Page 49 of Rebel Heart
I was trying to find some saliva to be able to finish the bite I’d taken. Chewing slowly, I made a sound of protest and shook my head. Unfortunately, my mouth was too full and dry to speak.
And Beau knew I was struggling. He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked while he waited for me to figure out how to put a positive spin on this.
I set the cookie down, struggled through that bite, and licked my lips several times. “Right. Well, your first attempt was spectacular,” I told him. Beau’s lips twitched. “The second one feels like a combination of things went wrong, and it all pertains to the flour. Did you measure out the amount exactly as I gave it to you?”
He sat forward, uncrossed his arms, and rested them on the table. “I did. But then I hit the measuring cup onthe edge of the bowl, and some of the flour made it onto the floor instead of the bowl. So, I eyeballed the amount I thought landed on the floor and added that into the bowl.”
Well, now it made sense.
“You added too much.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah. And then you mixed it too much.”
His brows pulled together. “You can tell all of that from taking one bite?”
Tipping my head to one side, I offered another smile. “Years of taste testing and working with baked goods makes that possible.”
Beau studied me for a few beats, questions lingering in his gaze. He only asked one. “How do I know when to stop mixing?”
“You only want to mix the dough until you don’t see any additional streaks of flour left,” I explained. “Anything beyond that is going to result in tough cookies. In fact, I like to mix to the point there’s just a few streaks of flour left whenever I’m making a cookie that has an additional ingredient like chocolate chips, because as I mix those in at the end, the remaining flour will get incorporated then.”
“That makes sense.”
“Ah, it’s one of those things you learn the more you do it.”
“Only, now I’m terrified to try a third time.”
Laughter spilled out of me. “Well, you know what they say. Third time’s the charm. Anyway, if you’re reallynervous about it, you could call me, and I’ll walk you through it.”
Surprise littered his features as he blinked and sat back in his seat. “Really? You’d be okay with that?”
Now, it was my turn to hesitate. I hadn’t planned on making the offer. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until after I’d done it. But now that I had, I couldn’t exactly deny him without looking like a complete jerk. So, I gave him a nod and spoke softly. “Yeah, Beau. I’d be okay with that.”
For long moments, he stared at me, and there was no question about what I saw in his gaze this time. It was regret, and the awkward silence that took hold was close to unbearable.
He licked his lips and said, “It’s really good to see you, Jules.”
I looked away, attempting to swallow past the tightness in my throat. It still felt like I had a boulder lodged there when I returned my attention to him and said, “You, too.”
Whether he recognized that things were about to get very uncomfortable, or he was already experiencing it himself, I didn’t know. But Beau stood and said, “I should get going. I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I just thought I’d stop by to see you and get your opinion on the cookies.”
I rose from my seat and fought the urge to wrap my arms around him. “Let me grab you some cookies to take with you.”
Without waiting for a response, I darted behind thecounter, grabbed a container, and loaded him up with cookies while I willed my heart to stop racing.
After dropping the box into a bag, I looked at him and held it out. “On the house.”
“Jules, no. Let me?—”
“I insist.”
He took the cookies from me with a smile of appreciation. “Thank you. For these and for the time.”
“Thank you for coming to see me.”
“It was my pleasure, Jules. You have no idea.”
