After what Taylor thought of as the bathtub incident, Brayden went upstairs to his office where he spent the rest of the afternoon.

Taylor snuggled beneath a blanket on the couch and kept her head in a book that she found on his nightstand. It was a fantasy novel, not her typical choice of reading material, but it kept off her mind off of Brayden.

At least for the most part. She sat so that she could watch for him to come back downstairs.

She berated herself for acting like a teenager. She hadn’t crushed on a guy this hard since college.

She forced herself to reread the page she’d just read and to her surprise, became engrossed in the story.

Three chapters later, she heard Brayden coming down the stairs. She pretended not to hear him and kept her head down. Nonetheless, her heart rate kicked into overtime, and the words on the page in front of her blurred.

She still didn’t look up when he stood in front of her.

“Hi,” he said.

She looked up. “Oh. Hi.”

He grinned at her. “Hungry?”

She returned his smile. She couldn’t help it. “A little.”

“I can make some chili.”

“Oh. Um.” She narrowed her eyes.

“You don’t like chili.”

“Vegetarian.”

“Right. I forgot about that.”

“How did you know?”

He shrugged. “You know what? I can make vegetarian chili.”

“Okay. Can I help?”

“The Man Code says never turn down help in the kitchen.”

She laughed and followed him over to the kitchen.

He reached in a drawer and pulled out an apron.

“What’s that?” Taylor smiled.

Brayden shook out the apron and pulled it over his neck. When he whipped the strings around and tied them in the front, Taylor giggled. The letters emblazoned on the front read Le Chef.

Brayden glanced down. “What?”

“You have a French apron.”

“Hey. My parents brought me this from France. I happen to think it’s very… manly.”

Taylor covered her mouth with her hands and tried not to laugh.

“Alright. First you laugh at my bubble bath. Then you laugh at my apron. There’s only so much a man can take.” He closed the distance between them, put his hands on her waist and lifted her onto the counter.

His face was only inches from hers. Her laughter turned into a gasp as he moved in and placed his lips against hers.

Taylor grasped the edge of the counter and closed her eyes as her world tilted.

He pulled back and smiled at her. “I just kissed the weather girl.”

Taylor struggled to pull her thoughts together and failed miserably. “I was just kissed by a man wearing an apron.”

He chuckled and kissed her again.

Taylor sighed and leaned into the kiss.

Brayden pulled back and cleared his throat. “Alright. You sit here, and I’ll cook for you.” He ran a finger along her cheek to her parted lips. “Since I’m the one wearing the apron.”

Smiling, she watched as he put a variety of dried beans and tomato sauce on to boil. He opened a wine bottle and winked as he handed her a glass.

“Trying to turn me into a wine drinker?” She sipped the warm liquid.

“Maybe.”

When he started chopping bell peppers, onions, and celery, she felt her crush shift a little deeper. Taylor already had a soft spot for men who cooked for her. But here was a man who not only cooked, but was handsome, and whose lips she badly wanted back on hers.

When he had everything on to simmer, he set a timer and wrapped his arms around her. Taylor set her glass of wine aside and put her arms around him. She nestled her head beneath his chin.

He leaned back just enough to look into her eyes. He ran his thumb against her lips, groaned, and pressed his lips against hers. He deepened the kiss, and time froze.

He pulled her from the counter and held her tightly against him. When the timer went off, her kissed her forehead and left her to lean against the counter, her knees a little weak.

They sat at his little breakfast table and ate vegetarian chili, watching the snowflakes falling outside.

“In my defense,” Taylor said. “It is snowing harder today than yesterday.”

“Exactly. And no sunshine.”

The chili was the best veggie chili Taylor had ever eaten. She told him so.

“Believe it or not, it’s the first time I’ve ever made it.”

Watching this enigma of a man she’d only just met, she believed him.