Page 20 of To Love and Protect
While he did that, she grabbed a dish towel and fanned the smoke detector on the ceiling. She was short, so it wasn’t working that well. Nico quickly stepped in after he took the bacon out of the oven and helped her fan at the ceiling.
The screeching noise finally stopped. Nico sagged into the counter and let out a sigh of relief. “Whew. Glad you showed up. We make a good team, don’t we?”
“Right,” Remedie said slowly, ignoring his last comment completely. “I’m gonna ask you again . . . What is all this?”
That sheepish smile was back. “I wanted to cook for you.”
She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or sink into the feeling of her heart melting. Nobody had ever taken the time to cook for just her before. She was always the one feeding people.
Remedie looked around the kitchen. It was a disaster. There were dishes everywhere and food spilled all over the place. The refrigerator was even cracked open. When her eyes landed back on him, she asked, “What exactly were you trying to cook?”
His smile was magnetic. “My mama’s famous shrimp and grits with bacon and homemade biscuits, which were actually store bought. I cheated a bit with those.”
“And did you put those in the oven too?” she asked skeptically as she eyed the oven as if it might blow up.
“Didn’t get that far. I don’t know how you do this shit. I felt like I needed eight arms to pull this all together.” He lookedaround the kitchen again, and she took him in as he did. He wore a simple black tee with gray joggers. A durag was wrapped around his head, and she could smell his cologne through all the burned food. He looked cute when he wasn’t confident about something. She liked seeing this side of him. He wasn’t all cocky and confident all the time, which made him more human in her eyes. It made him more relatable.
“It’s not a skill everyone has, love.” Calling him that was a slip of the tongue. Her mind immediately went to the night before and their bet. The realization hit her that her body and quick tongue would be working against her to win this stupid bet. She needed to tighten up.
Remedie quickly walked over to the sink and turned the faucet on so she could wet a rag and clean up. She felt Nico’s large frame behind her. When she felt his hand on her waist, she fought the urge not to lean back into him.
“I heard that.” He muttered the words directly into her ear, causing her middle to warm.
He stepped away from her while she continued on with her busy work. She made quick work of straightening up the kitchen before she got the urge to look up and see what Nico was doing. Her eyes almost bulged out of her head when she saw him methodically plating the burned food he made. His tongue poked out to the side of his mouth as he used a paper towel to wipe the edge of the bowl. She stifled a giggle at how serious he was. He must have seen the chefs doing that on TV or something because there was no way he’d picked that up on his own.
When he was satisfied with the presentation, he looked up at her and caught her eye. The shit-eating grin that spread across his face let her know he was about to say something ridiculous.
“You like watching me?”
Her eyes found the ceiling. “Not even. I’m trying to figure out why you plated that food. It don’t look a little overdone to you?” she joked.
He looked at the plate and then back at her. His shoulders slouched slightly, and he looked a bit defeated. “You might be right.”
Her heart dropped. She was used to Nico making jokes out of everything. Seeing this side of him had her unsure of how to act or what to say. She realized right now wasn’t a time for jokes. He was clearly trying to step out of his comfort zone for her. The least she could do was make it easier on him.
He grabbed the plates as if he was about to throw them away, but she rushed over to him and grabbed his arm. “Hey, I was just joking. Come on. Let’s go eat.”
“Really? You serious?” he asked. Hope danced in his eyes, and her heart did a funny little dance.
That moment made her realize that he was really trying to impress her.
That act alone impressed her.
Nobody had ever tried to impress her.
“You just saved me an hour or so of cooking myself. Hell yeah, I’m serious.”
His signature grin covered his face as he slightly bowed, gesturing her toward the dining room. “After you, m’lady.”
Remedie giggled. And just like that, the goof troop was back.
They sat in the dining room, prayed, and then each eyed the food as if they waited for the other to take a bite first. After several long seconds, Nico cleared his throat and picked up his spoon. He eyed the concoction for a second before he dipped the spoon in and brought it up to his mouth.
Their eyes connected as he took a bite, and she could see he was struggling to chew and swallow, which made her struggle to hold in her laugh.
“How is it?” she finally managed to ask after he swallowed. He didn’t answer. He simply stood up, grabbed the two bowls, and quietly walked into the kitchen. She hopped up and followed him. “Nico, I was going to eat that—” He opened the trash can and chucked both bowls in. “Nico! Those bowls are expensive as hell! Why did you do that?”
She knew how expensive they were because they were the same ones they used at the restaurant she used to work at, and his crazy ass just threw them away like it was nothing.
