. But then it was gone.
A laugh bubbled out of Lana’s chest. “Do you remember after the ceremony, though? When we were all supposed to go out for an early dinner? You and I couldn’t find Aurora anywhere in the school building, and finally we opened a random janitor’s closet, and there she was.
Tumbling out with the mops and some poor kid with his pants around his ankles. ”
Lana’s head tipped back as she laughed. She’d never forget the terror on the poor boy’s face when Max had snarled at him. Aurora had just shrugged. Is it dinner already? I lost track of time.
“That had to be your influence,” Max grumbled, though his eyes were laughing along with her.
“Me? No way. I was too uptight to have so much fun.” Then she realized that wasn’t entirely true. “Okay, I did misbehave that one weekend, but my parents didn’t catch us, thank god. Otherwise, they never would’ve let you back into the house.”
As the words spilled out of her, she realized she’d broken her embargo on talking about their past. But it hadn’t killed her. Instead, she was laughing about it. Go figure.
But Max’s smile had vanished. He was quiet as he constructed the layers of the lasagna.
After he’d put it in the oven, he picked up her wine glass and took a drink. He hadn’t bothered to pour his own, which should’ve annoyed her. Lana didn’t usually like it when men picked off her plate or shared her beverages. She liked her space.
But with Max, she didn’t mind. To be fair, she was the one who’d offered him her glass on the rooftop. So she’d started it.
“Do you ever think about it?” he asked.
“About what?”
“The nights we made love.”
His statement made her chest contract. It was impossible to breathe. “Do you?” Her voice was low.
“I think about it. About us. All the damn time.”
“Why?” she choked out.
“How could I not? You were beautiful. You are beautiful. I wouldn’t want to forget a single thing about those nights.”
Her body was overheating. Lana took the wine glass, but her throat was too tight to swallow. “I think about it, too. But I shouldn’t. We were good together, but it was over a long time ago.”
“Does it have to be?”