He lifted an eyebrow. “Is it food?”

“Kinda. Julie told me about this site where they send you the ingredients and give you the recipe and supposedly it’s easy to fix.”

“Really?”

“I know it’s an area I need to work on. I totally forgot until you said something. I ordered it last week.”

Before she could get her next sentence out, his lips were on hers and he was giving her a kiss that curled her toes and made her very aware she was naked in his lap.

“You never stop surprising me,” he said. “How do you do that?”

“I don’t know, but if I do it again, will I get another kiss?”

“I’ll give you more than a kiss.”

She decided she needed to work out different ways to surprise him.

•   •   •

The package was delivered shortly after lunch while Sasha was working on a writing assignment Cole had given her. He carried the box into the kitchen and then went to get her.

He knocked on the door to the sunroom, where she sat writing. “Your package arrived, little one. If you need to go take care of it, you may finish the assignment later.”

She glanced at the clock on the wall and then stood and walked to him, where she knelt. “Thank you, Sir. Is it okay with you if I start dinner?”

“Of course. I look forward to whatever it is you’re making.”

“It might be wiser to wait until you actually taste it, Sir.”

He stroked her hair. “You took the initiative to work on an area you wanted to improve on. It wasn’t anything I requested or anything I would have required. You did it because you wanted to. No matter how it tastes, it’s going to be wonderful.”

Did she have any idea how rare that was? For anyone to have that drive impressed him. For it to be a submissive woman he had feelings for? It blew his mind.

He ran his thumb over her lips. “You may go to the kitchen, little one. And you may slip some clothes on.”

She rose to her feet and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Sir.”

Yup. Mind blown.

He waited until she made it to the kitchen before sitting down at a small desk he had in the living room. Doing so gave the illusion he was working, but in reality, it afforded him the opportunity to watch her.

She carefully opened the box and unpacked the contents, placing everything on the countertop. By the time she finished, vegetables, meat, and spices covered an entire side of the kitchen. She stepped back and looked over it. “Shit.”

He wondered about Julie’s definition of “easy to fix.”

With a resolute sigh, she pulled out the recipe card and read it, lining up the items as she went. From where he sat, it looked like some sort of rice or pasta dish. She took out a pot and several bowls from the cabinet and started working.

It looked like things were progressing well until she got to the carrots. Apparently, she had to peel and slice them and from what he could tell, Sasha had done neither before. He hoped she didn’t lose a finger the way she worked the knife.

By the time she made it to the second carrot, the water she’d put on to boil was bubbling over the top of the pot. Once she had that under control, she went back to the carrots and managed to get through the second one. Her shoulders slumped as she saw how many were left.

She threw two in the trash can, took another glance at the pile left and threw away another.

“Who the hell needs so many carrots?” she asked the empty kitchen. “Seriously.”

She drummed her fingers on the countertop and without warning, turned and walked his way. He dropped his eyes and pretended to work.

“Sorry to interrupt, Sir,” she said. “But I have a quick question.”

“Yes, little one?”

“Are there rabbits in your yard?”

He tried to hide his smile. “Rabbits?”

“Yes, Sir. I have some carrots left over and I was wondering if I could put them outside?”

“I’ve never seen any rabbits. Why don’t you just use them in whatever you’re cooking? I love carrots.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Yes, and Sasha?”

“Mmmm.”

“I smell something burning.”

“Fuck!” she yelled and ran back to the kitchen.

He kept his laughter to himself. Poor Sasha, trying to cook and getting sidetracked by carrots. He debated going to help her, but stayed where he was. Odds were, she wouldn’t welcome his being in the kitchen. She wanted to do this dinner by herself, so he would let her.

“Damn, damn, damn,” she cursed from the kitchen, doing her best to salvage whatever she’d been boiling.

When she had everything under control, she took a step back and wiped her nose with her sleeve. Her sigh was audible from where he sat. But she didn’t stop, she went back to peeling carrots and preparing the other vegetables.

She’d told him the Web site said you could cook a meal from start to finish in thirty minutes. So far, she’d spent all her time with carrots and boiling water.

“Thirty minutes, my ass,” she said, echoing his thoughts.

She finished dinner an hour later. The kitchen looked like a disaster area, with nearly every bowl, pot, and pan he had piled in the sink. Carrot peels littered the countertop. An unknown liquid had been spilled on the floor and the air was still heavy with the tinge of burned food.

But in the middle of it all, Sasha stood beaming and handed him a bowl. “Taste it, Sir. See if it’s good.”

He took it and headed to the table. “Bring yourself a bowl and sit with me.”

“I don’t know, Sir.” She spooned some pasta into a bowl and poured sauce on it. “What if it sucks?”

“It smells divine and my kitchen looks like someone catered a meal for twenty. There’s no way it sucks.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Sorry about the kitchen. I’ll clean it up.”

“Don’t worry about it now. Let’s eat.”

He took a tentative bite and hummed in pleasure at the taste. “Sasha, this is incredible.”

She looked as if he’d just told her she’d won a million dollars. “Really?”

“Taste for yourself.” He held his fork up to her mouth.

She took a bite. “Wow.”

“You did very well,” he said.