Seth paced the length of the clubhouse dining room. Where was she? He checked the time—ten minutes after six. She was definitely late. This student was using the gift certificate that Seth normally didn’t offer, but the guy had been insistent, and Seth hadn’t been about to turn down the money. He put the income from these lessons toward his dream of owning his own restaurant.
What kind of guy gives cooking lessons as a gift? One who was probably sleeping on the couch now, that’s who. He would give her five more minutes. If she didn’t show, Seth would clean up and hit the gym.
He unlocked his phone and checked his texts, voicemail, and email. Nothing. Frustration built with every tick of the clock.
Finally, he heard a door open and close in the distance, followed by the tapping of hurried steps. He turned to see a woman rushing into the room.
“I’m so sorry, I know I’m late. There was a wreck on the fifteen, so I had to take the one sixty-three. Of course, that was backed up too. Then I got all the way home before I remembered my lessons started today. And wouldn’t you know it, there was another wreck on the eight, and oh my God, the traffic was horrible. We didn’t move for over ten minutes! And—oh. Well, am I too late? Can I still take your course?”
Seth’s frustration melted away with each word. It was clear she was having a bad day. By the time she finished her rushed explanation complete with wildly flailing hands, Seth was biting the inside of his cheek to hold in his laughter. It sounded as if she’d had quite the adventure to get here. Clearing his throat wasn’t enough to stop the soft chuckle that preceded his words.
“Of course, please come in. You’re Margaret, right?”
She flinched slightly as a sour expression crossed her beautiful face. “Please, call me Maggie. I’m so sorry I’m late. It won’t happen again.”
“Hello, Maggie. I’m Seth, and I’ll be teaching you the basics of cooking for the next six weeks. Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself and your cooking experience?”
“Well, I’m thirty years old. I am a bank manager and a total disaster in the kitchen. I can and have burned water. I really need these lessons.”
Seth led her into the kitchen, where he had everything set up. Maggie pulled her long strawberry-blonde hair into a ponytail. She walked to the sink and washed her hands. He took a moment to check out her ass, then promptly scolded himself for doing so.
She’s here for cooking lessons, you idiot. Get a hold of yourself.
That didn’t stop him from wondering if she was single. Would it be wrong to ask her out for a drink after the lesson? Probably.
“So, let’s begin. The first thing we’re going to talk about is food safety. To keep cross-contamination down, we—”
“Yes, I know, different cutting boards. The green is for veggies and fruits, red is for beef, yellow for chicken and . . . oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but I do know that much about cooking.”
Seth felt his lip twitch. She was going to be fun to work with. “Okay, then, moving right along. Tonight we’re going to make a simple beef stir-fry.”
“Yay, beef! I’m so sick of chicken.”
Seth did laugh this time. “Noted. I’ll plan the remaining lessons without chicken. Do you cook a lot of chicken at home?”
“I wouldn’t call it cooking. More like defrosting. I use those already prepared frozen chicken breasts and add them to salad or rice.”
“No offense, but that must make for some boring meals.” He frowned. “Are you really that bad of a cook?”
“Dude, I told you I can burn water. Yes, I’m that bad. Do you think I want to spend a Friday night learning to cook? No, but I am because I desperately need to be able to cook something. I refuse to eat chicken for the rest of my life. So here we are, on a Friday night.”
Seth hardly heard what she was saying, something about frozen chicken and defrosting. He was too busy staring at her lips and wondering what it would be like to kiss her. The more those lips moved, the less he heard and the more he imagined. He needed to pull himself together and act like a professional. She was here to learn, not to be leered at.
Damn, this is going to be a long six weeks.
“So, what skills, if any, do you have in the kitchen?” He willed himself to actually listen to her this time.
“I can defrost and warm things up. I can do most prep work. It’s the actual cooking that I can’t do.”
“Show me what you got.”
A rosy hue colored her cheeks, accompanied by a soft gasp. Maggie averted her eyes for a moment. When she glanced back at Seth, she had a mischievous grin on her face.
“Is this a ‘you show me yours, I’ll show you mine’ thing? I wasn’t aware these lessons were R-rated.”
Seth’s bark of laughter echoed in the empty room. He shook his head. Of course he wouldn’t mind seeing what she had to offer, but that’s not why they were here. “No, that’s not what I meant. Show me your prep skills. Start with the meat. Grab the mallet and start whacking.”
“Oh, so now you want me to beat your meat? Are you sure these classes aren’t R-rated? Maybe even X-rated?”
“You are going to be trouble, I can already see it.”
“Me? You’re the one asking me to show you what I have and to beat your meat. I believe you are the trouble-maker, not me.”
Seth crossed his arms and tried to give her a stern look. He failed miserably when he saw her lips twitching, sensing she was holding her own laugh inside.
“Who bought you the gift certificate?”
The question came out of nowhere, but it had been burning in his mind since she walked in. He knew a guy had bought it, but who was he? Her brother, boyfriend, or husband? The latter two would be a problem.
“My ex-boyfriend, Chad. It was supposed to be my birthday gift. It became a parting gift for our breakup.”
“Wait, he bought you cooking lessons for your birthday? No wonder he’s your ex; you were smart to get rid of him.”
“He broke up with me. I burned the salmon.”
He did what? Damn, what an asshole.
“Let me get this straight. The guy buys you cooking lessons as a birthday gift, then breaks up with you because you burned salmon? In what universe does that make any sense?”
“In Chadland, where life is perfect and your boxers must be ironed with pleats to match your pants. I guess.” Maggie shrugged.
Her smile from earlier was replaced by a frown. A look of sadness in her eyes had Seth wanting nothing more than to wrap her in a hug and tell her she was perfect. He didn't act on the impulse; that would be creepy. Instead, he shared his thoughts on this Chad jerk.
“Anyone who irons their boxers—with pleats, no less—is a giant douche.”
And there was that room-brightening smile again. He was in deep trouble. In less than a half hour, Maggie had him enthralled and rethinking his never-mixing-business-with-pleasure rule. After all, rules were made to be broken.
* * *
Seth was setting a table when a screech sounded from across the room. He looked up in time to see Maggie wobble a little, then fall forward, hitting her head on the corner of the counter. He ran to her but not in time to catch her. Seth kneeled next to her and gently rolled her onto her back. There was a cut on her forehead, so he grabbed a towel and applied pressure.
Speaking in a firm voice, he attempted to wake her. “Maggie? Hey, wake up now.” He slapped her face lightly. “Come on. There you go.”
Maggie’s eyelids fluttered briefly before opening. She raised her hand to her head. “What happened? Ouch.”
“I’m not sure. I looked up to see you fall into the counter. How do you feel? Are you in any pain?” Seth asked as he looked her over.
“My head hurts. My stomach feels wet. Did I spill something?”
Seth looked down to see a large red stain growing under her hand resting on her stomach. He lifted her hand and saw a deep cut on her index finger that would require stitches, along with her head wound. He was going to have to take her to the hospital. He would figure out how to make up this class later. Right now Maggie needed medical attention, and for reasons he didn’t want to think about, he felt he had to be the one to take her there. Seth retrieved the first-aid kit from under the sink and began to patch her up.
“We need to get you to the hospital. Your finger is going to need stitches, and probably your head too.”
“Are you sure? It doesn’t seem that bad.” She looked down at her finger as he bandaged it, and swayed to the side.
“Whoa, easy there.” Seth steadied her with his hand on her shoulders.
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have looked at it. I don’t handle the sight of blood well.”
“Good to know. Don’t look at your finger anymore, okay? Um . . . I have a t-shirt in my bag over there. Would you like to change into it? It might be a good idea to not have a large blood stain on your shirt. You know, since you don’t handle the sight of blood very well.”
“If you don’t mind. I can bring it back to you next week. That is, if I haven’t already flunked out of cooking school.”
“No, you haven’t flunked anything. Accidents happen. Here, let me get you the shirt.”
Seth handed the shirt to Maggie. She did a quick side-to-side look, then placed his shirt on the counter beside her. It seemed like time slowed down as Seth watched her grasp the hem of her shirt and slowly start raising it.
Was she going to change right here in front of him?
I should turn around.
He willed his feet to move as her creamy white skin came into view. Slowly, oh so slowly, the shirt rose past her belly button. It had a freckle just above it.
I should really turn around.
Her shirt was now above her waist. Any second now, it would be too late. He saw a glimpse of blue. Again, he willed his feet to move. The entire lower half of her breasts was now visible. His hands itched to reach out for them.
Turn around.
Still watching, his feet stuck to the floor, and his heart sped up as he caught a quick glimpse of everything before he squeezed his eyes shut and threw his hand over them. The sight of her tits cupped in a light blue lace bra burned into his thoughts.
Damn.
* * *
“Let’s get you inside and fixed up.” Seth parked the car, then moved to get out.
“Thank you for the ride. You don’t have to come in. I can get an Uber to my car when I’m done.”
“No.” The single word was more forceful than he intended. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I don’t mind coming in with you. You shouldn’t be stuck here alone all night.”
That wasn’t the whole truth, but it sounded better than that he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her yet. Seth helped Maggie get out of the car and guided her inside. The waiting area was crowded, and he hoped it wouldn’t be too long of a wait for them.