“Hallelujah.” Heading to the pantry, he hunted out the bottles of soy sauce and sesame oil he’d seen in there, then grabbed a couple of frozen chilies from the fridge as well as the jar of precrushed ginger. “Fresh is better,” he said, holding it up. “But this will do in a pinch.”

He then found the honey and even a small packet of sesame seeds. “Kudos to your mother’s chef.”

“What are you doing?”

“Watch and learn.” He began to put together the ingredients for a spicy sauce with the barest hint of honey. “This’ll give flavor to everything without the need to add extra salt. It’s already in the soy sauce, and with the stir-fry loaded with veggies, it’s healthy. Good way to pack in flavor without compromising on the health side of things.”

Danny’s body was the tool of his trade, and he took care of it. He also found food a pleasure, so he made an effort to balance necessity with delight. “You can also fiddle with it to highlight flavors you like. Me? I love ginger and chili.” Dipping his little finger into the sauce, he held it out without thought. “Taste.”

Catie’s eyes caught his and the moment hung, the world falling silent around them.

Stomach clenching, he was about to pull back his hand when she reached up and swiped his finger with her own, then put that finger into her mouth to suck off the sauce. He was glad he was wearing his T-shirt, because his abdomen was now rock hard. And other things were starting to threaten hardness too.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

He wished he could blame the drugs, but his system felt good. Normal. This was just his body being a dick. That’s what it was. Nothing to do with Catie’s soft lips and heavy-lidded eyes as she savored the flavors he’d created.

“Mmm.”

His dick twinged. Hard.

10

THE HALF-NAKED MAN WITH THE THIGH TATTOO

Mixing the sauce with a little too much enthusiasm, he tried to think of the non-sexiest things he could imagine, even bringing out the full-on horror of how, at age eleven, he’d once walked in on his mum and dad in the middle of “naked cuddling.” He hadn’t seen much, but oh hell had he been horrified.

His parents?

Had sex?

More than the twice it took to create him and Jake?

No. As far as he was concerned, they were celibates who happened to sleep in the same bed. Yes, he was quite content with that ludicrous fiction.

“That’s so good, Danny.” Catie’s voice held real admiration. “And you did it with a few basic ingredients. Will you write it down for me? I’m pretty good at following recipes.”

Chest expanding, a ridiculous warmth in his cheeks, he smiled. “Yeah, sure. You can flex the recipe lots of ways. I like using balsamic vinegar sometimes too.”