“Nah, not formally.” Placing the pasta down on the counter, she moved her lips from side to side before opening the freezer. “My father did raise me, though. You can’t be around a man like that and not pick up a thing or two.”
I nodded. “Makes sense. Especially not if you’re as smart as you are.”
Peering out at me from behind the white door, she shot me a look, but her cheeks were pink. “It has nothing to do with intelligence. Well, not of that kind anyway.”
I chuckled again, and she smiled a smug smile before her head disappeared behind the door again. “I get it. You meant it had to do with intelligence gathering and not the intelligence of the actual gatherer.”
When she emerged again, she reached into the freezer to extract a package with a few chicken breasts left in it. “Thank you for pointing it out, Captain Obvious.”
“You’re welcome.” Both of us were surprised when my lips spread into a grin. “What are you planning on cooking?”
She pushed her dainty nose into the air and sniffed, the corners of her lips pressing in. “I don’t know yet. I’m still gathering intelligence.”
“Ha ha,” I said dryly but then laughed quietly as I watched her pushing up on her toes to inspect the contents of the cabinet nearest to her. “Okay then. What else did you notice about the place so far?”
Pulling her head out of the cabinet to roll her eyes at me, she also handed a bottle of cinnamon over. “Check the expiration date on that for me, please? Cinnamon should be fine either way, but it would help to know.”
Before diving back in, she glanced down at the counter, tested it with her palms, and shrugged. Out of nowhere, she hopped onto it and flashed me a triumphant grin. “That should make it easier to see what’s all in there.”
“You could have just asked.” I pointed at my chest. “I do have a slight height benefit.”
“Slight?” She scoffed but smiled at the same time. “What are you, like, six foot twenty-seven?”
“Nope, not twenty-seven. Just four.”
“Still almost a whole foot taller than me,” she said in a sing-song voice before going back on her search. “Thanks for the offer, but I won’t know what I need until I see something I can use. I’m a visual person.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Personally, I’m pretty sure I have the better visual right now.” The jeans she had on were tighter than any outfit I’d ever seen her in, and they displayed her ass very, very nicely.
“Quit staring at my ass,” she said jokingly, and I vaguely recalled having said something along the same lines to her when we’d been having our fight.
I laughed, hearing her joining in before she started taking glass bottles containing herbs and spices off the shelf she’d been inspecting. Her ass was at a comfortable level for my eyes, but my gaze snagged on the ratty, soft gray material that hung just at the waistband of her jeans.
“What shirt are you wearing, by the way?”
Sofia looked down as if she had to double-check. “This old thing? It’s my go-to outfit when I’m going to be busy around the house all day.”
“Usually when people say ‘this old thing,’ they mean it sarcastically. You know that, right?”
“Yep, but I mean it for real. It’s old. I’m also not sure it’s a shirt anymore, therefore ‘thing’ seems like an appropriate term. I think it might be more like a rag with holes in the right places now.”
“Holes in the right places?” I choked on the sip of water I’d just taken, laughing as her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red.
“You know what I mean.” She sighed, but her eyes glittered with her own repressed laughter. “To be fair, that did come out sounding wrong.”
I smirked at her. “You sure? I think it might have been a Freudian slip.”
“It wasn’t.” She narrowed her eyes but then laughed as she shook her head and went back to the bottles she’d collected. “I think this will be a good start. Pots and pans?”
“In here.” I pulled open a heavy drawer beside the stove. “Want any help? I can run to the store if you need something too?”
“Nah, let’s make do with what we have. It’s like a challenge in a cooking show. I’ve always wanted to take part in something like that. This is my chance.”
“How are you always finding a silver lining in everything?” I felt