Page 26 of Valentine Dare

“What?” I asked as I felt as if Jenny was studying me.

“It’s funny, you’re triplets but then so different in many ways.”

I shrugged. “That’s because we’re three guys. We think of each other as brothers, not triplets.”

She moved her head down. “Sorry didn’t mean to offend you.”

I shook my head. “Seriously, you need to stop taking everything I say so seriously. I was just playing. Right, let me get on with the pancakes.”

I skillfully moved through the kitchen. Jenny was watching as I took my ingredients out of the fridge. It was weird because I rarely cooked with an audience. She’d been here for nearly two months, but we’d hardly spoken to each other, and it was clear we were strangers, but I wanted to change that.

“Did you see Brent and Trent this morning?”

She blushed, meaning she had. The house did have thin walls. I could hear her moaning and the guys laughing through them. Her room was next to mine.

“Brent had to get to work, and Trent had practice.”

She didn’t say anything else. I knew the answer to the question, but I was trying to break the ice.

So I decided to get her to help, seeing as her eyes darted around the kitchen as if she didn’t know what to do with herself.

“You can beat the eggs. I need six.”

“Okay, so you use the white eggs instead of the brown?”

I nodded. “Yeah, the texture is really different. You’ll see after you taste the pancakes.”

She clapped her hands together as she jumped off the stool. “I’m intrigued now. You’ve made some amazing dinners.”

“And deserts too. I saw the way you licked your fork last night after you finished your second helping of the chocolate cake.”

“You mean, you made that.”

I put my hand on my chest. “Guilty as charged.”

“I just assumed your mom made it. I didn’t see you baking it.”

“I work at Sweet Chocolate on Thursdays and Sundays. That’s where I do most of my baking. And I take some shifts at Wendy’s, but then I try not to work there more than once a week.”

She gasped. “I know the place. Been there a couple of times with my dad. Never seen you working there though.”

“Only started working there on Sundays this year. Only turned eighteen recently. Before then I was just baking and doing all the cooking at home.”

She nodded as she got to work beating the eggs. “Figures.”

I maneuvered around the kitchen, trying to hold back the sexual tension between us both and trying to focus on the task at hand. It was hard when the dress hugged her body, and I could see every curve of it. Her once pale legs had a slight tan, and I wondered if Brent was taking her to his secret spot, the one he took most girls. My brother was a freak like that; he loved having sex outdoors. I was the private one. The one who didn’t reveal how I was feeling most of the time, which was why unlike my brothers, I was still a virgin.

“Why do you always look at me that way?” she asked. I didn’t realize she’d stopped beating the eggs and was staring at me.

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

I ignored her and turned to put the fire on, seeing as I had all the ingredients ready.

“You do. You look at me as if you don’t want me here. One minute cold and the next hot. I don’t know, maybe it’s me being paranoid.”

I turned off the fire to face her.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize I did that. It makes you feel awkward?”

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