Page 47 of Beneficial Misfortune

With that, Alex serves himself, and the others follow suit. I help Addison, allowing her to do what she can on her own before offering her assistance. After I’ve finished cutting up her chicken, I turn back to my own plate, only to find it full of food.

I feel my cheeks heat, but I try to ignore it as I turn to face Nathan, who's the only one close enough to have done it.

“Thank you.”

He doesn’t say anything, simply giving me a nod, but something about his eyes is different. Nathan has a bit of a cold edge, something I’m pretty sure he developed over the years being in the spotlight. Depending on the person he's interacting with, his coldness can vary, except for the few people at this table.

Addison, Alex, and Desmond seem to be the exception. And while he’s not overly cold with me, he’s usually still guarded.

Seeing him like this takes me by surprise, and I have to avert my gaze to stop myself from falling into the beautiful depth of his ice-blue eyes.

We all eat, and for the most part, everyone’s quiet. Addison talks a bit about how we made it and the mess she made. I can’t help but smile as she recalls it all. Somehow, everything seems so much more exciting when kids tell you about it.

Desmond drops his fork onto the table and slumps back into his chair with a sigh. “Damn, if you're going to cook like this, we might have to pay you more.”

Alex agrees with a laugh, and I feel my cheeks heat, but it’s not until Nathan agrees that I almost choke on my food.

“Anytime you want to cook, just let me know, and I’ll let Dale know he can have the night off. That was fantastic, Kat.”

My head snaps up to meet his eyes, and I instantly regret it. I’d thought maybe he was joking, but his face is serious as he holds my gaze, almost as if challenging me to look away.

“If you think her food is good…” Alex lets his words trail off, and I whip my head to look at him, my eyes wide.

He did not just say that…

Right?

Please tell me I imagined it, because there’s no way Nathan would have missed what he was clearly implying.

A smirk turns his lips as he raises a brow at me, looking so cocky I’m half tempted to throw my fork at him.

I wouldn’t hit him, of course, but damn him.

“What?” Addison asks in confusion, clearly not understanding what he said.

Thank god.

“What, Uncle Alex?” She pushes for an answer when nobody answers her, and as much as I’d love to explain, I don’t know what to say.

“Kat?” I can feel her eyes on me.

I pull my eyes from Alex, but not before narrowing them to let him know what I think of his comment. He doesn’t seem to care, though, instead chuckling as I roll my eyes.

“Um, he was talking about…” I trail off, grasping for something to say and coming up empty.

“Uncle Alex was talking about her baking,” Desmond says, finally taking pity on me, and I feel myself breathe a little easier. “Her cookies are delicious, aren’t they, Princess?”

Addison's lips turn up into a smile as she nods in agreement. “Yes! They were so good! She let me have three!” She holds up three little fingers in excitement.

“Three cookies?” Alex asks, pulling her attention to him, and she once again nods. “Well, that’s not fair. I didn’t get three.” He meets my gaze over her head, that same smirk on his lips, and I already know whatever he’s going to say isn’t going to be good.

“I’ll just have to make sure I get some more later.”

How in the hell did he manage to take something like baked goods and make them sound dirty?

That shouldn’t be possible, yet here we sit, together at the dinner table, and my brain goes right back to that night I spent with him and Desmond.

Dinner feels like it takes forever, and I spend more time than I’m proud of staring down at my plate, too embarrassed to look anywhere else. Nathan scoops Addison up from her chair, where she’s already half asleep, and is ready to take her to bed when she suddenly wakes up enough to ask me to tuck her in.

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