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“Hey!” I shot Jagger a dirty look, and he smirked. “It’s going to be amazing. And between the three of you, you can put out a fire if I make one.”
“She has a point,” Flint said, a rare smile on his face.
“See? Problem solved.” I smiled, too. I found a cutting board, knife, sheet pans, and pots. “Except now I need to boil the water and get the oven going.”
“Don’t worry about the water.” Flint made water pour through the faucet, arcing it over to the pot until it was full.
“Let me know when you need to boil it,” Jagger said. “It’ll take two seconds. You’ll have to turn on the oven, though.”
“I should have cooked with you sooner.” I turned on the oven and went back to the island to start peeling the potatoes. “I hate waiting for water to boil.”
Lex got up and stood behind me, resting his hands on my hips. “I can’t help you with the water or the fire, but I can cool things down.”
I pressed my ass against his crotch, pulling a pleased sound from his throat. “But you won’t help with the potatoes?”
“I haven’t cooked for myself…” He pressed his face into the side of my neck, inhaling my scent. “Maybe ever?”
“You can’t peel a potato?” I leaned to the side and looked up at him. He shook his head. “You can’t even guess how to do it?”
“I could guess, but I’ve never done it.” His smile was a little bashful, which was the only reason why I didn’t want to elbow him.
The upbringing of a wealthy fae in a Royal family was so wildly different from the way I’d been raised. Of course he’d never cooked. He’d had cooks and maids and staff to attend to his every need.
“I’ve cooked,” Flint said to my surprise. He got up, too, wandering over to the big island where I was working. “But it wasn’t good.”
“When did you cook a meal?” Lex asked, sliding his arms all the way around me.
The warmth and solidness of his body made the dull act of peeling potatoes better. He held my weight as I leaned back a little.
“I was a kid, maybe ten? And bored. My mother ordered me to go down to the kitchen to do something, and one of the cooks indulged me.” Flint chuckled, sipping his wine. “And that was the last time I tried. She still reminds me of that sometimes.”
“One day, I’m going to teach all of you how to cook something.” I dug through the drawers to find a peeler. I usually used a knife at home, since I didn’t have space for a lot of extra tools, but the peeler was faster.
“Hey, I’m not like them,” Jagger said, coming over to join us. “I’ve grilled some things. Though that was less about eating to survive and more about fucking around and finding out how to use my abilities to make something delicious.”
“So you could grill the steaks?” I gestured toward the steaks, where they were coming up to room temperature.
“Technically, yeah, but I’m not getting between these two and dinner. I don’t know what temperature to cook any of it to, so I’d be going in blind.” He pulled up a stool on the opposite side of the huge island. “Why don’t you use magic to do all this? Isn’t doing stuff by hand kind of a pain?”
“It can be a total pain if you’re hungry.” I swept the potato skins into the trash and took a quick swig of wine. “But most of the time, using magic to do it can be taxing after a long day. The spells are quick, but the motions are very fine and take a lot of focus if you aren’t as powerful as you three are.”
I’d peered into the main kitchen before while picking up dinner for myself earlier in the week. Their cooks made food for all the palace staff and used a mixture of magic and tools. Then again, the more you needed to use a specific spell, the easier it probably was. And only the best of the best worked for the Royals.
“Is everyone who works for you male?” I asked, slicing the potatoes into big chunks.
“No. Where did that question come from?” Flint topped off my wine.
“I just noticed that all the cooks were men when I went into the kitchen one time. And all the enforcers are also men.” I shrugged. “Most males outside of here assume that females are supposed to do all the stuff around the house.”
The three exchanged glances.
“We hire those who get through our rigorous training and tests. And yes, most of our female staff clean or care for our security’s and advisors’ children.” Lex squeezed my hips before moving away, his absence cooling my back.
“So, it’s not entirely intentional?”
“It’s the way it’s always been,” Flint said. “Females take on the less strenuous roles and leave the hard work for the males.”
“So, caring for children and managing a house isn’t hard work? And that’s all you think females can do? You don’t think that females can handle the rigorous training and tests?”
