Page 41 of Miss Understanding

“It’s okay. Forget I asked.”

“I’ll do it. I love chicken Alfredo.”

“Yeah?” I wasn’t sure why I was so excited to share my love of cooking with him, but I couldn’t help my smile at the thought of him in the kitchen with me.

“Sure. But please tell me we don’t have to return to the grocery store.”

“Don’t worry. I have everything we’ll need.”

By six o’clock I was starving and started taking out all of the ingredients, prepping my work station on the counter. I was pleased when I didn’t need to remind Liam, who came in with his sleeves rolled up.

“Okay, I’m washing my hands, then I’m ready to help.”

“Great. We’ll start with making the pasta.”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean make the pasta? Don’t you get it from a box?”

I laughed. “You can, but I promise this is so much better.”

I poured the flour on the countertop and made a volcano-type mound of it into which to crack the eggs.

“Won’t it take a lot of time?”

I shrugged. “Yep, and it’ll be worth it. I promise. Okay, crack four eggs into the center of the flour well.”

He did as I asked, his big hands fully capable of the task. I tried not to stare at his muscled forearms. Never would I have guessed cooking with him would be quite so sexy.

“Next, use this fork like you’re scrambling the eggs, pulling in more flour as you go.”

“Like this?” he asked, stirring them.

I scooted in front of him. “No, more like this. Then, when it gets too thick, we’ll switch to you using your hands.”

He let out a long sigh.

“What, too slow for you?”

“A bit. I guess you could say I like to do most things as quickly as possible.”

“Why?” Didn’t he ever want to slow down and enjoy the process?

“I’m a man who likes to be efficient and not waste time. The quicker the better.”

I felt my face heat as his words instantly sent my mind to the gutter.

Chapter Twenty

Liam

Heat creeped up my neck when Kendall blushed, and I realized the way my words had sounded. “I didn’t mean— You know what I meant.”

She cleared her throat. “Of course.”

Neither of us was admitting we’d slipped into dangerous territory. The thought of my assistant hinting at sex made me all sorts of uneasy.

Damn. I blamed the fact it had been months since I’d last had a woman in my bed. With as many hours as I clocked, it simply wasn’t the priority. Perhaps I would call Gina once I returned. She was down for a no-strings commitment when she was in town. She worked in PR for one of the movie studios in LA. I’d met her through friends. She was beautiful, successful, and driven. Yet she didn’t hold a candle to the natural beauty standing beside me.

Frankly, aside from Gina, who was always up for a good time, I didn’t stay in touch with anyone I’d slept with. I’d never sought anything serious. Hell, I barely had time for my family across the country, let alone a girlfriend. And although my sister had been nosey to ask Kendall the questions she had, I’d learned an important fact about my assistant. She was undoubtedly a relationship girl.