“Scoop out half a cup and dump it into this pot.” He touched the handle.
It felt good to work, to stop thinking. The powder clumped, and half of it spilled onto the counter. “Sorry.” Quickly, she brushed it into the sink. “What next?”
He whisked the cocoa into the warming milk. “Add a cup of sugar.”
“An entire cup?”
“We’re not drinking it all at once. We’ll have enough to heat some up later.”
She wiped the cocoa powder off the measuring cup with a dish towel and then filled it with sugar. “Done.”
“Cool. Now, we’ll need two-thirds of a cup of hot water.” He’d already filled the kettle and it was starting to rumble. “Let me grab the vanilla.”
“So, what was the plan out there, Slick? Shovel a path to Calamity?”
“Just burning off some energy.”
“Sexual energy?”Dammit, Lor. What is your problem?“I’m sorry. I keep provoking you, and I have no idea why.”
“Maybe you like the idea of a swat on your ass.” He looked away, but there was no hiding that spectacular grin.
“No. That’s not…that’s not going to happen.” And it wasn’t. Of course not. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I swear, I’m not sex-crazed. Normally, I don’t even think about it.” Well, that wasn’t true. She took care of herself regularly. “You know, with men.”
He looked amused by her idiocy.
“Oh, man. I am just stepping in it. I’ve been alone way too long. I meant I’m out here alone so I’m not meeting men. I’m just reading romance books, and the sex scenes…”Really? You’re going to tell him you get off to smutty scenes?“They trigger reactions. You know?”
“No, Hellcat. I don’t know. Are you saying you don’t like sex with men?”
“No, I like it just fine. But I’ve only ever been with one person.”
His grin began at one corner of his mouth and took a slow crawl across his lips, blooming across his features. “Just one?”
“Yes.” She sounded as defeated as she felt. She’d just told Mr. Slick Butt-Whacker that she’d hadonelover.
“Would that be the man who betrayed you?” He concentrated on whisking.
“Yes.” She couldn’t be that surprised he’d figured it out. She’d saidthe people closest to her.
“Fucker.”
She liked the way he said that. It gave her a feeling of solidarity, like she wasn’t so alone in this.
He stilled. “Why are you smiling like that?”
“Because I’m discovering something about myself.”
“I’m listening.”
“My ex was super easygoing. I always thought that was a good thing, a yin to my yang. But when you said, ‘Fucker,’ like a total thug, it made me feel protected. He never did that for me. When I’d get all upset about something, he’d listen, but he just wasn’t invested.”
Once, on her second album, her producer had changed the sound of a song so completely that Lorelei refused to accept it. He was an older man who thought he had authority over a teenage girl, but she’d taken it all the way down to the mat. She’d gotten the president of her record label involved. Ultimately, she’d won. She’d asked them to trust her instincts, and they had. But she’d gone through that whole process with her agent. Not Landon. Because her ex didn’t get fired up. He didn’t fight them with her.
He'd left her to handle everything.
“Isn’t it funny how I justified everything he did? Like when I got riled up about something, and he stayed calm, I told myself that he kept me sane. But really, he wasn’t an equal partner. What did he even bring to the relationship?” She’d mistaken an easy-going nature for apathy. And that was such a turn-off.Good riddance. “I’ll get the whipped cream.”
As she turned away, it struck her. That was the difference between the two men.
