“Dumplings aren’t the right thing to start with. I’ll teach you to make something simpler.”
“But I really want to make dumplings, so I can eat them every day.” I looked mournfully down at the empty plate where the small mounds of utter deliciousness had been.
“All right, but I make my own dumpling wrappers.” He gave me a challenging look, his eyebrows raised. “You up for that?”
I stood up, nodding. “Why not?”
He grabbed a bag of flour from the pantry. “Then we’ll need this. Peanut oil, and some rice vinegar. Garlic and ginger.” He swung around to pile things on the counter, then opened the fridge and started pulling more ingredients out. “Mushrooms, definitely. Green onions. Hmm. How about eggs?”
“Um.” I bit my lip, already starting to regret my rash enthusiasm. “Do we really need all that?”
“We do if we want to make some different types of dumplings.” He was still engrossed in searching the fridge. “We’ll need chili, of course. Maybe shrimp.”
“What about jelly?” I asked. “Cream. Anchovies. Or pickles. And is that beer on the back shelf? Why don’t we make beer dumplings?”
He jerked around to blink at me, and I gave him an innocent look. “Oh, I thought you must be determined to squeeze the entire contents of the fridge into each tiny dumpling. My bad.” Tipping the bag of mushrooms onto the counter, I grabbed a knife and held it up. “Now you’ve assembled a million ingredients, shall I start chopping?”
He closed the fridge and folded his arms, his lips quirked up. “Do you know how?”
“Are you asking if I’ve ever used a knife before?” Putting my free hand on my hip, I bent my knees and waved the chopping knife like a sword. “Do I need to prove I’m worthy to wield a blade? Who would you like me to kill?”
Kade’s dimples flashed and his eyes danced. “As tempting as that sounds, maybe we should start small. Say, with the green onions?”
I put the onions onto the chopping board and positioned my knife over the leafy bit. Before I could get any further, Kade cleared his throat.
“Is that how you’re planning to cut them?”
“Why? Am I doing something wrong?”
“Here, let me show you.” He moved behind me and reached around me. His hands settled over mine, guiding the knife to the pale end of the onion. “Tuck your fingers underneath,” he murmured. “These fingers. Yes, that’s it. So it’s harder to accidentally cut yourself.”
His voice was low in my ear and unbelievably sexy. His breath tickled the back of my neck and sent shivers down my spine. He wasn’t pressing his body against mine, but keeping a space between us.
Since when could a tiny gap feel so torturous?
“Keep the knife point close to the board. That’s it.”
His voice was doing tingly things to my insides. I wanted to lean back, to feel him against me. As we sliced the onion together, that wanting took over my focus. My thoughts were so centered on his body behind mine, I could have been cutting my own fingers into delicate slices and I may not have noticed.
“There,” he said, letting go. “Well done.”
I let out a soft, long sigh. “What shall we chop next? Mushrooms? shrimp?” I ran my gaze over the ingredients he’d piled on the counter. “Is that really all you’re going to put in the dumplings? Don’t we need more ingredients? Stuff that requires chopping?”
His grin was full of mischief. That grin told me he knew exactly what he was doing to me, and that he enjoyed seeing me flustered, with weak knees and flushed cheeks. Oh yes, he liked the fact I so obviously wanted him.
Maybe it gave him a feeling of power.
Whatever the reason, I was getting pretty tired of being sexually frustrated all the time. There was only so much teasing I could take.
Chapter Sixteen
Natalie
Kade leaned in closer, dropping his voice to a suggestive murmur. “I’ll show you how to make the dumpling wrappers. They take a lot of kneading, and I’ll need to demonstrate the right technique.”
I swept the chopped onions off the board. “Or you could tell me what’s going on.” My voice came out sharp.
He blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean this.” I waved my finger between our bodies. “The endless flirting that gets me all hot and bothered, and goes nowhere.”
He leaned against the far counter, his expression turning serious. “We already talked about that. Nothing’s going to happen between us.”
“Yes, but you keep teasing me. And I think you do it to avoid any sensitive subjects, like telling me how you really feel.”
“What?”
“Flirting gives you power over me, and I think you like that.” Frustration made the words grind more harshly out of me than I’d intended. “Does it makes you feel more secure? More in control?”
His jaw hardened. He looked like he wanted to interrupt, but I was on a roll.
“You flirt with me because it’s easy,” I accused. “And when I’m flustered, I don’t ask hard questions. It means you don’t have to say anything real.”
“You want to know something real?” His voice was a growl. “You drive me crazy, Nat. That’s what’s real. If you were anyone else, I’d have you on the counter already.”
I closed my eyes, fighting a hot wave of desire at the suggestion.
“Well, you have to stop,” I stammered. “It’s too confusing. It used to be fun, but now it’s just frustrating.”
“You’re right.” A muscle was ticking in his jaw, but he didn’t sound angry. “No more teasing. We’re just going to cook. You can start by breaking four eggs in here.” He placed a bowl in front of me. “Then whisk them and add seasonings. After that, we’ll throw in some greens, and fry it with garlic and ginger.”
I sucked in a deep breath, firming my limbs. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on him, but he didn’t seem upset. And at least now I could try and
