Page 52 of The Kitchen Contract

NORA

One of us should really set a rule about not kissing while we’re trying to work on recipes. We managed to keep our hands and lips to ourselves during the actual filming of the tres leches cake Alex promised Olivia for her birthday, but all bets are off before and after the camera is rolling.

“Alex,” I say, a little breathless as I pull back from another exquisite kiss that somehow interrupted our cleanup. “We’re going to be late.”

“Who cares?” He pecks my lips gently once, then twice, before trailing up my jawline to my ear.

“I care,” I say, even as I sigh blissfully. I lean back and look at him. “I want them to like me.”

He looks confused. “They already do, hence the invitation.”

“Yeah, but we’re going to tell them about us today, and that could change things. What if they think I’m not good enough for you?”

Alex snorts. “I’d bet on it being the other way around.”

“Armadillo. You’re not taking me seriously.”

He straightens, his expression sobering. “I’m sorry. You’re right, we shouldn’t be late. But you really don’t have anything to worry about. You are a very lovable person, Rose, and I think my family will be happy for us.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Plus, you’ve known Maddy and Annie longer than you’ve known me. You know how cool they are.”

“I can’t argue with that,” I concede. “But it just feels different knowing that they’re related to the guy I’m dating.”

“Would it be bad form to parry your armadillo with a sleepy kitty?”

I puff out a breath and shake my head with a smile. It’s hard to take him seriously when he sounds like a Pokémon trainer, but I know he’s right. “I guess I am overthinking this, aren’t I?”

“It’s okay, my darling. Just give me one little kiss, and I’ll forgive you.”

I dash out the door with a laugh before he can make us any later, Alex on my heels making ridiculous smoochy sounds that shouldn’t be as cute and amusing as they are. I climb into his car and send him back inside for the cake he forgot in his ardor.

We ride the short distance to Maddy and Chris’s house hand-in-hand, the cake balanced in my lap. When we get there, Alex pops open the back of his SUV and pulls out an enormous package wrapped in birthday balloon paper with a card taped to the side.

“What in the world is in there?” I watch as he carries it up the front walk, praying he doesn’t trip and fall. It doesn’t seem to be heavy, but it’s so large he can barely see around it.

“You’ll just have to wait and see with everyone else. I promise this is a good surprise.” He winks at me over his shoulder.

“Watch out,” I warn as he approaches the front steps, not that it will do any good. The present is too large and the man too incorrigible for any amount of carefulness.

Maddy meets us at the door, backing up in the face of Alex’s burden, a perturbed expression on her face. “Good grief. Do I want to know what’s in that box?”

She shuts the door behind us and pulls me into a hug, careful not to upset the cake I’m balancing on one arm, as Alex settles the gift next to the pile. All the other boxes and bags combined are about equal in size to his one box, and he looks pleased with himself as he surveys the collection.

“I don’t know, but I’ll just go ahead and apologize for whatever it is.” Anything that big is sure to be an inconvenience if not a full-on nuisance. “I just hope for your sake that it doesn’t move or make sounds.”

“Or require some assembly and thirty-seven AAA batteries,” she says with a shudder.

“You guys know I can hear you, right?” Alex interjects.

I smile sweetly at him. “We know.”

He smiles back, and Maddy looks between us, her eyes going wide. I can tell the instant she figures it out.

“Oh my gosh, are you two…?”

“Yes.” Alex reaches for my hand. “But there’s no reason for you to make a big deal about it. Nora and I are seeing each other. Keep your socks on.”

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