Page 23 of Take the Bait
She eyed him suspiciously.
“Do you want to take my spoon for safekeeping?” He said with a chuckle, putting his spoon next to hers.
“Yes,” she said before she could stop herself. “I mean, no.”
He laughed. “Just eat, Hanna.”
Tentatively, she took a bite—and as the sweet creaminess of the shortcake crumbled over her tongue, all pretenses of reluctance dissipated with a moan she couldn’t hold back. “Holyshit. Why is everything you make so good?”
“Culinary school.”
She gave him a look, and he smiled. “How’d you get into cooking?”
“Everyone in my family cooked. I just grew up around amazing food. And we went to New Orleans a lot, since it’s only a few hours away. So I picked it up young and started cooking for my family all the time growing up. Got a job as a line cook at a local seafood place and it skyrocketed from there.”
Hanna gave him a closed-mouth grin as she swallowed the shortcake. “I’m a terrible cook.”
Tucker’s lips tipped up in amusement. “How terrible?”
“I once started a fire trying to boil water.” She took another bite.
His smile grew, a small laugh escaping. “How’d you manage that?”
“I wanted tea and forgot I put a pot on to boil,” she said between bites. “I have an electric kettle now. And I store clothes in my oven like Carrie Bradshaw.”
“Carrie who?”
“You know, like fromSex and the City.”
“Never heard of it.”
She dropped her fork, barely noticing the loud clank on the table. “You’ve never heard ofSex and the City? What rock are you living under?”
“You don’t use your oven! That’s worse! What do you do, order takeout for every meal?”
“That and frozen meals, yes.”
Tucker ran a hand down his face as Hanna took her final bite of the shortcake. “You have no idea how upsetting this is to me.”
“Probably just as upsetting as you not knowing aboutSex and the City.” Hanna mumbled.
Tucker chuckled, waving Sheila over. “Can we get some crab cakes to go, please?”
As Sheila walked away, he turned his attention back to Hanna. She found herself squirming under his gaze.
“I like you. A lot.” He curled his lips. Well, shit. She’d never been with someone so straightforward before. “So how about we strike a deal?”
Mustering up a lot more confidence than she had, Hanna responded smugly, “I’m listening.”
“I’ll overlook your abysmal cooking skills if you overlook my indifference to pop culture, and tomorrow night we go on another date.”
Sheila placed a styrofoam box on their table, and Tucker stood up, reaching for Hanna’s hand. She stood and clasped his hand in hers, following him as he led her out of the restaurant.
“The Honda’s mine,” she said, tugging her keys out of her purse as he handed her the crab cakes he’d ordered to go. “Wait, you got this for me?”
“Yes.”
“But you barely ate anything tonight. I hogged it all.”