All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,16
guest. She grabbed plates and utensils and carried those over to the table.
They worked together on the cake. By the time he finished mixing, she had the parchment paper lining the cake pan. He poured the mix in just as the oven timer beeped. He pulled the pasta and meatballs out before adjusting the oven temp and sliding the cake batter in.
“Okay,” he said after he put the bowl in the sink and ran some water. “Let’s eat.”
They carried the food over to the table, and Kal went to the refrigerator and brought out a salad he’d also made, along with some dressing.
She scooped some of the pasta onto her plate, along with one meatball, because it looked so good she had to taste it.
“Having a meatball, huh?”
“Hey, I said I limit the meat in my diet, not that I don’t eat any. And these meatballs look amazing.”
He added Parmesan cheese to both their plates, then Hannah slid her fork into the pasta. It was creamy and flavorful. She tried the meatball next, and her taste buds did a happy dance.
“This is delicious,” she said.
“Glad you like it.”
The salad was really good, too. The whole meal had been a surprise. Kal was a great cook.
“You must coax a lot of women over here with the promise of a home-cooked meal.”
He arched a brow. “I don’t bring a lot of women over here. I only cook for the special ones.”
“Okay. So only a few.”
“Or one.” He gave her a pointed look.
And now she felt very special.
When the timer went off for the cake, Kal went over and pulled it out of the oven and onto a cooling rack. Then he came back to the table.
“Once that cools, we’ll frost it.”
“Sounds fun.”
“You probably expected me to take you out to dinner. I hope you weren’t disappointed.”
“I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing tonight.” And she meant it. This night had been perfect so far. And Kal? She was constantly surprised by him. He had a maturity to him that knocked her backward.
Given the man that she’d divorced had been offended at the thought of becoming an adult, being with Kal was utterly refreshing.
She took a sip of her wine and looked over at Kal. He was gorgeous. Sexy as hell, actually. Held an important job in his community, putting his life on the line to keep people safe.
He’d been incredibly sweet to her since the moment they’d reconnected. Every word out of his mouth caused her senses to go haywire.
Plus he cooked, too.
Damn. Who would have guessed that could be so hot? When he was busy eating, she watched his hands. They were . . . large. Which of course meant nothing, and they’d had sex before, and . . .
Well. Maybe large hands did mean something after all.
This sudden awakening of her libido was not convenient.
But as he looked up from his plate and his gaze met hers, she realized there wasn’t much she could do about her body’s reaction to him. They shared a past, and now her present was very much mixed up with said past.
And wow, did it suddenly get hot in here.
“Mind if I fix myself a glass of ice water?” she asked.
“I’ll get it.” He stood, and she couldn’t help but admire his extremely fine ass as he walked away.
Yes, she was in very deep trouble. Because she’d only had one glass of wine, was definitely sober and was most assuredly fantasizing about getting her hands—and her body—all over Kal.
Deep, deep trouble. Because she had responsibilities and no time for a hot fling with an old boyfriend.
KAL FIGURED TONIGHT WAS GOING BETTER THAN HE ANTICIPATED. Hannah seemed relaxed, she liked the food he fixed and she was giving him some damn hot looks.
Which might mean nothing. Then again, it might mean something. Either way, things were looking good.
After dinner they did the dishes together. Now it was time to frost the cake he’d made. Since he’d made a simple yellow cake, he figured it needed chocolate buttercream frosting.
He’d gotten out all the ingredients and beat them until the concoction was sweet and creamy.
“I’ll frost it,” Hannah said.
He knew she wanted to help, so he handed the spatula over to her. “Sure.”
She applied the frosting with expertise, and when she was finished, Kal reached into the cabinet and pulled out multicolored sprinkles. Hannah’s eyes sparkled with delight.
“It’s not even my birthday,” she teased.
“No, but since it’s only one layer, it needs something extra.”