Chapter Four #3
She tipped the dough out onto the surface and began kneading it, over and over.
Something swelled within her as she maneuvered the dough, making it flat and round and then patting it down.
It was a thing. Maybe a chef thing, or maybe just her thing, but she loved getting her hands into the food, the way gardeners loved digging into the soil.
Jared poked his head inside the fridge. “Doughnuts?”
She made a face. “Eww, Jared.”
“How about pickles?”
“I think not.”
“Chocolate chips?”
“That could prove interesting,” she said, crisscrossing the dough with a rolling pin. “But no for tonight.”
“I give up,” Jared said.
“Open the crisper. What do you see?”
He slid open the drawer. “Red and green bell peppers, string beans, tomatoes, onions, mango slices and three different kinds of lettuce.”
Mango slices? “Pick three of those things.” And don’t let one of them be mango.
Jared carried over onions, tomatoes and red bell peppers.
“That’s good for a start,” she said. She left the workstation and walked into a double-wide pantry. “Let’s see,” she said, taking a quick tour of ingredients that might work. “Do you like olives?”
“Love them.”
“And, oh, here, how about artichoke hearts?”
“Yep.”
“Great, we have our toppings now.”
“How about I put on a pot of coffee?” Jared walked over to the coffee machine. “We can have a cup while the pizza is cooking.”
She blinked. She hadn’t intended for them to eat the pizza now. But he had said he was hungry. “Uh, sure. I’ll just chop up some of these veggies and then put the pizza in the oven. I hope it turns out okay.”
“Me, too,” he said. And then smiled again.
He was messing with her. He had been since he’d walked in here, but she refused to make anything of it. So what if he was charming, he was also her boss at the moment. And business and pleasure mixed like oil and water, to use a foodie phrase.
The coffee brewed as she cleaned the kitchen. Once it was done, Jared poured a cup for both of them and they sat facing each other across the granite-topped island.
The coffee warmed her up and went down deliciously. “Mmm, this is perfect.”
“Yep. It’s not too bad. Just about the extent of my talent in the kitchen.”
“I bet that’s not true.”
“Oh, wait, I have been known to fry an egg or two.”
“Really? How did you ever get by?” And get to be such a glorious picture of a man.
“My mama was a good cook. She fed me real good. And then came Marie. I never had to learn.”
“Do you want to?”
He put his cup down and leaned forward, the twinkle in his eyes as blue as a sun-drenched lake. “You offering to teach me?”
She tilted her head. Was he flirting? She’d always loved dishing it up with other foodies, but was he serious? “Don’t you already have a job?”
He grinned and her heart nearly stopped. “I do. But as you can see, I’m not exactly running to the office every day.” He cleared his throat. “I mean my Dallas office.”
She couldn’t afford to return his flirting. She was out of practice, so much so that she wasn’t even sure he was flirting. Besides, she had a gigantic wall surrounding her heart stamped with a No Trespassing sign. There was no room behind that wall for anyone other than Sienna.
Certainly not a man like Jared Stone.
Goodness, she still loved Paul. Her heart broke every day from missing him.
“Well, uh...”
“I was just kiddin’,” he said. “You’ve got enough to do around here.”
How awkward. She really didn’t have a comeback for him. She was busy, but spending more time with a lonely, injured Jared Stone wouldn’t be wise.
Because she liked him. It killed her to admit it.
Her nerves jumpy, she sipped her coffee and checked the monitor screen. Anything to avoid eye contact with him.
“How’s she doing?” he asked.
“Sawing logs.”
“So do you usually stay up the rest of the night?”
“Lord, no. I’ll go back to bed in a little while. I might catch another hour or two, maybe three if I’m really lucky and Sienna doesn’t wake up. What about you? You said you toss and turn. Is it because you’re uncomfortable?”
He gazed at her from just above his mug of coffee and shook his head. “Not tonight.”
“Oh, no?” She bit her lip. “So then I did wake you.”
“You didn’t. Honest. It’s just that I’m having...”
“Nightmares?”
He shook his head. “Flashes of memory. I see my car sliding off the road and me losing control. I must’ve hit some loose gravel and spun out.
That’s all I remember.” He shrugged and stared into her eyes.
“It’s weird, not knowing what happened. But it’s even stranger to see it happen in my mind in sort of slow motion. ”
“Oh, Jared. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m taking it as a good sign.”
“But maybe with the trauma of it all, it’s better not to remember.”
“Maybe. But whatever happens, I’ll deal with it.”
He put his hand to his chest and rubbed at his sore ribs. Her gaze fell to that spot and when their eyes finally met, something warm and crazy stirred in her belly.
Immediately she put her head down and stared into her mug.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Bella?”
“It’s just that I’m feeling guilty.” About betraying Paul with her thoughts, her lies to Jared about her true identity and something else entirely.
“What are you feeling guilty about?”
“I might’ve been the one who broke your ribs.”
A speck of acknowledgment flashed in his eyes. “Oh, that.”
“You know?”
“I was informed at the hospital that it could’ve happened when you applied chest compressions.”
“If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be in so much pain.”
“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be breathing. Besides, there’s every possibility the rib injuries were caused by the crash. Let’s leave it at that. You shouldn’t feel guilty about anything. My ribs will heal. So enough, Bella, okay? No more guilt about anything.”
She glanced at his rib cage again, her heart fluttering wildly, and then met his eyes. “Okay.”
The timer dinged and she rose instantly, grateful for the distraction. Pulling the pizza out, she was impressed with the results.
“How does it look?” he asked.
She showed him their sizzling veggie-topped creation. “Presentation is important, but what really matters is how it tastes.”
“Well, dish it up. I’m dying to try it.”
“Me, too.”
She used a pizza cutter to slice it and soon they were digging into hot, crusty pieces.
Jared gobbled the first one up. “Oh, wow. It’s pretty damn good.”
“You really think so?”
“Don’t you?” he asked.
She took another bite and chewed, aware of his eyes on her. “I, um, yeah. I think it needs a bit more salt, but it’s pretty good. What do you think of the crust?”
“Delicious,” he said, grabbing another slice. “You should add it to that cookbook you’re going to write.”
“I’m writing a cookbook?”
“You should write one.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“You made the pizza. I should be thanking you.”
“I mean, because...well, it’s nice to have someone to experiment on.” Someone to encourage her.
“Hey, I’m adventurous, remember. Experiment away.”
“As long as you’re honest with me, I plan to.”
“Yeah, Bella. I promise to always be honest with you. Honesty is something I value above all else.”
Bella kept a smile in place but Jared’s words seared into her.
And once again guilt replaced her sense of accomplishment over the meal. This time she was demanding something of Jared that she wasn’t willing to give herself.
She couldn’t be honest with him.
Keeping her secret safe had to be her first priority.
Sienna’s future was at stake.