Page 33 of Cross Checked
“Oh, its awful. The sides are everything, trust me.”
“So we need the potatoes?”
“If I don’t bring them, he’ll say he didn’t ask me to bring them while staring at the empty potato spot like I personally failed the family.”
Cade’s mouth curved. “Want help?”
“With potatoes?”
“With whatever needs doing.”
I stared at him for one second too long. “You want to help me prep for family dinner?”
“You invited me to survive it. I’m preparing for impact.”
“That’s oddly strategic.”
“I’m a captain.”
“You’re a menace.”
“Also true.”
I should have said no.
Instead, because my sense of self-preservation had apparently clocked out for the morning, I stood and carried my coffee into the kitchen. Cade followed, bringing the cronuts with him like he had already decided pastry belonged wherever I was. The kitchen was barely big enough for two people, which became immediately clear when he stepped in behind me and took up almost all available oxygen.
I opened the pantry because looking at food was safer than looking at him. “Okay, we need potatoes, baking pans, and probably the good seasoning if Charm didn’t steal it.”
“Charm steals seasoning?”
“Charm steals everything she decides I don’t appreciate enough.”
“Smart woman.”
“Don’t encourage her. She’s already perfect.”
I lifted onto my toes to reach the top shelf where I kept the baking pans, but my fingers only brushed the edge. Before I could try again, Cade moved behind me, close enough that heat rolled down my spine, and reached over my head with entirely too much ease.
His chest did not touch my back. But for half a second, the almost of it was worse.
He pulled down the pans and set them on the counter beside me, his voice low near my ear. “This what you wanted?”
Every rational thought I had ever had abandoned me like rats off a sinking ship.
I turned slightly, and because the kitchen was tiny and Cade was Cade, that put us closer than I expected. Too close. Close enough to see the blue in his eyes shift darker when they dropped to my mouth for one reckless second before lifting again.
I swallowed. “The pans?”
His mouth twitched. “Sure.”
Oh, absolutely not.
I grabbed the pans and stepped around him with as much dignity as I could manage. “You’re very helpful for someone I distrust on principle.”
“I contain multitudes.”
“You contain hockey player.”
