I’ve never seen him in the midst of making a huge dinner, with various courses and different foods to prepare all at the same time. I’ve done my best, offered to help however I can, given my poor cooking skills – I certainly didn’t want to ruin his dinner – but he’s been so good at explaining everything, showing me how to do it, and, most importantly, trusting me.
Saying that Eric is so sexy when he’s cooking that it makes you weak at the knees would be an understatement. I’ve been having a little problem managing… Well… My constant need to tear him away from his sauces and drag him into the pantry for a quick but intense practice in the field.
“Will you help me lay these out on the table?” he hands me two platters of cheese, fruit, nuts, and jams.
“Sure.” I’m about to leave the kitchen when I bump into my sister, running around trying to help.
“What can I do?”
“There are tartlets and prawn cocktails to bring out, please.” Eric nods towards the plates of food. “I’ll be right in with the rest.”
Mila moves over to him, planting a kiss on his cheek, before joining me in the doorway.
“We’ll wait for you through here.”
Eric looks at us, a genuine smile crossing his lips. I respond in kind, and my sister and I leave him to the last few touches, joining the others in the dining room.
“The table looks wonderful, Evelyn,” I say to Eric’s grandmother, who’s organised everything.
“Thank you, dear.” She grabs the glass Larry has just placed in front of her and lifts it towards us in the moment Eric comes in with the last few plates. We pick up our glasses to join Evelyn in her toast, clinking them together before settling into our seats.
Mila is sitting beside me; across from me, at the head of the table, is Eric.
“Wasn’t it nice of him to prepare this just for me?” Mila sips at her mocktail. The rest of us are all drinking champagne.
“It was,” I say to her.
Mila isn’t supposed to drink alcohol. She sometimes gives in to temptation and has a glass of wine or a few sips of beer, but they don’t sit well with the medication she takes to help manage her condition.
I’m proud of her. After the confusion a few weeks ago, she seems to have found a little balance, some peace. It makes me wonder whether it’s all down to Jake. I glance over at my friend, sitting beside my sister, and sigh.
“Hey.” Eric’s hand comes to rest on my thigh beneath the table. I turn to him. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is great. And this table, Eric…” I look back towards the food he’s made for us all.
“Eric, honey, thank you for this wonderful evening,” his grandmother says. Maybe she overheard some of our conversation. “I’m so proud of you.”
Eric shakes his head in embarrassment.
“And I’m so happy to have you with me for Christmas. I couldn’t have hoped for better company. Now, please, let’s honor Eric, who’s slaved away all day for us.”
“It was my pleasure,” Eric smiles.
“We’d better do his food justice, then,” Jake says, rubbing his hands together. “I don’t know where to start.”
To be honest, neither do I.
Alongside the cheese, fruit and nut platter, there are salmon, olive, and anchovy tartlets; prawn cocktails and pigs in blankets ?which Jake immediately shovels into his mouth. Eric has also made a sauté of garlic mussels, some scallops, and tempura prawns. There’s salmon with new potatoes, coleslaw, and gratin parsnips. I’m impressed and more than a little hungry; I would barely have been able to make the cheese platter, let alone have done everything else, too.
“I don’t know how you managed all this. Actually, I do: because you’re very talented, and it’s your job, but seeing it like this…” I look at him, and find his eyes are already on me.
“What?”
I slide my hand along his thigh. Eric’s eyes are as dark as the coal Santa will definitely put in my stocking this year. I stroke the tense muscle of his leg and move up to his crotch, feeling as he stiffens at my touch. I slowly move back down his thigh, letting him breathe just long enough for me to move again, taking control of the air in his lungs.
“What do you intend to do, Mr. Quinn?” he whispers, leaning into me.
I actually don’t know. I’ve never done anything like this, and I never thought I’d start tonight, with him.
