“Cinnamon,” he explained.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “I add cinnamon to the cookie dough before I bake them. Makes all the difference.”
Her eyes widened, but she wasn’t sure if she should believe him, or if Zeke was pulling her leg. “Um…”
“It’s true,” he assured her. “I also put brandy extract into my chocolate chip cookies. Makes them much better.”
She swallowed, and looked at him again. “You’re serious. You baked these cookies?”
“Sure. Why don’t you believe me?”
“Because you’re a guy! And a hulk-guy! I just can’t picture you baking.”
He shrugged. “I’m an excellent baker. Especially bread. I love experimenting with bread. It’s pretty complicated, and yet, there are generally only a few ingredients. But if just one thing goes wrong, or the ingredients aren’t incorporated at the right time, in the right order, the bread is a failure.” He popped another cookie in his mouth, and leaned back on his elbows. “I make my own pizza crust too. I can make it and freeze it, then just pull it out in the morning to defrost in time for a pizza dinner. My crust is much better than anything you’ll find at a takeout place. And bread? Seriously, there’s nothing better than fresh baked bread on a Saturday morning. Sometimes, I’ll make the bread on Friday night and leave it to rise overnight. Then all I need to do is put it in the oven the following morning and wait for it to bake.”
She twisted around, listening to him but still struggling to believe he baked. “Right,” she laughed, assuming he was teasing her.
Zeke chuckled as he watched Abby take another cookie out of the container. He suspected that she didn’t believe him, but that was okay. He knew exactly how to convince her. As soon as she got over this need to hold off on a more physical relationship, he would implement that plan. Until then, he was truly enjoying talking with her, spending time with her. She had a great smile and was a great listener.
“Did medical school teach you to be a good listener?”
She was startled by the question. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said, reaching out to tug her closer, “that you’re so easy to talk to. You really seem to care what another person is saying. Did they teach you how to listen while in med school or is that something you grew up with?”
She laughed, shaking her head. “I learned it from my father.”
“He was good at telling stories?”
Abby rolled her eyes and, for some reason, his gut tightened in anticipation of whatever she was about to say. “I guess you could say that. My father was a Navy SEAL and couldn’t talk about what he was doing when he disappeared. From a very young age, I learned to listen to what he wasn’t telling me. I’d watch his facial expressions. I seemed to know when he was lying to me. And as I grew older, I learned to distinguish when he was lying because he couldn’t tell me something, and when he was lying so that he could tease me.”
“You didn’t get along with your parents?” Zeke didn’t mention that he wasn’t allowed to tell her a lot of what he did either. When he left on a mission, there was absolute secrecy to protect her as well as the team. If anyone even suspected that she might know where he and his teams had gone, she would be in danger.
He made the decision right then that he wouldn’t lie to her. He might not be able to tell her the whole truth, but Zeke didn’t want her to have any reason to distrust him.
“Oh no! I got along with them fine. Better than fine!” She grinned. “I wasn’t one of those moody, rebellious teenagers. I got good grades, took advanced classes, and gave them plenty of bragging rights.”
“And probably dated plenty of boys too.”
She snorted. “Did I mention that my father was a Navy SEAL? Everyone in my class knew that and every one of the boys was terrified of what my father might do to them if they even glanced in my direction. So no. I didn’t date much in high school. Only a few of the boys were brave enough to approach me and, of those, none of them were brave enough to make a move on me. My curfew was nine o’clock on the weekdays and eleven o’clock on weekends. That meant that I was usually home by ten forty-five on any date I went on because the boys were terrified of what my father would do if I came home late.”
Zeke laughed. “Yeah, I can imagine being a bit particular about the boys my daughter dates.”
She tilted her head. “What about the girls your son dates?”
“Nah! My son will be able to take…” he stopped, realizing exactly where he was going. “Okay, let me rephrase that,” he replied with a chuckle.
Abby looked at him with a “Gotcha!” smile. “Please do.”
He grinned and reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “My daughter will know how to protect herself. And I will caution my son about the wiles of women.” He leaned over and kissed her gently. “Better?”
Abby laughed, then looked started when he shifted so that he was looming over her. “Wait a minute! How did we get into this position?”
He nuzzled her neck. “Obviously, your father didn’t teach you how to avoid precarious situations with wily men.”
She laughed, but his hand slipped under her sweater and her breath caught in her throat, shocked at the sensation of his touch and the desire that burned through her.
“What are you doing?”
He smiled, his hand
