Page 31 of Hot for the Jerk

Her head bobbed again, hard enough that she needed to push her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

I released her shoulders and smiled.“Perfect.With the right seasonings and a little creativity, we can make a delicious and filling pot of vegetarian chili on the woodstove.Sound good?”

Her shoulders sagged as she sighed and nodded some more.“Yeah, that sounds doable.”Moving to the enormous stainless steel two-door fridge, she opened the left side and hauled out a big bag of mixed veg medley.

“Will this work?”she asked.

“It sure will.”

“There are beans and cans of stewed tomatoes in the pantry over there.”She pointed to a bifold door across the kitchen.I scooted around the island and opened the door, surprised that it was a walk-in and not just a bunch of shelves in front of me.The little space was packed with dried food in jars; bags of rice and dried pasta; so many home-canned jars of jams, fruits, and vegetables; and store-bought tin cans of food.The woman was fretting about feeding people, yet here she had enough food to nourish the entire island for a month.

I grabbed three cans of stewed tomatoes and various cans of beans, precariously stacking them in my arms, before rejoining our frazzled hostess.Jagger was in the kitchen now, which explained why it suddenly felt smaller than the pantry.His bulky shoulders and beard were everywhere.He had a cutting board out and was dicing onions without a tear in his eye.

“I knew it,” I murmured, setting the cans down beside him.“You are a robot.”

Shooting me a sideways glance before resuming his cutting was the only response I got.

“Only robots don’t cry when chopping onions.”

“I’m wearing glasses,” he said blandly.“It helps stop the off-gassed enzymes from penetrating my eyeballs.”Then he sniffed, turned his head, and blinked a bunch.“But they’re not perfect.I still tear up, depending on the onion.I’m also chopping away from the root, which helps.”

Lenora came back into the kitchen from the direction of the laundry room.“My big soup pot was up on the shelf.”She set it on the island.“I should have listened to Walt when he wanted to switch the stove to a gas range.Only thing that man was good for—that one idea.”Her head shook, jostling her curls.“Okay, and maybe the children.But that was it.Besides my children and suggesting a gas range—which I dismissed—he was good for nothing.”

I met Jagger’s amused gaze for a moment, but as soon as my cheeks grew hot, I quickly looked away.Not wanting to be the only one not doing anything, I grabbed a pair of scissors from the knife block and opened up the bag of mixed veg, dumping them into the pot with the onions.Then I opened the cans, rinsing the beans before adding them to the pot.Lenora was back in the freezer, digging around and muttering to herself.

The air between Jagger and I seemed to grow increasingly awkward the longer we both stood there in the kitchen.I hated small talk, but the quiet was worse.“So you abandoned the puzzle?”I asked, just as a roar of laughter from the drunkards in the sitting room flitted into the kitchen.

“Just taking a break,” he said, lifting up the cutting board and scraping the onions into the pot, while also blinking a bunch behind his glasses.

“There you are, you little suckers,” Lenora said, yanking out a bag of frozen dinner rolls.“I knew I stuffed you back here.”They landed on the island next to the soup pot with athunk.“Hopefully they’re not freezer burned too badly.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” I said.“Otherwise, we can always make pan-fried bread dough in a skillet on the woodstove.I’ve done that before.”

Lenora’s head tipped to the side.“You might have to show me how to do that, dear.”

After we finished adding the stewed tomatoes and seasonings to the pot, Jagger and his muscles carried the heavy pot out to the living room and set it on the woodstove.

“We’re cooking like they did in the Wild West, huh?”said Bernie with a chuckle as he took a sip from his beer bottle, letting out a satisfied, “Ah.”

“I think they cooked over a campfire under the stars, with scorpions crawling through their bedrolls,” Jagger said, opening up the woodstove to check on it and adding another piece of firewood.

Bernie’s laughter quickly turned into a hacking cough which prompted Effie to whale on his back like he was choking on a chicken bone.

“While we wait for the chili,” Lenora said, sneaking up behind us, “here are some mixed nuts, pretzels, and some of my canned homemade pickles—bread and butter,anddill.”She set the tray of hors d’oeuvres on the coffee table, and immediately, the tipsy guests all leaned forward to grab various bites.

“Gonna be a bit before the chili is ready,” Jagger said, standing up to his full height and giving me a curious look.For some stupid reason, I wasrightbehind him.Me being there was entirely unnecessary, and when he turned around to the way he was now, we were practically chest to chest.

I cleared my throat and took a giant step back.“Right.”

“Might as well get back to the puzzle,” he murmured, still giving me that bewildered, but also amused look as he stepped around me.It wasn’t my face that was hot now, it was my entire body.Hot from embarrassment, hot from the reoccurring images of him shirtless and swinging an axe, and hot from just how hot I was for this jerk.

This was the makings of an absolute disaster.

Maybe Effie and Bernie would let me crash on their floor tonight.It might be safer than sharing a room again with my sexy bearded enemy.

Jagger sat back down at his seat at the table with the puzzle pieces spread out in front of him and jerked his chin at me.“You coming, Elsa?”

With a huff and burning cheeks, I reclaimed my seat on his right.“Why do you keep calling me Elsa?”

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