"You don't know Cole."
Her smile grew. "You don't know Charity. Besides, she likes Cole."
"And that's a bad thing?"
"I think it scares her how much she was attracted to him, but you can tell Cole's a player."
"What about Charity?"
Gabi laughed. "No. Scott's the first guy she has dated in a few years. She's not one to sleep around."
"She seems like a pistol. And Olivia Newton-John? Wasn't she in Grease?
Gabi shuddered. "Yes. I know every one of her songs by heart after four years of living with Charity. I've seen Xanadu I don't know how many times."
My brow lifted in question.
"It's a movie she did. After Grease."
"I've never watched Grease."
Gabi dropped the spoon and turned to me with a look of horror on her face. "Don't ever tell Charity that. You'll be watching it within five minutes of the words leaving your mouth. And no potty breaks."
Damn this girl was adorable. "No potty breaks, huh?"
She shook her head. "It was pure hell. I had drank a lot of water that day too." She shuddered as if the memory had hit her again.
I had the urge to pull her into my arms again, but I fought it.
"How are you at chopping veggies for a salad?" she asked with a wink.
"Bring it on. I'm the master at chopping shit."
Gabi soon had everything you could possibly think of that would go in a salad in front of me.
"I bet next time you won't show up early," she said with a chuckle.
The fact that she was already planning a next time had my chest feeling light.
She must have realized what she said. "I mean, that's if you enjoy my cooking and want to come back."
I chopped the cucumbers and put them into the large salad bowl. "Don't you mean our cooking? Since I'm helping and all."
Her nose scrunched up in the cutest way and my heart stopped. Like, honest to God, it felt as if it froze.
She winked. "It's my recipe though."
"Touché. But, I did pound the meat."
Her tongue ran over her lips and the dark blue specs in her eyes lit up like sparklers on the Fourth of July. "I guess we'll have to see how it tastes for me to decide if you're good at that or not."
Fuck this. If she was going to flirt then so was I. "I know another way you can find out."
Her mouth formed the perfect O while her breathing picked up. I'm going to guess Charity was spot on when she said it had been a while for Gabi.
"Sounds promising," she shot back.
The alarm went off on her phone. Without taking her eyes from mine, she spoke. "Would you put the cheese on the chicken and stick them back into the oven? I'll put the pasta in and then run and change."
Lifting my hand, I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You go get changed. I'll take care of the rest and get the salad put together."
"Are you sure? The pasta needs to be put in the water."
There was something about Gabi that was so different from any other woman I'd ever been with. I wasn't sure if it was her smile, the way her eyes lit up when I said something funny . . . or sexual . . . or the way she made my heart feel like it was floating hopelessly in my chest. Whatever it was, I wanted more of it. A whole hell of a lot more.
"I'm positive. Even though I think you look great now."
"I'm not wearing sweats while you look all dashing and handsome."
"You thinking I'm handsome, huh?"
A hint of pink moved across her cheeks. "Give me ten minutes."
I nodded as I watched her walk away. Fucking hell she had a nice ass. I wanted my hands slapping it pink while I took her from behind. The bedroom door shutting brought me back to reality.
Turning, I got to work on taking the chicken out, placing the slices of cheese Gabi had ready on top and then putting them back in the oven. The pasta went into the boiling water and the last of the vegetables were added to the salad. The smell of Gabi's perfume still lingered in the air. Inhaling, I shook my head and chuckled. I never would have imagined I'd enjoy being in a kitchen and cooking with a woman.
One quick survey of Gabi's kitchen, and I walked over to where I thought she'd keep her dishes. I couldn't help the smile that spread over my face when I opened it and saw the plates. Grabbing two dinner plates and two bowls for salad, I set about getting the table ready.
The timer went off for the chicken. Taking it out of the oven, I set it off to the side while I drained the pasta and mixed it with Gabi's homemade marinara sauce. The smell of garlic and Italian spices filled my senses and made my stomach growl.