I shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.” It totally was.
One onion and ten potatoes later, Frost had dried his eyes and made it through the chopping.
I dumped a glug of olive oil into the pan and waited for it to heat up.
Frost dried his hands on the kitchen towel and tossed it over his shoulder.
That man standing in the kitchen with a towel draped over his shoulder was a surprisingly sexy sight to behold. He was like a kitchen bad boy, ready and willing to do whatever I asked of him. Well, whatever I wanted him to chop, at least.
“Your pan is smoking, darlin’.” He nodded to the pan with a smirk on his lips. “Not much of a cook, but I think that’s not a good thing.”
I twisted the dial on the stove to turn down the burner and moved the pan off the heat for a second. “That just means the pan is ready.” And too hot.
“So, sleep okay last night?”
I eyed him warily. “As well as one can sleep while sharing a bed with someone else. Pam’s a snuggler.” I wrinkled my nose and grabbed the bowl of chopped onions. I dumped them into the pan and moved it back onto the heat.
Though I had laid awake for an hour trying to figure out what I was going to do about Royal. I had a plan, but I didn’t think it was the greatest one. And, I didn’t know if I was going to get very far with it.
The man standing by me was the reason it wasn’t going to work.
Pie had been joking about pursuing me because I could cook. Frost’s disapproval of Pie’s statement wasn’t a joke at all.
Frost watched me.
Not just since I had moved into the clubhouse. When I danced on stage, I could sense when he was in the club. I could easily search him out, and his gaze would never waver from me.
It wasn’t a creepy gaze, though.
It somehow made me feel grounded. It made me feel safe.
Not that I ever really felt like I was in danger since I had started working at Sultry Knights, but it was like Frost gave me a calm I didn’t know I was missing.
“I thought you guys were going to rotate sharing the bed?”
I shrugged and stirred the onions. “We were, and then Julia said she has a bad back and all this bullshit. I just sleep with Pam because I just don’t want to listen to the complaining.” I set down the spoon and grabbed the package of sausage. “Not like this is going to last forever, right? I’ll be back in my own place soon.”
Frost grunted. “Someday.”
I managed to fit two packs of sausage into the other pan and turned on the heat under it. “You think that is going to be enough?”
There were a lot of us in the clubhouse, but I didn’t know if everyone was going to eat.
“Make what you want, darlin’. Cooking for everyone isn’t your job. If it’s gone, then they’ll either have to make something themselves or grab a box of cereal.”
“I suppose you’re right,” I mumbled. Half of the girls never ate breakfast in the first place, so I wasn’t going to bend over backward to make food that was just going to go to waste.
“Got plans for the day?”
I froze mid-stir of the onions. He was on to me, and I hadn’t even set my plan into motion. “Uh, maybe?”
Just a quick drive to Florida to rescue Royal and make sure Grit stayed his ass down there, too.
“How’s the food coming?” Pie yelled.
I rolled my eyes and got back to stirring the onions. It was almost time to add the diced potatoes. “It’s going just fine,” I called back. “You really think he wants a gourmet meal?” I asked Frost softly.
Frost shrugged. “Who cares what the hell he wants. Beggars can’t be choosers, darlin’. He gets what he gets, and that’s it.” Frost cringed. “Jesus, I just sounded like my parents.”