“I thought I was supposed to cook the meal.”
She was right. He’d just gotten so caught up in his thoughts of the past that he’d been moving around the kitchen on automatic. “You’re right. Sorry. It’s just habit.” He stepped to the side of the stove. “Okay, then. Here. Take the handle. You’ll want to swish it so the butter coats the bottom of the pan.”
She did as he said.
“Now add the garlic.” He talked her through the process of adding the shrimp, the fresh parsley and a little seasoning. Jackson inhaled the savory aroma. “Smells wonderful.”
He added the angel-hair pasta to the pot of boiling water, gave it a stir and lowered the temperature.
“You’re cheating,” Serena said.
And then he realized he should have let her do all the steps. “But it’s so much easier when we work as a team. Trust me, you’re doing the hard part.”
“What do I do next?”
“Turn the shrimp.”
He hovered just over her shoulder, watching her every move. He told himself that he was just trying to be an attentive mentor, but the truth was he was drawn to Serena like a magnet. There was something so appealing about her and it went far deeper than her natural beauty. There was a tenderness—a vulnerability—about her. And she made him feel as though he were her equal—as though they were perfectly matched for each other.
“Jackson.” Serena waved a hand in front of him to gain his attention. “The shrimp’s pink.”
Pulled back from his thoughts, he blinked and quickly took stock of where dinner stood. He told her to drain the shrimp and set them aside. Then they added more butter, flour, milk, chicken broth and seasoning to the pan. Then the most important part—the cheese. She added lots of mozzarella and Parmesan. In the meantime, Jackson drained the pasta.
They worked well together. Really well. It was like they’d been doing it all their lives. And he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Perhaps he’d isolated himself too much since his wife’s death and now he was overreacting to Serena’s presence.
Oh, who was he kidding? He was falling for this woman—this award-winning actress. And he had no idea what to do about it.
“Do I add the tomatoes now?” she asked.
“Yes. And the shrimp. And make sure you remove it from the heat.”
He wasn’t sure where this evening was headed, but he sure was hungry now. And his hunger had absolutely nothing to do with the amazing Alfredo shrimp pasta they’d just created.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DINNER HAD BEEN PERFECT.
The company was amazing.
Jackson couldn’t recall the last time he’d had such a wonderful evening. And now Serena leaned back on the couch with Gizmo on one side of her and Jackson on the other. The glow of the fireplace added a romantic ambience to the room. And when Jackson settled his arm around her, she didn’t resist.
Was it wrong that he wanted this night with her? He knew that it would be a fleeting moment. After all, he was going to head back to New York as soon as his work was completed.
But there was something special between them. He wasn’t ready to put a label on it. Not yet.
“And what has you so deep in thought?” Jackson asked, noticing he wasn
’t the only one staring reflectively into the fire.
“I don’t know.”
“It wouldn’t happen to be that masterpiece you’ve been working on every spare moment you get, would it?”
“You’ll laugh if I tell you.”
Jackson pulled back so he could look at her. “Why do you think I would do that?”
She shrugged. “It’s what has happened in the past.”