Despite having just made love to her, Miles felt his libido begin to stir to life again.
“Tempting, but I’m starving. Food first, then clothes, then other options,” he said.
“Sounds good to me.”
He watched her as she crossed the bedroom and went into the en suite bathroom. Every cell in his body urged him to follow her, but he overrode the impulse and got up, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and heading downstairs to the kitchen. He’d just poured two glasses of juice and put beaten eggs in the pan to scramble when Chloe entered the kitchen dressed in his robe.
Seeing her in his clothing gave him a sucker punch to the chest and a sense of pride he never imagined he was capable of feeling.
“You were quick in the shower,” he commented as he forced his attention back to the eggs.
“My mom was very much into saving while I was growing up. I learned to be frugal in everything, including my showers.”
Miles let her words sink in. He’d had no such boundaries placed on his life as a child. There was always an abundance of everything. If you were hungry, you went to the kitchen, and Martha, their cook, would always find you something. If you were thirsty, you helped yourself to a drink. If you wanted a shower, there was no one beating on your door to hurry up because in their home there were more bathrooms than bedrooms. He had no response for Chloe because he could not fathom what her life must have been like.
She sat on one of the stools at the kitchen’s central island.
“Scrambled eggs! Yum. My favorite kind of breakfast.”
At the end of the counter, the toaster popped.
“I hope you like toast with your eggs?”
“Sure, would you like me to butter it?”
“Yep, butter is in the fridge. Plates are warming in the oven”
She went and retrieved the toast, buttered it and put the slices on the two plates in the oven.
“I wasn’t sure if you preferred tea or coffee at breakfast, but I have poured you juice.”
“I’m a tea in the morning kind of girl. I can make it.”
He told her where to the find the tea and cups and watched her as she moved confidently around the kitchen. He liked having her here, working alongside him. And it made him look forward to the rest of the day and the weekend following that they had before them. He plated up the eggs and put the plates at the place settings he’d made on the kitchen island, then poured himself a coffee before joining Chloe.
“This looks great, thanks,” she said, tucking straight into the creamy scrambled eggs. “Mmm, and it tastes great, too. What kind of herb did you use?”
“Dill,” he replied. “I wasn’t sure if you’d like it but eggs are so plain without embellishment.”
“I haven’t tried it before but I really like it. What made you become so adept in the kitchen?”
He took a mouthful of his own eggs and chewed and swallowed before answering. “I used to watch our cook, Martha, a lot. She would always give a running commentary while she was cooking, whether anyone was listening or not. I am lucky enough that I have a very good auditory memory and I picked up most of my cooking skills from her. The rest I’ve learned along the way. Living on your own, it’s a challenge to keep things interesting when it comes to food, don’t you think?”
“Yes and no. I’ve been lucky enough to have a roommate most of the time. You haven’t had anyone living with you here?”
He heard the probing note in her voice. The question about whether he’d lived with another woman hanging on the air—there, yet not quite verbalized.
“I’ve had this place for five years and, no, I’ve never
had a roommate or any other kind of mate stay here before.”
“You mean stay, or move in? Oh heck, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so darn nosy. It always gets me into trouble. You don’t have to answer that.”
Her cheeks had flushed a charming shade of pink and she refused to meet his gaze, finding refuge in lifting her cup of tea and taking a great big swig of the liquid instead.
“I’ll answer it because I think it deserves to be said. No, I’ve never had anyone stay over before, or move in.”
Silence stretched between them. Eventually Chloe replaced her cup in its saucer and faced him.