I pulled back, gasping for air, and the way he was looking at me was going to make it very hard for me to get back to soup making. “You’re making Joumou from scratch?”

“Yes?”

He laughed then and held my face in his hands, kissing me hard again. “Stop answering everything like you’re asking a question.”

I laughed, feeling flustered, but so glad that I’d made him laugh in the middle of all this stress. “I am asking, because I’m pretty sure I’m going to mess it up. I looked for recipes, and it all seemed so straightforward, but now I’m kind of lost and there’s a large amount of pumpkin to peel.” I looked around at all the stuff I needed to get done for this soup and felt my earlier enthusiasm starting to wilt. “I could not find the Scotch Bonnet peppers that go in the soup anywhere and this might end up being more of a breakfast type of thing.”

He rolled the sleeves of his sweatshirt back and stood next to me, extending his hand. “I’ll peel. I have years of experience, you get the other stuff ready. With the two of us we’ll have it ready before Ari and Yin come downstairs asking for dinner.” His smile faltered a little bit when he mentioned Ari, but he seemed in better spirits.

I nodded and reached for the limes and oranges I needed to juice for the marinade. “You peel and I cook.”

When I looked over my shoulder I caught him giving my ass a very thorough assessment.

“See something you like, professor?” I asked, certain that the response would probably derail our food preparations.

He leaned down and nibbled my ear, making me run the risk of severing a finger. “I’m gonna rail you tonight, you know that right?”

I chuckled as I halved limes and tried to talk without sounding completely breathless. “That was the only part of my failed seduction attempt I was pretty sure I could count on.”

Patrice’s laugh rang all over my kitchen as we worked together and I felt so happy it almost scared me.

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Patrice

It had been the longest week in fucking history, but somehow Nesto had managed to stay on track and OuNYe’s first annual fundraiser for local social services agencies was happening tonight. I was meeting Easton at the courthouse, and we were supposed to walk there together.