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He should glance away, but he couldn’t because in that moment all he could think about was her tempting lips. He’d be willing to guess they would be sweeter than the cookies he was about to bake.
Her hands stilled over his heart as she worked at removing a bit of splattered dough. She was causing his heart rate to skyrocket. He wondered if she could feel it. And if she could, what was she thinking? What would she do if he were to swoop in and press his mouth to hers?
He raised his hand until it covered hers. His thumb stroked the back of her hand. He noticed the softness of her skin. The breath hitched in the back of his throat.
When his gaze met hers, he found questions swirling within the depths of her big blue eyes. He probably had some of the same questions. Where was this going? And what did he expect?
But he had absolutely no answers—not for her—and not for himself. Until he did have some answers, perhaps he should proceed with caution for both of their sakes. Because the very last thing he wanted to do was hurt Jillian.
He grudgingly pulled his hand away, hoping the lack of contact would return his heart rate to a normal pace. And that his thoughts would focus on anything but kissing her.
She moved away without saying a word. Maybe she hadn’t noticed his slipup. Could he be that lucky?
“Did you add the salt?” she asked.
He thought about it for a moment. “No.”
“It’s in the cabinet next to the stove.” Just then her phone chimed. “It’s a text. I better check it.”
Avery welcomed the distraction. He moved to the cabinet and quickly found a container marked salt. After consulting the recipe, he measured out a teaspoon and mixed it in with the rest of the ingredients.
Jillian set aside her ph
one. “It was nothing important.” She picked up the salt. “Is this what you used?”
Oh no. That didn’t sound good. “Um…yeah.”
She frowned.
“I take it that isn’t the right thing.”
She shook her head. “This is coarse salt. I use it for things like the top of pretzels.”
“I’ll just toss this out.” He picked up the bowl and started for the trash.
“No. Don’t.”
Avery paused. “I don’t understand. You just said I used the wrong stuff.”
“But the beautiful thing about baking and cooking is the ability to be flexible and make recipes your own.”
“So the coarse salt is fine?”
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.” Jillian retrieved the measuring cup for the flour. “Perhaps you should hand stir it for a bit.”
He sighed. “This is what I was worried about. I’m a disaster in the kitchen.”
Jillian smiled. “No, you’re not. I think a lot of people put in too much flour all at once and learn the same lesson you did. In the future, you’ll be sure to remember to add the flour in smaller portions.”
“I hope so. Talk about a mess.”
“I did it when I was a kid and I didn’t forget.”
He glanced around. “I feel really bad that your kitchen is a mess.”
She waved off his worry. “It’s nothing that can’t be cleaned up.”
And so back to work he went. By the time he carefully dropped each spoonful of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet and slipped it in the oven, he was feeling more confident about his baking skills. Jillian had more patience than he was expecting. The fact she hadn’t freaked out over the mess he’d made shocked him. She was going to make someone an awesome mom.
