Page 85 of Brooke
Nanine would be her mother at last, legally.
Her father and Nanine had welcomed Axel beautifully, with her father inviting him to lunch and Nanine asking him to meet her for a café. Her circle was inviting him in more and more.
Waking up with him had seemed like a priceless gift after the incredible victory of last night. And what a night it had been. They had all come to Paris to help Nanine and save her restaurant—and they’d done it. Mostly because of Madison. Brooke had never seen her friend looking as happy as she had last night, being clapped on the back by three other Michelin-starred chefs.
Every roommate’s reinvention was coming together. The sunlight seemed a brighter gold as she let that feeling settle inside her.
She slid out of bed, missing Axel, the man at the center of her reinvention. Where was he? His phone was still beside the bed, so she knew he wasn’t gone. No one stirred in her bathroom. She pulled on her yoga clothes and headed downstairs, smelling coffee and something sweet.
When she entered the kitchen, she stopped short. Axel was standing barefooted at the stove in an ill-fitting black apron, wearing only his shirt and pants from last night. Hewas surrounded by Kyle and Sawyer and the rest of her roommates.
“Your man insisted on cooking breakfast this morning,” Madison said in response to her obvious gaping mouth. She was sitting at the kitchen island, a rarity for her, beside Sawyer, who was drawing. “We decided to let him. I’ve never had a traditional Norwegian breakfast. Next up, star anise porridge.”
“I’m helping with the chocolate cardamon buns,” Thea proudly stated, pointing to the cloth-covered pan in front of her and Jean Luc. “Sawyer told Dean and me to get our beloveds and come to the house this morning for brunch. It’s been so exciting to learn another bread. Axel said Norwegians sell buns like these everywhere, and they’re filled with anything from raisins to chocolate to cinnamon.”
She managed to close her mouth. “Wow! I didn’t know that. Seems we’re honored to have a guest cook in the kitchen.”
“Good morning, Brooke,” Axel said in his signature deep voice as he shot her a wide smile. “I’m glad you slept in. I hope you’re hungry. I thought it would be a nice treat for everyone to try a Norwegian breakfast. You don’t find Norwegian restaurants much outside of Norway.”
“Indeed.” God, how did she not know he cooked? Sure, he’d made her food, but baked goods?
“You hit the trifecta with this guy,” Dean told her, catching her eye as Jacqueline nodded in agreement beside him. “He’s already served up some salmony thing with dill and mayo. What’s it called again?”
Axel went back to stirring something in one of Madison’s copper pots.“Smørbrød.”
She tried the word out on her tongue. “Myelskedeis full of talents.”
“Dude, Brooke, you need to let this man have a drawer,” Sawyer said from his perch at the kitchen island, a sketchbookand pencil in hand. “No one had fresh clothes that would fit him.”
“We all gave it our best shot,” Dean exclaimed. “Everything was up to his elbows practically.”
Brooke forced her leaden legs to walk over to Axel’s side. He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth lightly, mirth dancing in his eyes. “They ate all of the salmon starter,” he told her, his shoulders shaking. “You should see your face. Is it so shocking to find me like this?”
She put her hand on his back, only to touch the ties of his apron. “A little. You look ridiculous. Even the apron is too short on you.”
“It’s no matter,” he said with a clank of the spoon on the side of the pot. “Thea, I believe our bread is ready for the oven. Who would like the porridge?”
They all raised their hands. She leaned in and sniffed, noting the star anise in the gruel-like substance. She wasn’t a porridge kind of girl by nature, but the pleasant scent of ginger and cinnamon, along with some other spices, teased her senses. She watched as he added some milk and butter to the top and then used the pot holders to carry the pot over to the kitchen island where Thea had arranged a cooling rack.
Axel and Thea then put the bread into the oven together while Jean Luc and Dean grabbed bowls and silverware, dishing out porridge right and left. She was apparently still standing and gawking, because Kyle guided her onto one of the stools. After Axel and Thea exchanged a happy bread baking look, he came over and sat beside her, only to present her with one of the bowls of porridge.
“I hope you like it.” He leaned closer until their sides brushed deliciously. “There’s nothing I like better on a cold morning at my woodland retreat. You will see when you come, Brooke.”
His woodland retreat… She would go there with him someday. She was becoming more and more entwined in his life, and he in hers. Once that would have scared her, but now it was a delight.
She dove into the porridge when he presented her with a spoon, a happy groan of delight escaping her lips. “It’s delicious.”
Their eyes held a moment longer, and she could almost hear another click between them. He’d made breakfast for her friends—not only for her. He fit. And he was showing her how much he liked being in her life.
The feeling lasted the rest of the day as they walked the streets of Paris hand in hand, stopping to look at shop windows or walk into antique stores.
By the end of the evening, she was even more in love with him than she had been the day before.
A few days before the restaurant’s reopening, they jointly presented their ideas for the common areas of the house, mainly the entryway, salon, and dining room, the latter of which the friends hadn’t yet used. They did it in the kitchen, of course, because Madison had basically lived in the kitchen here and at Nanine’s since the dinner.
Kyle’s reaction was priceless as Madison swung around from the stove from the dish she was frying.“Purple…”
He said it as if he couldn’t believe it.
