Page 21 of Recipe for Romance

Chapter Ten

~Nicole~

In the few weeks that had passed since Aiden had taken Nicole to his family farm and made it clear that she was only there because her father had coerced him into it, the two of them had gotten back to business, just as she’d said they should. Cooking lessons took place in the morning as they made breakfast together, the middle of the day was reserved for Aiden and his work on the restaurant and for Nicole to read textbooks about knife cuts and mother sauces, and the evenings held more cooking lessons after which they would go their separate ways.

Aiden used the time to continue working on his plans for the old cider mill while she was supposed to be reading the cookbooks and biographies of big name chefs such as Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, David Chang, and Gordon Ramsay. Nicole had attempted to read them as she was instructed to, but by the end of the day her brain was wired from not enough stimulation and she ended up just skimming the pages and mostly looking at the pictures before doom scrolling on her phone. It was like she was in elementary school all over again, never making her reading goal because she just didn’t have the focus and would rather be doinganythingelse.

Case in point, she was currently lying belly down atop her bed, the familiar floral duvet and matching throw pillows making the small room feel slightly more like home. Once it had been established that she would be in Applewood for some time, Nicole had called her father, asking if he could send a few more things for her. In true Eddie Malone fashion, he’d plucked someone from his army of personal assistants to do it for him, paying the man to drive her car full of belongings up to Aiden’s house before flying back to California.

Nicole was grateful to have her own mode of transportation again, though she would be lying if she said she hadn’t felt the loss of having to travel everywhere with Aiden. Now that she was no longer tied to the house, it seemed Aiden also felt less guilty about leaving her to her own devices, routinely taking off after their breakfast lessons to go do “restaurant stuff.” He was supposed to take her with him, but he always found some excuse to leave her behind. The time between their lessons seemed to drag on endlessly, made worse by their lack of communication about anything that wasn’t food related.

Nicole sighed, the words of her cooking techniques textbook blurring together into one giant blob of black and white. Flipping it shut, Nicole tossed the book aside and buried her head in her arms. There was one other big problem she was dealing with. No amount of reading or lessons in her time with Aiden seemed to have made the slightest improvement in her cooking ability. Whatever source material had helped to make her dad one of the best chef’s in the country was nowhere in her genetic makeup, not even a hint. In addition to the gash on her finger she gave herself at the farm, Nicole now had knife cuts on her fingertips, a few burns on her forearms, and a cut on her foot. Herfoot!

Aiden had read her the riot act about wearing proper footwear in the kitchen after that little incident. Nicole listened to the lecture, watching his handsome face contort with frustration rather than actually hearing what he had to say. It probably hadn’t been wise to point out that he hadn’t noticed her wearing flip flops untilaftershe’d dropped the knife, but Nicole had done it anyway. She had been upset, not about getting yelled at, but that there was a distance between them. They had been keeping each other at arm’s length ever since his comments to his mom. The formality was necessary, and she’d asked for it, but that didn’t make her hate it any less.

Her phone vibrating against her nightstand managed to lighten her dark mood slightly. Anyone resembling anything close to a friend was only one through social media now, and her father never texted her unless he had to, so that left only one person who would message her: Aiden. Swiping open her phone, Nicole smiled at his contact name before frowning at the content of his message.

Chef Stick Up His Ass:Menu planning is running long. Dinner lesson won’t be happening tonight.

Blinking at her phone to make sure she’d read that correctly, Nicole continued to stare at the words as the pot of disappointment and resentment that had been simmering for almost a month finally boiled over. After taking a deep breath to try and calm the edginess she felt, she typed out her reply.

Nicole:No worries, Chef. I’ll find a way to keep myself occupied.

Frustrated beyond belief, Nicole tossed her phone to the side and decided that a little self-care was in order. She needed an outlet to calm the storm of emotions that had been raging inside of her. First, she would take care of the sexual frustration that seemed to build up to near insurmountable proportions each day, and then she would take herself out on the town for some much needed socializing. Conversations with Aiden, when they even happened outside of cooking lessons, consisted mostly of parting words on his way out the door or grumbling about her unfolded laundry still piled up in the dryer. He should be grateful that she was being as mindful as she was about her mess because with him she was at leasttrying.

Past roommates had always complained about her lack of organization, but Nicole had been too busy trying to keep her head above water with everything else to really care. Apparently, effort didn’t matter to him, only results. Thinking about Aiden and his ridiculous standards and his even more ridiculously handsome face was getting her worked up all over again in more ways than one. Aiden had left early this morning and likely wouldn’t be back until just before dinner, so she had plenty of time to take care of the ache that grew between her legs whenever she thought of him.

After locking the bedroom door and making sure the windows were shut, Nicole opened the nightstand next to her bed to search through her box of toys. She’d had differing favorites over the years, but the best had been a little purchase she’d made a few months ago from a high end site. Using a vibrator wasn’t anything new to Nicole, but the rabbit vibe took things to a whole other level. After slipping off her clothes and lubing the vibe, she laid down in the bed and spread her legs.

Slowly, she slid the vibrator inside herself, tapping the button for the lowest setting. She was so worked up it wouldn’t take much, but as the vibrations started to ripple out from her center to the rest of her body, Nicole needed a little something more. What she really needed was another person there with her, but since that wasn’t happening, she made due. Sliding her free hand up her body, her fingertips tickling her skin, she squeezed her breasts and pinched her nipples into stiff peaks as her frustration melted away into blissful pleasure.

Thoughts of her cooking lessons, her lack of focus, and her lack of progress all vanished. Instead, she focused on the feelings flowing through her body. Her heartbeat picked up along with the throbbing of her clit, both thumping in unison as she sought her relief. Twisting the vibe to hit the spot she needed, Nicole whimpered as the gratification built steadily. Her legs tensed as her hand continued to explore her body, slipping over silky skin and twisting in her hair as she started to pant, her chest rising and falling in quick succession.

The precipice was so close Nicole could practically reach out and touch her orgasm where it dangled like a carrot in front of her, but she couldn’t quite reach it. She knew what she needed, what she’d been needing every day since he came to Los Angeles, and only when she started to picture Aiden thrusting into her instead of her vibrator, whispering all of the ways he was going to please her, did she tip over the edge. Her orgasm crashed over her forcefully, her vision whiting out as she rode wave after wave of ecstasy, never letting up as she pictured him coming into her again and again, over and over until they were both sweaty and spent.

Legs trembling from the exertion, Nicole still didn’t stop, knowing that she needed at least one more orgasm to feel truly satisfied. She’d always needed more, and now was no exception. One of her exes accused her of having a greedy pussy. It was true, though Nicole was certain the comment steamed more from the man’s inability to please her than anything else. Forgetting her ex and focusing on the current source of all her frustration, sexual and otherwise, she turned the vibrator up a level, pushed it into herself more forcefully, and finally called Aiden’s name as she came harder than she had in a long time.

Turning off the toy and slipping it from her body, Nicole rolled onto her side, light tremors racking her body as she came down from her high. Her chest heaved, filling her lungs with sweet oxygen as she waited for her body to return to its normal state. It took several minutes, but when she finally felt like she could walk again, Nicole stumbled from the bed and cleaned up the evidence of her “me time” before getting dressed for her evening excursion. She wasn’t sure where she would go, only that she needed to be anywhere but the empty house of the man that intrigued her as much as he irked her.

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Downtown Applewoodwasn’t unlike some of the smaller pocket neighborhoods in Los Angeles with one notable exception. Almost everywhere Nicole went, whoever she spoke with wanted to know almost everything about her. Who she was, where she was staying, where she was from, even whether or not she was single. She was starting to think that every occupant of the town moonlighted as a matchmaker by the time she entered Branch and Brew.

It was one of two bars in the area, but came much more highly recommended by the older man who ran the bakery she had stopped into when she first drove downtown for a little post-orgasm refuel. After that she’d visited a boutique clothing store, two bookstores, and finally a day spa where she got her horribly chipped nails cleaned up before walking to the bar to grab a bite and sample a little of Applewood’s nightlife.

The first thing that hit her as she walked through the glass door of the white brick building was the enticing aroma floating through the air. It smelled heavily of apple and spices. The second was the sound. A mix of current radio hits played low in the background, but most of the noise came from the numerous patrons sitting at various high top tables. Nicole glanced around, the clothing of those in attendance along with murals painted in the brown walls providing pops of color among the wood furniture and cement floor. When her eyes landed at the bar, a familiar face smiled and waved her over. Nicole followed, happy to see a friendly visage after so many weeks of facing Aiden’s perpetual scowl.

“Nicole, right?” Felix asked. His hair was up in a tiny ponytail, strands in the front falling into his eyes as he passed a glass of some amber colored liquid to a waiting patron. “Good to see you again.”

Nicole returned his smile, wishing that she found the far more affable Kemp brother anywhere near as attractive as his brother. “Same.” She glanced around, trying not to get crushed by people trying to get to the bar. “Quite the crowd you’ve got here.”

Felix chuckled as he filled another glass with a paler version of the liquid she’d seen moments ago, tossing a curled lemon rind and sprig of lavender into it before sliding it down the bar. “It’s trivia night. Everyone is trying to get their drinks in before we start it up.” He nodded to a woman at the other end of the bar.

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