“You can’t?” he asked.
“Fine. Yes. A crab salad. With some fresh lemonade.”
“Can I put vodka in the lemonade?”
“Why is that even a question?” she asked.
“Come on,” he said with a chuckle. “Two crab salads and a pitcher of adult lemonade coming up.”
She watched in awe as Ash slapped the dinner together in forty-five minutes. The crabs were fresh from the bottom-refrigerated compartment of the kitchen and the lemons were freshly squeezed. The salad was full of freshly chopped vegetables, and she watched in shock as Ash wielded himself around the kitchen like a professional.
“Are you secretly a chef that moonlights as a bartender?” I asked.
“What? A man can’t know how to cook?” he asked.
“Not like this, no. Not without a reason.”
“Does a beautiful woman count as a reason?”
Kallie felt her face flame and shook her head as the salad was set in front of her.
“And one adult lemonade for the lush,” he said with a grin.
“Yeah, yeah. You’ll be the one to finish that pitcher,” she said as she grabbed her plate.
“Where are you headed?”
She peered at him through the slats in the stairs before she smiled in his direction.
“To watch the sunset, of course. You coming, handsome?”
And she laughed when he grabbed everything and ran toward her for the stairs.
Chapter 21
Ash
Ash sat in the lounge chair next to Kallie as the waves jostled softly against the side of the yacht. The crab salad wasn’t half bad, but the lemonade was fantastic. Kallie was drinking it down quicker than she probably realized, and soon he was pouring her another glass. He didn’t put a lot of alcohol in it. Just enough to make them feel good if they decided to drain the entire pitcher. The sunsetting beneath the horizon was beautiful, but taking it all in with Kallie made it perfect.
“Want to hear my plans for our weekend?” Ash asked.
“We have other plans besides me enjoying your fabulous cooking?” she asked.
“I take it the crab salad’s good?”
“It’s fantastic, Ash. I don’t know how you excel at so many things. But it’s incredible to me.”
Her words warmed his heart as his gaze panned over to hers. She was gorgeous in the colors of the setting sun. Her face was glowing with a warm hue and the purples and the blues that stretched across the sky reflected in her seafoam eyes. The way she chewed—the way she held her plate up to her mouth so she could eat quicker—it was unlike any other woman Ash had ever experienced. The women that surrounded him would’ve been sitting upright at a table, eating their salads with forks and knives. Taking the tiniest bites and chewing them until the food was nothing but fluid in their mouths.
There were so many things Kallie was afraid of.
And so many things she wasn’t.
“You gonna tell me about these awesome plans of yours?” she asked.
“If you want to hear them. I could always keep them a surprise,” Ash said.
“I think if you surprise me anymore I’m going to have a heart attack. At least give me a heads-up on what’s coming.”