Page 71 of Nothing But It All
“Oh, really?”
“I mean, you can’t deny that’s impressive.”
I giggle.
“What? Does it turn you on to watch a master chef at work?”
Laughing, I take two plates from the cabinet. “A master chef? You’ve cooked one meal. I hardly think you can claim master chef status.”
“I understand how some people think food is an aphrodisiac.” He smirks. “You’re turned on just thinking about how talented I am on the grill, aren’t you?”
“Well, if I was turned on thinking about you at the grill, it wouldn’t be food that was the aphrodisiac, then, would it?”
He lifts a brow. “Are you sayingI’man aphrodisiac, Mrs. Reed?”
“I’m saying what you said doesn’t make sense.”
He rolls his eyes.
“Besides, I don’t think hamburgers are on the list of things that up sexual arousal.”
He takes another beer out of the fridge and meets me at the table. We sit across from each other.
“What foodsareon that list?” he asks, taking a proffered plate.
“Oysters are the most popular, I think. Clichéd, yes, but I’m pretty sure they scientifically improve your sex life.”
He screws up his face and places a huge stack of tomato slices on his burger. “How? They’re slimy and gross.”
“I think they have a lot of zinc, which amps up testosterone production.”
“Huh. What else?”
I hold up my glass and swirl the liquid around, holding his gaze. “Red wine. It has something in it that increases blood flow.”
Jack wiggles his brows, making me laugh.
“Watermelon is another one,” I say.
“Does the water make you wetter?”
“No,” I say, grinning. “It has something in it that increases the nitric oxide in the body. Somehow, that causes your blood vessels to relax, so your circulation speeds up. Hence, amped arousal.”
“How do you know all of this?”
I layer lettuce and tomatoes on my sandwich. Then, thinking—hoping—that pickles will disguise some of the spices, I add a few of those too.
“You’d be surprised at some of the things I know,” I say. “I listen to a lot of audiobooks.”
“What are you listening to that is talking about aphrodisiacs?”
I laugh. “Romance novels aren’t just smut, you know. You can learn things from time to time.”
“And where do you listen to these?”
I put the top on my sandwich. “While scrapbooking. Doing laundry. Waiting in the carpool line. Lying in the bath. Mowing the lawn. Shoveling snow last winter.”
Jack diverts his gaze to the table.
