Page 20 of Reckless Love
William leaned back. “You know how obsessed he is. Football is everything. He wouldn’thave cared if they offered him a franchise in the Arctic Circle. A franchise is a franchise. It just so happened to be here.”
Something about the waver in his voice made me doubt that was entirely true. I didn’t have a chance to find out why because I was interrupted by a stream of colleagues who wanted to meet the man across from me.
“And who is this delicious example of masculinity?”Mary, from Jeffry’s department purred as she forced her way into the booth beside me.
“Ew,” I gagged. I liked to think of William finding love in the abstract. This was way too close. “Mary this is my brother William. William this is Mary. She’s a geneticist in one of the other labs here at the research park.”
“I like your style.” William smiled warmly.
Mary was dressed asshe usually was—as if she’d stepped right out of a Japanese movie or video game. “And I like your size.Rawr.”
I gagged again. “Okay Mary. You’re officially leaving now. Say goodbye.”
She winked at William and then sauntered off.
“I think I need to come have lunch with you more often,” he chuckled, the bastard.
“And I think I’m banning you from campus.” ThenIglancedaround. “I’ve really enjoyed seeing you today but...”
“But?”
How did I explain to my brother that I wanted to get to know him anywhere but here? “No one knows who I am.”
The smile disappeared from his face. “You didn’t change your last name.”
“No...but Brown isn’t exactly unusual. I don’t want this,” I flicked my hand at the room, “to be tainted.”
Henodded, looked away. “I understand. Won’t keep me away though.” He glanced back at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes that I wasn’t so sure I liked at all. “Next time I’ll change. Maybe I’ll even wear a ball cap and glasses. You know, real incognito like.”
“William...”
“Esme...”
Whoa.I blinked. And blinked again.
William, clearly pleased that he’d shockedme, grinned. “I want to know you. I want to knowEsme.So unless you tell me you don’t want me here I’m going to come in my street clothes and hat and take you to lunch on the lawn and meet all your well dressed friends.” He waggled his brows.
And I really couldn’t say no to any of that. “Fine. But only in disguise. And maybe not in the cafeteria again.” I glanced at the packed space andthe curious looks we were getting.
“Deal.” We even shook on it.
I imagine takingmy first breath felt a lot like the moment I learned to cook. It was necessary,exhilarating, and filled me with life. As you can imagine, there weren’t any warm and fuzzy memories of cooking in the kitchen from my childhood. Food simply appeared on the table. I was aware that we had a kitchen and that people did something that created the meals we enjoyed, but beyond that cooking was a mystery to me.
Until college. My second year roommatelovedfood and dragged mewith her to a cooking class they were doing on campus.
I. Was. Fascinated.
If memory serves, I stood staring at Alina more than I did anything else that night. She created flavors out of ingredients. Miraculous! Different combinations created completely different results. Heat and temperature mattered. Sometimes she measured precisely, while other times she squinted, bit her lip,and winged it. I learned quickly that cooking was a combination of science and magic.
I was hooked.
The science part I caught onto quickly. The chemistry and mathematics in particular made a great deal of sense, but I was jealous of Alina’s ability to seemingly justknowwhat would take a dish from good to great. After several months of burning, undercooking, breaking two dishes,and mistaking salt for sugar, intuition struck. Instinct. I made my first gut call adjustment to a recipe andbam.I’d created my first truly delicious meal.
It was pancakes, but still. They weren’t ordinary pancakes. They weremypancakes. I learned this magical cooking intuition wasn’t just raw talent. It was experience. That niggling need to add or subtract something came from thousandsof data points all working silently in the back of my mind, computing results and telling my consciousness which action would most likely lead to the desired result. Like Dr. Strange checking all the possible outcomes and coming back to the present timeline with a plan on how to beat Thanos.
The other cool lesson I learned from cooking was to trust my senses. Ingredients were never thesame. That’s why it was important to observe the combining and mixing, heating and cooling of food as it’s prepared, to taste and adjust based ontheseingredients onthisday.
And hooboy did I need to take that lesson into the rest of my life and live in the moment. It was one of the reasons I’d rushed out of work a little earlier than normal and hit my favorite market on the way home.I felt an overwhelming urge to create a delectable feast and to spend a quiet evening with Leo.
