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“I don’t cook.”
“What? Are youkiddingme? Then, why do you have all this. . . stuff?” I wave to all the beautiful, top-notch equipment, not to mention the built-in wood fire pizza oven and wine dispenser.
“Francene Barro lived here before me.”
I sway on my feet, and Theo reaches out to steady me. “You’re joking. LiketheFrancene Barro fromKitchen Wars?” It’s like being on the set of her cooking show. I look back at him. “Okay,nowI’m officially jealous.”
“Would you like some wine?” he offers.
“Sure.” He walks into the kitchen and grabs a glass from the cabinet. “Please tell me you at least have your personal chef make you pizzas in that oven.”
“No to the pizza and no to the personal chef.”
My eyes widen. “Serious?”
“Very serious.”
I drool at the Venus Century Espresso machine, recognizing it fromBon Appetita few months ago. “How often do you make espressos?”
“Never.”
“Why not?” I practically shriek.
“It was a gift.”
I stare at the insanely expensive coffee maker. “This is wrong for so many reasons. These poor appliances. They’re meant to be used and enjoyed.”
I point to the corner of his counter. “What about the juicer?” There’s no way that thing is less than ten thousand dollars.
“I use the juicer.”
I sigh. “Phew. I was going to call the kitchen police for neglect.” He laughs and hands me my wine. “Thanks,” I say.
“You’re welcome. Does this mean you’ll be disappointed that I had dinner catered?”
I look at him, then scan his super cool pizza oven before bringing my attention back to him. “No, it’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Fay, would you like to test out that pizza oven?”
“No, it’s fine. I mean, unlessyouwant to. Don’t change your plans because of me.”
He eyes me for a beat, then reaches for my hand. “Come, sit.” I sit at the island, and he pulls up the stool next to me. “Tell me something about you.”
I chuckle into my glass and take a sip. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m not very interesting.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
I watch him sip his bourbon while I think of a response. “Well, I’m originally from Ohio. My parents moved us to New Jersey about four years ago. My mom wanted to be closer to her sister, and I enrolled in their culinary school.”
“Did you always want to be a chef?”
“Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been obsessed with creating things. It’s why I fell in love with cooking. Taking a bunch of things from scratch and creating a beautiful piece of art. God, I made some messes. My mom started hiding food so I wouldn’t get to it.” I laugh. “She hid all the bowls once, thinking it would deter me from mixing my newest creation, so I got inventive and used the toilet bowl.”
“Please don’t tell me—”
