He could show me anything.
Turning my hand over, he positioned my thumb and index finger together. “Press here.”
Pointing to the squishy part of my palm near my thumb, he waited until I obeyed then gestured toward the steak we were going to practice on next. “Rare.”
Barely caressing my fingers, he shifted them until my middle finger and thumb were touching. “Medium-rare.”
Continuing to gently position my fingers, he ran through the rest of the scale all while melting my brain just a bit more each time.
It was so hot I couldn’t help imagining that scene inGhostwith the clay.
Clay had nothing on meat.
When he’d gone through it twice, my knees were weak and the burgers were done. He just seemed to be getting started, though, because he ran his thumb over my palm where he’d been teaching me all about how to handle meat, and made a pleasedsound. “I know you’re going to be very good at handling my meat.”
That should’ve been the most ridiculous line I’d ever heard, but I was just hoping I was reading it right and it was a pickup line.
He could still be clueless, right?
“I… I try my best.” Swallowing hard, I tried to sound relaxed but the words came out as a squeak. “Especially when it’s someone helpful and… and take-charge like you.”
If he was actually bi, maybe he didn’t realize the take-charge, Dom kind of vibes he was giving off?
“Sometimes my… take-charge nature frustrates people, but it’s easy to see you appreciate those qualities.” Knightly’s tone said he was smiling even if I was afraid to turn around and make eye contact with him. “I’m glad I’ve finally realized that.”
How was he finally just realizing I was a sub?
Okay, sure. We hadn’t been single at the same time since I’d moved in but I was about as subtle as a dump truck.
“Me too.”
I could fake boring when I needed to. I did a good job of it at work but at home was another story. This was my happy place and I’d never felt the need to be someone else here. However, that was coming back to bite me in the ass now that my family was descending.
Maybe his offer to check out the house for weird shit had been smarter than I’d realized at first.
“Meat. Planning. Then appreciation.” He was so close his breath was caressing my neck and I could almost feel his mouth on me, but he had much better control than I did because he moved away.
Fuck.
It turned out he was actually serious about the plan.
Finishing practice on the burgers and steaks before cleaning the grill took longer than I liked but I had to admit he was a good teacher. He managed to get me comfortable with the grill and the fire by the time everything was done, and his nice words aside, it felt like I’d done a good job.
Showing him the sides and what else I’d gotten ready went smoothly as well. “I made the stuff like the potato salad last night so it had a chance to meld the flavors together.”
Knightly was nodding as he studied the food. “You’ve done a good job getting all of this together. What do you think about borrowing a folding table from me so that you can bring most of this outside? It’ll keep everyone from finding excuses to come into the house.”
That was perfect.
“That sounds great.” I really didn’t understand why he seemed to think taking charge in a stressful situation was bad. Every time I pointed out something I actually had a handle on he immediately backed off and thought about it.
He was not as much of a pain in the ass as someone had told him he was.
“Alright.” Nodding to himself as he looked around, he was back to giving offstraight guy with a planvibes and I could see how I’d been so confused. “We’re going to do the walk-through of the house and then we’ll go get the rest of the stuff from my house. I’ve got a few bowls and some yard games that the kids can play if your brother’s stepkids come.”
He was really good at remembering details too.
“Yes. Okay.” I’d thought it would take longer to get to this point but somehow the day was passing faster than I’d expected. “That’s a good idea. Yes.”
