The story made Maddie smile, in part because it made Connor smile. “Sounds like you shouldn’t cross her.”

“Ever.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you travel with food.”

“Mom shoved the package in my hand when I stopped by before heading for the airport to come here.” He acted out the scene and mimicked her voice. “Here, take these.”

“She was afraid you’d starve.”

“Probably more afraid I’d eat fast food. She is not an eat-out type of person.” He cleaned off the knife and put it back in the butcher block.

Everything looked set. A bowl of sauce he’d made there. Those vegetables, lined up and cut into even slices with precision. Much more of this and she would never let him leave again. And that was tempting even without the food.

She waited for him to start cooking—cutting the now cooked noodles and starting the stir fry of vegetables and sauce—before broaching the unspoken subject between them. The kitchen filled with intoxicating smells. The meat and the soy sauce. The sesame oil and the onions. It came together under his hands and all she wanted to do was pounce on the pan.

“So, about Evan.”

Connor looked up but kept stirring. “He’s a dick.”

“Very true.” When he transferred the cooked mushrooms and beef to a bowl she reached over and snuck a few pieces. Then some more.

“Not sure how you tolerated working with him.”

“Well, he kept me alive, so there’s that.”

“That’s his only redeeming quality as far as I can tell.” Connor put stir-fried vegetables in a bowl. Next went the sauce and some spinach.

The kitchen smelled like heaven and it took all of her restraint not to dive headfirst into the food. “You know he’s supposed to be a bit of a jerk, right?”

“Is that a job requirement?”

“More like a type of guy. Not the type you’d want to date or even have dinner with—”

“Agreed.”

“He’s an expert. He thinks a lot of his abilities because he has helped so many people stay alive, which is no small thing. But the only-I-can-do-this attitude is exhausting.” It had worn her down after a few months. The blowhard narcissist breed was her least favorite breed of guy.

“I’m not disagreeing.”

After cooking everything separately, he now put it all in the pan. The noodles went in last and he mixed all the parts together. Her mouth actually watered. And she would get to the food, but first she had to get this piece out. “The stuff he said—”

Connor rested his hands on either side of the serving bowl on the counter and looked at her. “My family did think I was on the verge of work burnout.”