Page 24 of An Adventure For Aster

“You’re making me feel like a wuss,” he said.

“Not possible,” she said. “I’m jealous that you are so knowledgeable about it. Does Zane know that?”

“He knew I always had plants, not much more. It’s not like the guys in the field talked about gardening.”

They were too busy trying to stay alive.

Hadn’t Raine said he survived? Guess she was right.

He heard a buzzer go off. “My pies are done. I made two.”

He followed her into the kitchen and watched as she pulled them out. “They look awesome.”

“One is for you. I did them first because they take the most work and are the longest bake time. I’d made the dough for the crusts last night.”

“I’ll have to get some ice cream. Damn, I’m going to get fat if I eat this whole thing.”

Her eyes ran over his body. “I don’t know if it’s possible for you to get fat any more than me. I can’t put weight on to save my soul. And I know first world problems that every woman wishes, but I’m built like a ten-year-old boy.”

His eyes ran over her body. She was in jeans today, light blue and a little baggy, but not hanging on her. More like it was the style. “I like you the way you are. Didn’t anyone ever teach you to not be someone you aren’t?”

“They did,” she said primly. “And I tell that to my students. But that doesn’t mean it’s not human nature to be jealous of something that we don’t have.”

Been there and done that.

He moved closer to her and pulled her against his body. His mouth dropped down as she reached up and they met in the middle for a kiss like he’d wanted when he walked in the door.

One he’d dreamed of last night in bed.

When another timer went off, she jumped back and laughed. “Sorry. I’m not normally that jumpy. I forgot to turn it off from the pies.”

“No problem,” he said. He saw more apples on the counter and other ingredients lined up. “What are you making next?”

“You’re going to peel some apples for me and then cut them up and we are making muffins. I’ll make sure half the pie is wrapped up to freeze so you won’t have to worry about eating it all at once. The same with the muffins if you don’t think you can eat them all. I’ll make a dozen and you get half.”

“That works,” he said. “I’ll eat all the muffins. Six isn’t that much. The pie, not so much, but I would have tried.”

She pulled a peeler out of a drawer and handed it over. “Here you go. Get to it.”

He peeled the apples she’d set out while she went about mixing all the ingredients and lining up baking cups in a pan.

“How small do you want these chopped?”

He’d already cut the apples into four big pieces. “Make a bunch of strips in that and then do the same on the other side.”

“Little squares?” he asked.

“That’s it,” she said, bumping into him.

When the muffins were in the oven, she started to clean up the kitchen.

“Anything else we’ve got to make?”

“Apple sauce,” she said. “That’s easy. Do you like it?”

“I’ll eat just about anything,” he said.

More if he didn’t have to cook it.

---