Page 26 of Searching for Love

ChapterNine

Avery, being Avery, arrived at Sunset Venue an hour earlier than Lucas had asked her to be there. She wanted time to chat with Kara and Robin and try to get a few more details about their cousin, if she could without raising suspicion.

To her surprise, however, Lucas was already there working in the kitchens. From the looks of it, he’d been there a while, too.

“Hey,” she said, setting her bag down on the counter. “I thought you said to be here at three?”

He smiled at her. “I did. I’ve been here a few hours prepping a couple of the dishes.” He motioned towards a massive slow cooker. “That one takes six hours to cook.”

“Six…” She shook her head. “I could have come earlier.”

He chuckled. “And done what? Watched the slow cooker with me?”

She shrugged and leaned on the counter. She wanted to tell him yes, but instead asked, “What can I do now?”

He glanced around. “Nothing yet. We’re still a little early to do much.”

“How about I make us some iced coffee?” she suggested after a moment.

His eyebrows shot up. “Can you?”

She laughed and then went to work making one of her favorite summertime drinks. It wasn’t the first time she’d worked in the massive kitchens, nor, she doubted, would it be the last.

After making her special iced coffee drink for her and Lucas, he put her to work bringing in a few more groceries that he’d left in his truck.

An hour later, the clatter of pots and pans filled the spacious kitchen as Lucas and Avery worked side by side. They moved around the stainless-steel countertops, avoiding bumping into one another as if their movements were synchronized.

“All right, let’s see what we’ve got here.” He leaned over her shoulder and checked her work. He’d put her to the task of cleaning and prepping all of the vegetables by slicing off their stems and removing all of the seeds.

“How am I doing, chef?” she joked.

Lucas nodded approvingly, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he surveyed her work.

“Perfect.” He glanced at his watch. “Looks like it’s time to get started on the main course.”

With a flick of his wrist, Lucas grabbed a cutting board and began to chop onions with precision. She was in awe of his knife skills, no doubt honed from years of working in the kitchen.

He gave her a new task of slicing the peppers and tomatoes, which she did with a lot less finesse than he had. Next to him, she was a flurry of quick and sloppy motions while still moving slow enough that she didn’t slice off any digits. She had warned him that she wasn’t as fast as he was but he’d just shrugged and told her that it didn’t matter since everything she was chopping would eventually go into the blender to make sauces.

As they worked side by side, a comfortable silence settled over them, broken only by the rhythmic sound of chopping and the occasional sizzle of food hitting the hot skillet. She could tell that Lucas was in his element, lost in the simple pleasure of preparing a meal.

“You know, I think we make a pretty good team.” She nudged his elbow as she stood close to him while he stood back to take a sip of his drink.

Lucas grinned and a warmth spread through her at the sight of his smile.

“Yeah, we do, don’t we? Who knew my new business manager would also be my best sous chef?” he joked.

Avery chuckled as her cheeks grew heated at the compliment and the way his eyes were somehow penetrating deep into her mind.

“Well, what can I say? I’m a woman of many talents.” She tried to brush off the embarrassment of blushing by turning away. Damn. She never blushed.

By the time the aroma of sizzling spices filled the air, she was lost in watching him work instead of helping out. Honestly, she felt more in the way than anything.

“So, any progress on picking a name for your restaurant?” she asked when he paused to take a sip of the water that she offered him.

Lucas flashed her a grin, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he flipped a tortilla in the pan.

“Oh, you know, I’ve been thinking about a few. How about Sabor de Lucas?”