She arched a brow and pursed her lips but didn’t offer any objections.
I strolled into the kitchen, slipping off my cut and carefully draping it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs, then pulled the salmon from the refrigerator.
She leaned against the counter, looking at me with interest. “You’re going to cook for me?”
“Yeah, parmesan-crusted salmon, herb-roasted potatoes, and asparagus with lemon butter.”
She looked impressed as I turned the oven on to preheat and began scrubbing a few potatoes.
“Do you want some help?” She offered, her wary expression reminding me of her mishap with the exploding egg.
“Let’s leave the cooking lesson for another night, darlin’. You sit and tell me about your day. Did you hear anything from Beau, orYour Soulmate?”
“No, thankfully. I checked my email account just before you arrived, and I’ll check again later this evening.”
I nodded an acknowledgement as I opened a few cupboards, trying to remember where I’d seen the cutting board this morning. Finding it on the third try, I turned my attention to dicing the potatoes, then tossing them in a coat of olive oil, topped with a generous sprinkle from the jar of all-purpose seasoning I’d ordered. I would have preferred to use fresh herbs, but the dried stuff would do in a pinch.
As I worked, I told her about my conversation with Bull.
“So he couldn’t verify who’s sending the emails?”
She dropped her head and her shoulders slumped. I hated to see her looking so dejected.
“Not yet, but he’s still working on it,” I assured her, spreading the potatoes in an even layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then popping them into the oven.
“Dustin’s background didn’t raise any red flags, but we learned that Beau studied computer programming for a couple of years in college. Did he spend a lot of time on the computer, or have a bunch of tech equipment at home?” She looked at me questioningly. “We’re trying to figure out if he would have the ability to cover his tracks this damned well,” I explained.
“He had a laptop that he used once in a while, but he mostly used his phone for everything. That thing was practically glued to his hand. The only electronics he had other than that were his gaming systems. He was big into gaming online on his off days.” She shrugged, then watched as I got out the ingredients for the salmon and asparagus. “He is pretty tech savvy. He was the guy everyone always went to for help if their phones or computers were acting up, but I have no idea if he’d know how to do anything like that with the emails.”
I filed that information away to share later with Bull just in case he could hack into the gaming systems to find anything there.
Elvis wandered into the kitchen, and Lauren filled his food and water bowls, then cleaned up behind me while I prepared the rest of the meal. She asked about my day, and I told her about the training sessions I’d had. The conversation turned to gyms, and fitness in general.
“I started going to kick-boxing classes a few months before I broke up with Beau, but I haven’t done it since I moved back here,” she confessed as she got out plates and silverware for us. My mind was instantly captivated by a vision of Lauren in tightworkout gear, using those long legs and thick thighs to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick.
“You should stop by the gym sometime,” I said, removing the potatoes from the oven and setting the baking sheet down on a trivet next to the rest of the food on the countertop. “We do mostly individual MMA training there, so we don’t have any group classes, but you’re welcome to use the equipment. I’d be happy to join you…I’d enjoy giving you a good workout,” I told her suggestively, flashing her a wicked grin.
As expected, she rolled her eyes at me, but there was a look of amusement on her face this time, rather than the annoyed expression she usually had when I flirted with her.
“Maybe I’ll do that,” she agreed throatily, then started casually filling her plate. “I could use a good…hard…workout.”
I had started filling my own plate, and the playful, almost seductive tone she used caused a visceral reaction. My cock twitched as every nerve ending in my body went on alert and my brain went off-line for a second, only to come back on with a vengeance when the plate started to slip out of my hands. I was able to recover without dropping the plate completely, although one of the pieces of roasted potato slid off and landed on the floor.
The redheaded temptress had the nerve to chuckle, knowing damned good and well that she’d been the cause of my sudden clumsiness.
“Careful, now,” she cautioned, “this food looks entirely too delicious to waste.”
I eyed her, trying to decide if she’d actually been flirting with me, or if my dirty mind had put its own spin on her good,hard, workout comment. She added some asparagus to her plate, seemingly unaware of my perusal. My gaze droppedto the gentle sway of her ass as she turned and made her way to the table. My mouth watered, and not just from the smell of the food.
“This is sooo good,” she moaned a few minutes later, and I had to reach under the table to adjust my cock, while she sat across the table completely oblivious to the effect that particular sound had on me. Or at least I thought she was oblivious. I was still trying to figure it out.
“You made it look so easy,” she marveled, taking another bite of her salmon, “but I probably would have chopped a finger off, or caught the stove on fire.”
I chuckled, and we finished the rest of the meal in relative silence.
She insisted on washing the rest of the dishes afterward, so I excused myself to step outside to call Bull. I was hoping he’d made some progress with the emails, but he still hadn’t had any luck. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was just as frustrated by that shit as I was.
“I’d like to be able to monitor her email directly, so that I can trace it immediately if he sends anything else. Can you ask Lauren to give me access? I could hack into her account, but I’d rather not do that unless I have to.”
