Rochelle’s eyes widened at my babbling, but she didn’t stop me as I rushed off, my heart pounding as I realized that I’d made a total fool of myself.
The question was why was Chris still throwing me off my game? And why on Earth had I manipulated her into inviting me for dinner? Clearly I’d lost my mind.
Chris
Imay have exaggerated a slight bit when I told Julia I could cook. I mean, I could cook a little, but if I wasn’t eating out, I mostly ate sandwiches, cereal, or microwave burritos.
“Christina, you need to start eating like a grown-up!”
I could hear my mother’s chastising voice in my head, and it gave me an idea. Opening my phone, I sent a text to my mother asking for help. I could practically feel her giddiness over the phone as she invited me over after work to teach me how to cook something I could serve my fake girlfriend.
As soon as I walked into my childhood home my mother pulled me into a hug, which was weird, because she wasn’t the affectionate one in the family. That was my dad.
“I’m going to teach you how to make a couple of different things today,” she said into my shoulder. “They’re impossible to mess up, even for you.”
I would be offended, but she wasn’t wrong.
“Doing some cooking, huh Chris?” My father called from the couch.
“Yeah.”
“Good luck.”
I could tell by his tone of voice he thought I’d need it.
“So how’s it going with Julia?” Mom asked as she showed me how to make a simple marinade for the chicken breasts.
“Good,” I said. “We haven’t seen too much of each other this week, but she’s coming over for dinner tomorrow.”
“Did you miss her?” Mom asked curiously.
“Yeah, I did.”
It was true too. We’d gone back to not talking or texting, and we rarely ran into each other at work. I kept thinking and discarding reasons to text her. Spending the weekend with her had been fun. Hot sexy fun. But more than that, I’d enjoyed hanging outwith her, even when we were sparring. That was something I never would have thought I’d be saying about Julia Montego.
I wasn’t sure how she’d manipulated – or maybe dared – me into offering to make her dinner, but I was still looking forward to spending time with her. Hopefully, we’d have dinner together and it would be enough for me to remember how annoying she was and how we had nothing in common. Moving past this little crush I had on her would be a win for me. Then again, maybe we could have sex again. I was not opposed to that at all, even though I knew it was dangerous.
I ended up staying at my parents’ house for several hours, but by the time I was done, I felt fairly confident about my ability to make some roasted chicken breasts and sides. If I got stuck, Mom had also taught me how to make spaghetti with a homemade sauce and garlic bread.
Even better? Mom had purchased extras of all the ingredients, sending me home with everything I needed for both meals.
For some reason I was nervous all day. I told myself it was about the cooking but in reality it was about Julia. I ended up leaving work an hour early to run the vacuum and start marinating the chicken, wanting to leave nothing to chance.
Julia rang the doorbell a few minutes after six. She was wearing ancient jeans with frayed knees that hugged her like a second skin, and a baby blue knit tee shirt that was equally form-fitting. Very girl next door. My mouth watered at the sight of her.
“I’m not wearing any pink today,” she teased as she walked in.
Then she leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Except for my panties.”
And that’s when my own panties got a little damp.
Without thinking, I grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards me. She fell against my body and gave me a smirk.
“Glad to see me?”
“More than I should be.”
I gripped both sides of her face and gave her a kiss that turned immediately hot. Suddenly everything was forgotten besides the feeling of her body pressed against mine. We kissed until we were both gasping for air, and when we came up, I realized we were somehow sprawled on the couch. I had no memory of us moving there.
