Claire wiggled her hips with impatience. “Show it to me.”
“It popped into my head when you first mentioned having a dish inspired by you,” Jason explained. “I rejected the idea because I wanted to do something elegant and fancy. But you hate fancy food. My mind kept going back to it and decided to follow my first instinct.”
She grabbed the front of his white button-down shirt. “What is it?”
“I thought about what you would eat while you were drinking your favorite wine.”
Her fingers bunched his shirt. “Jason, you are killing me here.”
Jason exhaled sharply and grabbed the white napkin off the plate. He revealed a few chewy, dense chocolate squares in fancy foil cups. Looking at them, he feared they were too humble a dessert for Claire. He should have gone for a French pastry or something with towering height or edible gold flakes. “They are bacon brownies.”
“Seriously?” Her voiced was edged with incredulity. Claire suddenly tossed her hands in the air. “That is genius!”
He wished he could claim all the credit. “People have been making them for years.”
She snatched a square from the plate and popped it in her mouth. Claire closed her eyes and slowly chewed the brownie. Her groan of satisfaction went straight to his cock. Jason couldn’t look away.
“I’ve never had one and I have no idea why.” Claire gradually opened her eyes. “My two favorite food groups in the same recipe. And it goes so well with the wine.”
Jason watched as she grabbed another bite-size square. “I should warn you that I also put in a hint of cayenne for a kick.”
She ate a square and sighed. “Which box mix did you use?”
Jason’s mouth dropped open. “A box mix? I hunted for the finest ingredients. That bacon...” The corner of his mouth twitched when he saw the naughty glow in her eyes. “Wait a second, are you teasing me?”
“Me, tease you?” She popped the last brownie in her mouth as her feet swung to and fro. “Never.”
He couldn’t remember Claire ever teasing him. She argued with him, but this was different. He liked it and hoped it would continue.
“What made you think of brownies?” she asked. “It’s perfect.”
He wanted something that Claire would enjoy but at the same time, he’d tried to come up with a dish that would represent her. It had to be something sweet and unexpected. Familiar yet decadent. “It’s everything you love.”
Claire grabbed her wineglass and took a sip. He watched her eyes widened as the chocolate and bacon enhanced the flavor of the merlot. He couldn’t help but stare as her senses came alive.
“Tell me you’re going to serve them at the party,” she said as she licked a drop of the wine from her bottom lip.
“I have some ready in the kitchen but they aren’t fancy.” It had been a struggle trying to give them a sophisticated presentation. But he hadn’t considered giving up. Only later had he realized how much he had enjoyed the challenge.
“I can promise you that your guests are going to love them.” She put the empty wineglass on the desk. “The brownies aren’t intimidating to eat. And, let’s face it, everyone is a kid at heart when it comes to dessert. These were delicious.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed them.” It didn’t matter what his other guests thought about the additional dessert. He’d grabbed the chance to make something for Claire. Show a side of him that he rarely used.
“What are you going to call this dessert?”
Call them? He frowned and tilted his head. “Uh, bacon brownies.”
“No, that makes me think of big slabs of bacon. These have to have a special name, like Claire’s...what starts with the letter c...Claire’s Confection,” she announced with her arms outstretched.
Jason shook his head. “That’s almost as bad as Operation Fake Fling.”
She tried the dessert name again and nodded. “You’re right. I’ll keep thinking.” She glanced at the empty plate. “You said there was more?”
“I made a huge batch of them this morning.” The creative process had been a distraction he’d desperately needed. He didn’t want to think about Max and Claire possibly getting together during the day. What if Max had offered her the job? What if she had already accepted?
“You should bake more often,” she insisted.
“I was going to wait to tell you, but...” He took a deep breath. “I applied to the culinary school today.”