AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We finish putting everything away and when we leave the shop, she double checks the locks and then we drive back to the estate. On the ride, I send a text to my personal chef to make sure the things I need are stocked.
When Clementine and I enter the house, I head toward the kitchen. “Did you want me to cook you dinner tonight?”
I could easily call the home chef in, even though I texted him and gave him the night off, and have him whip us something up, but I don’t want to do that. I want to impress Clementine for some insane reason.
“Yes, I’m starving.” She moves closer, the sweet smell of her drifting closer as well. “So, what are you making me?”
“I make a mean steak. We could use the grill out back.” I jab a thumb over my shoulder, motioning to the outdoor kitchen complete with a state of the art master grill.
“Sounds perfect.”
She follows me through the house and out onto the expansive patio.
Clementine takes a seat on a stool next to the counter where I’ll be cooking. “Front row seats.”
I ignite the grill, letting it preheat, and then put an apron around my neck.
“This just gets even better,” she says, with a smile. “You have your very own apron.”
I glance down at my ‘An Apron Is Just A Cape On Backwards’ apron, smoothing my hand down the front. “I had this bought as soon as you and Tennyson moved in.” I raise a brow and point my spatula at her. “Don’t let this fool you. I’m a master chef.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to eat then,” she teases me. “It’s too bad Tenny is missing it.”
“We have a whole year.” Those words hit me like a ton of bricks. My mind can’t even process the thought of having to spend nights cooking for Clementine and her son, but it kind of excites me a little.
She doesn’t say anything, just stares at me.
I open the small fridge in my cooking space and pull out the platter with two filets and get to work seasoning the marbled cuts of beef with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Chin in hand, Clementine watches my every move.
“Now, I just need to let my meat rest.” Her eyes shoot up to mine and I grin, bracing my palms on the counter. “You’ve got a dirty mind, Clem.”
“Well...no...I,” she fumbles around, before finding her words, “well, who wouldn’t think that?”
This is all so domesticated. I’ve never had a woman around. And I’ve never cooked for one. It’s something I’ve never experienced before, and I’ll be honest, it’s not horrible. I’m enjoying this—a lot.
“Would you like some wine?”
She nods and I uncork a bottle of red and fill a glass for her. She sips it as I season stalks of asparagus and place them on the upper level of the grill.
The beef sizzles when I set it on the grate, and the heady aroma makes me wonder why I haven’t done this more often.
“It really is beautiful here,” Clementine says, looking at the streaks of pinks in the sky from the setting sun over the mountains. “Makes me wonder if your grandfather appreciated the beauty or if he was focused on building a house to rival it.”
“My grandfather had this house built for my grandmother.”
She turns her attention back to me with wide honeyed eyes. “I can’t picture Joseph Prince in love.”
I laugh. “The Prince men don’t fall in love often, but when they do, apparently, they fall hard.”
She twirls her hair between her fingers. “Have you ever been in love?”
I shake my head. “No. Have you?”
She stares downward. “No.”
“Not even with Tennyson’s father?”
She doesn’t answer for half a heartbeat. “I have something to tell you…” her words fall away and I glance up to give her my full attention.
