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Eden cautiously approached some more. She didn’t want to, but her stomach was desperately hungry after smelling whatever was going on in his pans. Moreover, she was curious to see him really cooking... and so focused. There were a lot of things laid out on the kitchen counter, even some utensils she had never seen before. Cautiously, Eden sat on the little stool against the kitchen counter.
“Will you drink rosé wine?” he asked.
“...Sure.”
He smiled and pushed a wine glass in front of her, already half-full with a pink fizzy drink. Eden recognized the smell of Prosecco. It was strange that she knew more about alcohol than actual food. Dante’s glass was by his side, but from what she could tell, he had been waiting for her to drink.
Strangely, he didn’t add anything else, and, for a little while, she watched him crush and mince garlic, stir-fry shrimp, and cut some herbs in silence. Only after a few seconds did she realize the herbs had come from a tiny greenhouse behind him.
“...You grow it?”
“Only a few, for cooking. Basil, thyme, chives, and—“
“Rosemary.”
Eden was a bit jealous. No matter how hard she had tried, none of her plants had grown enough to survive more than a week in the polluted outdoors of her neighborhood. Each little piece of green had been a victory for her, but he was growing full little bushes in that mini greenhouse so easily. His whole apartment probably had a filtration system just as good as those in the Core.
“So?” she sighed. “What are you... cooking?”
“I felt like having some Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo,” he said. “I usually have lighter dinners, but my new bodyguard looks like she could use a fuller meal.”
“Those I get to finish.”
Dante chuckled.
“...Your hacker friend is enjoying his pizza, by the way.”
“I’m not worried about him.”
“Really?”
“Mh... I’d be more worried about leaving him without surveillance. He could blow up the whole place if his pizza didn’t have enough anchovies.”
Dante chuckled, but his smile disappeared as he raised his head to finally look at her. Eden wasn’t joking, and from the way she raised both eyebrows, she wasn’t suggesting this simply out of the blue... He eventually nodded.
“Noted, then. I’m glad the first delivery was to his liking.”
Eden slowly nodded and grabbed her glass. Dante grabbed his too, and before she could take a sip, directed it to her so they could clink glasses. Eden frowned, making him chuckle.
“Surely, you must have done this with your customers, right?”
“You’re not a customer.”
“I’m your employer cooking food for you right now. Isn’t that enough to get a little toast?”
To both their surprise, his sentence made Eden blush out of the blue. Dante was so surprised he lowered his glass and chuckled, but Eden had to look over her shoulder to completely avoid him. It had caught her completely off guard! She took a deep breath, mad at her cheeks for blushing without her consent. Why? Why now?!
“Now, that was unexpected,” said Dante, his tiger smile coming back. “What was it? The fact that I wanted to toast with you? Was I so wrong? Is it a first?”
“N-no,” she mumbled. “I... I can’t remember anyone cooking... especially for me... before.”
Dante’s smile fell a little bit. He was going from one surprise to the next with Eden, yet strangely, he couldn’t get enough of it, although he normally hated surprises.
“Well, that deserves a toast all the more, then?”
Trying to hide her embarrassment, Eden finally clinked her glass, a bit too violently, and took it to her lips, drinking the wine like water. Dante was much more refined when he took a sip, but his golden eyes weren’t leaving Eden at all. It was as if blinking would have him miss some extraordinary reaction from her. Moreover, that dress suited her very well, he was enjoying the effect of the vintage pink silk on her skin. He put down his glass, grabbed the bottle to refill Eden’s, and picked up his spatula again to stir the shrimp.
“...Not even your parents?” he suddenly asked.
