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As she walks away, I pull out my phone and respond to Mack, taking Hazel’s advice no matter how intimidating it is.
Me
Sure. I’d love to make cookies.
Macklin
Perfect. Can I pick you up at the restaurant at 9?
Me
That’d be great. Thanks.
Macklin
See you then.
20
KATE
“So, I lied to you,” Mack informs me as he sets a small sack of groceries onto the granite countertop.
“I’m sorry, youliedto me?”
He grimaces and rocks back on his heels. “Yeah. I told you my mom gave me the cookie recipe, but when she found out I wanted to make them with afriend, she made the cookies herself.”
I nearly choke on my laugh and mosey the rest of the way into the kitchen, collapsing on one of the leather barstools tucked beneath the island. “Are you saying she refuses to give you the recipe all because she knows I could steal it?”
The guy almost looks shameful as he grabs the back of his neck and squeezes, causing his biceps to bulge in his short-sleeved uniform top. “Yeah.”
“She’sthatserious about keeping it in the family?”
“Don’t feel too bad. She refused to give the recipe to Summer, even after we were married.”
I gasp. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was.”
“So, what’s with the groceries?” I wave my hand toward the mishmash of ingredients littering his granite countertop.
“Well, thanks to Google, I looked up the highest-rated recipe and figured we could try it, then compare all three.”
“Three?” I ask.
Lifting his fingers, he ticks them off, one by one. “The processed stuff, my mom’s already baked cookies, and the ones we make together.”
“You bought a tube of premade cookie dough?”
“Uh, yeah. Gotta keep the experiment accurate. What do you think?”
It takes everything inside of me to keep from gushing at his proposal, but I fold my arms instead and smile. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s trying to impress me. However, I have a hunch he’s this thoughtful all the time. So even though it might not be personal, I still think it’s kind of adorable how well he planned tonight’s activity.
“I think it’s a great idea,” I admit.
“Perfect. The Pillsbury dough is in the fridge,” he adds, pulling things out of the paper grocery sacks and setting them in a nice, even row on the counter, along with a single plate of already-made cookies covered in Saran wrap. “Wanna start baking those while I grab everything for the other recipe?”
“Sure.”
