AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She melted inside. Damn, he was good at doing that to her, but she never knew how seriously to take him. He was a pathological flirt. “How were your classes today?”
“Good,” he said. “Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It’s definitely on the edge of too chilly though. I think we’ll be wrapping up for the year soon.”
“Until spring?”
“Yeah.” He padded back to the stove and stirred the pot of whatever was simmering. “I’ll keep going as much as I can over winter, but not everyone is as committed as me. Beginners tend to only want to learn when it’s warm and sunny.”
“Funny that.” Gabby had surfed a few times, and she was with his students on that one. Surfing was definitely an activity for the warmer months. “What are you cooking?”
“Pasta.” He removed the pot from the stove and ladled its contents into two bowls, then gestured at a pair of frying pans at the back of the stove that she hadn’t seen yet. “I chopped up veggie sausage if you feel like it.”
“Thanks.” She came closer and inhaled the scent. “Smells good.”
She could get used to this. Coming home to dinner and a handsome man.
This is not your future,she reminded herself.It’s temporary. If anything, you’ll be coming home to a pair of babies who need you to feed them, and you’ll fall into bed exhausted only to wake up and have to do it all over again.
“You’re welcome.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
Seriously, how was her protective layer of cynicism supposed to survive when he did that?
He took one of the bowls and added sausage from one frying pan, stirring it into the red sauce. Gabby emptied the other pan into her bowl. She was starving. They took their meal to the table. Logan had learned by now that if he sat on the sofa or an armchair, he’d have the animals begging for scraps and trying to climb onto his lap to share his food. He was finicky about hygiene, so they compromised by using the table.
“Oh, hang on a second.” He disappeared into the kitchen and was back a moment later with two mugs. He placed one beside her bowl and the other beside his, on the opposite side of the small table. It was lemon and ginger tea. Her heart gave a pitter-patter. She’d never imagined Logan would be so thoughtful, and it was dangerous to her romantic heart.
Don’t get used to it.
Yes, he was sweet, but he was also determined not to settle down, regardless of their current arrangement. If any woman were to change that, it certainly wouldn’t be her. It would be someone fun and flirty, or a surfer babe with long legs and a golden glow. Not average, nothing-special Gabrielle.
“Dig in,” he said.
She scooped a healthy portion of pasta into her mouth and moaned. “That’s really good.”
“Thanks.” He grinned. “I learned to make the sauce while I was surfing in Italy.”
She ate more, her empty stomach crying out for all the carbs it could get. “Is it too much to hope that you learned other recipes while you were traveling?”
He smirked. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“I hope to see them all.”
He waggled a finger. “If you’re nice to me.”
She stared mournfully down at the delicious meal. “Then I’m doomed.”
He laughed, his expression delighted. “You don’t have much faith in yourself.”
“I have more faith in your ability to drive me up the wall.” She grinned, enjoying the banter. “Don’t you remember that I’m the hot-tempered Walker sibling? Shane got all the calmness in our family.”
He rubbed his chin. “Come to think of it, I do seem to recall you delivering the set-down of the century at Dylan’s twelfth birthday party.”
Gabby choked. “You saw that? I didn’t realize you were there.”
“Only for a little while. I couldn’t leave The Den for long.”
“Huh.” That was the party where she’d met Henry. Shane’s ex-wife, a film star, had pulled strings to get two members of the national cricket team to visit for her son’s birthday. Gabby and Henry had hit it off straight away. In hindsight, it should have been a red flag that she met Henry through Diana.
“So, I’ve been thinking,” Logan said, when a moment passed with no further comment.
