The Christmas Cottage(11)
“If we swing by the market, I’ll pick up a few things. Spaghetti sound all right?” Holly interrupted his thoughts.
It sounded fantastic to him. She could have offered bread and water. He was just glad for the invite. “Yep, spaghetti sounds great.”
They popped into the market and picked up the things she needed for dinner.
“I’m going to get this,” Steve said as they got up to the checkout.
“No, you don’t have to do that.”
“I insist. You cook, I buy.”
She flashed that sexy smile at him again and he almost dropped his wallet.
They arrived at the cottage just at dusk. The Christmas lights blinked on as they pulled in the drive. He heard Holly take a sharp intake of air. He looked at her, but she was looking straight out the side window now. She was a hard one to figure out. A bit touchy and he didn’t know why he seemed to always being pushing her buttons. He needed to figure them out and learn to take a wide detour around them.
He parked the truck and grabbed the groceries. She’d already climbed out of the truck by the time he had come around to help her. Louie ran ahead of them and up the steps to the porch.
They followed Louie to the porch and inside. Steve reached over and flipped the switch to light up the family room. They crossed to the kitchen and Steve placed the groceries on the counter.
“Okay, don’t give me an apron, but I’ll help with making the dinner.” He smiled at Holly, hoping to tease out one of her grins. He was rewarded for his efforts.
“Well, I’m from the school of cooking that says you always need to wear an apron, but we’ll make an exception for you this time.”
She proceeded to boss him around with instructions for making the salad while she worked on the meat sauce and boiled the spaghetti. He obediently followed her directions, though he was perfectly able to make a salad on his own, for Pete’s sake. But he liked her silly orders and they laughed as they made dinner.
While the sauce was simmering, she pulled out a bottle of red wine. “Want some?”
“Yes. Sounds good.”
They sat at the kitchen table and sipped wine. Holly asked more questions about the house they’d seen and about his construction business. He noticed she much preferred talking about his life instead of hers.
Louie barked at the back door. Steve pushed away from the table and stood up. “Need to go out, Louie?” He opened the back door and Louie outside. Steve stood there for a minute and Louie came busting back inside, sat at Steve’s feet and look at him expectantly. “Good boy. Sorry, don’t have any treat for you, bud.” Louie looked at him skeptically, and crossed over to sit at Holly’s feet, obviously disappointed in Steve.
Steve closed the door. “It’s getting a little bit chilly outside. Want me to start a fire for you?”
“That would be nice. Why don’t you do that while I finish up dinner?”
Steve went outside to the woodpile and grabbed an armload of logs. He quickly had a fire going with the help of a few fire starters and rolled newspaper. He carefully replaced the screen. He’d just let the fire get going while they ate.
Holly had the table set and food on the table when he returned to the kitchen. “Smells great.” He crossed over to the kitchen sink and washed his hands. He grabbed the bottle of wine and put in on the table.
“Well, let’s eat.” Holly slipped into the chair he had pulled out for her. Small locks of her hair had fallen out from her ponytail and circled her face, rosy pink from the heat of the stove. She shoved them away with a flick of her hand, but they drifted back. He liked the way the disheveled curls framed her face.
He sat down at the table and they both reached for the bowl of spaghetti at the same time. Their hands brushed and Holly pulled hers back quickly.
“No, you go first.” Steve insisted.
He watched her skillfully dish up spaghetti noodles without dropping any stragglers along the way. He wasn’t so lucky when he took his turn.
They ate and talked and sipped wine and he had a wonderful time. Holly seemed to relax more as the evening wore on. She surprised him with her dry humor and quick laugh. Her eyes sparkled as she teased him.
He helped her with the dishes after dinner showing, once again, he knew how to use a dishwasher. He dried off the big pot she’d used to boil the spaghetti and tucked it away under the counter.
He grabbed the bottle of wine and they went to sit in front of the fire. The family room had warmed up nicely from the cheerful fire. They lounged on the couch and continued their friendly banter. He couldn’t remember when he’d had such a fun and relaxing time with a woman.
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