The smile Catie shot him before she got back to cutting up the vegetables, it held none of her usual snark or attitude. It was just Catie’s smile. Sweet, open, kick-to-the-gut beautiful.

Mouth drying up, he replaced the saucepan with a wok he’d found in the cupboard and added a little garlic-infused olive oil. Of course Catie was pretty. He’d always known that. In the same way he knew his sisters-in-law were pretty. Just knowing without really noticing. But he was noticing now.

The way her roughly tied-back hair suited the delicate lines of her face, how her eyes sparkled with intelligence and humor, how her lips were naturally pink and probably soft as anything.

He brought his thoughts to a screeching halt when his mind wanted to keep on wandering down her body. He seriously needed to rein it in. A little cabin fever, that’s all it was. “Is the snow meant to let up at all?”

“Tomorrow maybe,” Catie said. “I had a look at the latest report just before. Apparently there’s a front coming in that might mean sunshine.”

“Great, then Leon’s play should still be able to open.” Having quickly chopped the chicken into strips while they’d been talking, he dropped it into the oil to fry, stirring all the while so nothing would burn and the chicken would cook quickly and evenly.

The rich scent of the garlic in the olive oil filled the air.

“You still okay to be my date?” he asked.

“Deal is a deal,” she said, her eyes on the wok. “You’re using a higher heat than I normally would.”

And because cooking was safe, Danny went off on a mini essay about perfect chicken-searing temperature, et cetera, et cetera. That Catie actually seemed to be paying attention tangled him up inside, his pride a hot thing in his gut. Man, he was fucked. This was fucked.

He needed to talk to someone. Jake?

No, nope. He did not want anyone in the family getting wind of his sudden obsession with Catie. Or his friends. In fact, he didn’t want to talk to anyone. He’d sleep on it and he’d wake up cured. The end.

“Chicken’s done,” he said, the words coming out a touch too fast. “We then put it aside while we stir-fry the veggies in the sauce. I like to drizzle a little of the sauce over the chicken while it sits. Helps it soak in a bit more.”

Stop babbling, Danny!

Clenching his jaw tight, he kept his eyes on the food. It took a few short minutes to get the vegetables to the right level between raw and still crispy but seared. He then added the chicken back in, mixed, and they were done.

“Damn.” He scowled. “We forgot to make rice or noodles.”

“There are emergency microwavable packets in the pantry.”