Page 37 of Bake You Mine
She grinned. “I can’t make burgers like yours, but I still make them.”
They both laughed.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
He relaxed into his chair. “See what? Your ex and his wife are trying to push boundaries?” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “Did you see how she checked me out?”
Aubrey rubbed at her temples again. “Judging by his snark, they’re on the outs again. I don’t care. He’s not my problem. My kid, on the other hand…I will dress them like turkeys if they hurt her.”
Liam should be glad Aubrey wasn’t interested in him. She came part and parcel with a pre-teen. Daphne was a great kid from what he knew of her. Liking a kid was way different than dating her mom.
“How old are you anyway, Aubs? You look too young to have a kid in middle school.”
Her cheeks turned as pink as a rare steak, and she wouldn’t meet his gaze.Again.
“I’m thirty-six, so I was twenty-four when I had her. She’s also a year ahead in school. You’re what, twenty-nine?” Her voice squeaked.
This woman had him a hundred different types of fucked up. Yesterday, she wasn’t interested. Today, hate wasn’t the four-letter word he had in mind when she finally met his gaze.
“Yeah, I’m twenty-nine. I’ll be thirty in January.”
She lowered her head as she cut into the galette and served them both a slice. They ate in silence, save her odd appreciative murmur.
“Okay, I’ll admit it, that’s good. Although you can only take credit for the apples.”
His mouth dropped open. “Hey, I did have to work the puff pastry!”
She grinned as she wiped away crumbs. “Okay, fair enough.” She reached for her water bottle and took a swig. “Thanks for the galette.” Her gaze was soft and appreciative. “I should also thank you for standing up to my asshole ex. It would have taken twenty minutes to get him out of here on my own.”
“Hey, no problem.”
She set down the water bottle and sighed. “Don’t ever marry with physical attraction as the main connection, Liam. It’ll never go the way you hope.”
Surprised at her confiding in him, he nudged further. “Is that the only reason you married him?”
She shrugged. “It was a big reason for the love at first sight. Fifteen years and one kid later, he ditched me for a younger model. It shouldn’t have surprised me. I learned theconnection must be deeper if you want the relationship to last.”
He hardly knew Aubrey, yet he already felt a connection with her beyond their love of food. Her words didn’t exactly match up with her body language, but he wouldn’t push her.
Not unless she wanted him to.
“Mom, you’re not seriously going to make me eat dinner, are you?”
Aubrey cut a glance at Daphne. Sitting in the backseat, Daphne rubbed her belly appreciatively. Usually, she’d never let her kid have sweets before dinner.
“I shouldn’t have let you have that soufflé,” Aubrey said.
“Like you could have stopped me! It’s the best thing you’ve ever made. Seriously.”
The lemon soufflé had been Liam’s final item to taste test. Delicate, with just the right amount of sweetness. And yeah, pretty fucking good, if she did say so herself.
He agreed and immediately demanded they add it to the menu for the first challenge, which surprised her. After all, they were in direct competition. Even though he could be trying to trip her up, given the soufflés’ tricky nature, she liked to think he was being straight with her. It would be an impressive dessert if she could pull it off.
“Compromise, we’ll have soup and sammies?”
“Ugh, okay. I’m mad you gave Liam the rest of the soufflé!”
“I don’t want any of your teeth falling out.”
