Page 63 of Fix Me Up, Cowboy
“If he wants to hang around to hear this, I’m okay with that,” Kate says. “I can make us breakfast, and you can see for yourself that Noah is a nice guy, and he can discover that you aren’t always a jerk.”
His eyes widen. “Are you telling me that after being here for only a week, you can cook now?”
“Well, not exactly. But I do know where there’s an amazing bakery in town and I bought some croissants there yesterday.” She looks at me. “Are you okay with that, or do you need to leave?”
“I’m good with that.”
Kate doesn’t wait to find out if her cousin is okay with her plan. She walks toward the kitchen. Troy and I remove our boots and follow her.
She starts the coffeemaker and looks through the fridge. “I have some eggs. I can make some scrambled eggs if you want.”
I catch the panicked expression Troy sends my way, and he shakes his head. Kate doesn’t notice.
“I make a mean scrambled egg,” I tell them. “If you want, I can cook them while Troy tells you about his idea.”
“I’m good with that plan,” he says, sounding somewhat relieved, “but I really do need to inspect a few things first before I explain my idea. Do you mind if I check them out while Noah makes the eggs?” he asks Kate.
“Go ahead.”
He heads out of the kitchen and I gather the ingredients I’ll need.
Kate removes a croissant from a paper bag. “Sorry about Troy. He’s not usually like that.”
“That’s okay. I get it. He’s protective of you.”
“He is. All of my family is. But that doesn’t excuse his behavior. And you really didn’t have to stay. I know this is kind of awkward—”
I don’t give her a chance to finish the sentence. My mouth crashes against hers, and my body hums in satisfaction. Yes, normally the reason I bail is because I don’t like dealing with the awkward morning after, when the woman hints that she wants you to call her.
But that isn’t a problem with Kate and me. She won’t be here much longer. She’s not expecting me to call her.
I pull away and wink at her. “Was that awkward?”
“Give me a second while I regain my breath long enough to talk,” she says with a grin. “I know I’m not going to be around much longer, but I’m really hoping we can have a repeat of last night before I go. I know you’re not into having sex more than once with the same woman, but I’m hoping you can make an exception.”
I move to trap her body against the counter and run my lips against her jaw. Her light floral scent teases me, and I have the sudden urge to lift her onto the counter and show her just how much I fucking want her again. “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” I chuckle against her ear.
“We could call it my prize for cleaning Lady and Scoundrel’s stable,” she murmurs.
“And what about Troy?”
“He’s not the one cleaning the stable, so he doesn’t get a prize.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m hardly going to be fucking you with him around.”
She lets out a hard breath. “I’m sure we’ll figure out something.”
I kiss her briefly, then start making the food. She doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, so the eggs will be pretty basic.
“Where did you learn to cook like that?” she asks.
“I can follow a recipe, which is about the extent of my cooking skills. Before Violet and Sophie moved in with us, my brothers and I took turns cooking. We weren’t bad, but Violet and Sophie are much better at it. They’ve kind of taken over the kitchen.”
“Can I help?”
I show her how to crack an egg and dump the contents into the bowl. She attempts to duplicate my results. With the first try, she doesn’t hit the bowl hard enough and her efforts don’t even leave a dent.
The next time she hits the egg too hard against the edge of the bowl. Half the egg white and yolk and a few eggshell bits end up in the bowl; the rest slops down the side onto the counter.
