"But, it's what you're paying me to do-"
He glanced over at her and smiled. "True again. But you have other duties besides the kitchen."
Her mind immediately went back to the previous night and the hours they spent enjoying the feel of each others body. How many orgasms did she have? She lost count. He had been insatiable and just the thought of the previous night had a blush forming on her cheeks.
''And we already discussed the duties didn't necessarily include what happened last night." he reminded her, as if reading her mind.
Her blush deepened and she found it suddenly hard to look him in the eye.
Gabriel decided to pretend not to notice her uneasiness. "And to answer your second question I prepared some seafood chowder. It's a little heavy for the time of day, but I had a hankering." Scooping out two portions of the chowder Gabriel made his way over to the table and set a steaming bowl of it in front of her and then sat down opposite of her with his serving.
"Smells. Amazing. My grandmother used to make the most delicious seafood chowder.'' Beth picked up her spoon and dipped it in. Bringing the steaming hot chowder to her mouth, she blew on it gently, aware that Gabriel's eyes were glued to her.
"I say shame on anyone living in New England who can't prepare a chowder."
Beth cringed as she lifted guilty eyes up at him.
"Present company excluded, of course." Gabriel chuckled, watching her for a reaction, but not touching his utensils. Apparently, he had no intention of eating until he had her opinion on the food.
Plopping the spoonful of chowder in her mouth, she felt like moaning from the amazing favours of the creamy soup and the perfectly cooked chunks of lobster and fish. "This is delicious." Gabriel's grin widened. "Almost as good as my Grams," she added with a wink. "So what's in it?" She scooped up another portion and popped it into her mouth.
Gabriel frowned. "Why don't you tell me. Let's test that little palate of yours."
Ahhh shit! she sighed. Okay, I can do this... "Lobster."
"That's an easy one. Go on."
"Clams."
He nodded.
Beth scooped up another helping and thrust it into her mouth savouring the creamy mixture. "Scallops."
"Two more then I want to know the seasonings in the broth."
Beth's eyes widened. Was he fucking serious? She felt like reminding him once more that she was not a chef and had never had skills in the kitchen. How was she supposed to know?
"It's very important to be able to distinguish tastes in food and be able to pick out the flavourings. It will greatly improve your skills when you are able to identify and break down a recipe simply by tasting a dish."
Beth nodded. Okay, she got that. Here was the problem. She spent most of her life living off of frozen quickie foods, most of which bore only a slight resemblance to what he'd consider real food. But they were cheap which was why she bought them. Just realizing this reminded her that he was way out of her league. But he likes you, the voice at the back of her mind responded to her self-doubt.
Deciding to at least give it a shot she scooped up another bite. "Haddock."
He nodded. "Very good."
As much as she'd have liked to give credit to her palate for that answer it was more of a logical guess than anything else.
"Alright, the final fish then we move onto the broth." He scooped up a spoonful and began to eat as he kept his eyes glued to her.
Damn, damn, damn. She had no clue, not even a guess. After a couple of minutes trying to decipher she shook her head, giving him a wry smile. "I don't know."
"Alright. What vegetables?"
"Potatoes."
"Alright, that was a given, but good."
He made her feel like she was in high school again, trying to ace an oral exam. She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. "Onion." Another given answer.
He nodded.
She gave him an apologetic smile. "If there's any other vegetables in there I can't taste them."
He beamed at her with a reassuring nod. "Seasoning."
"Salt and pepper."
Gabriel rolled his eyes, as if to say she was stating the obvious, but nodded.
She had no idea from there. Didn't her Grams always put thyme in hers? She eyed Gabriel closely as though if she looked at him long enough the answer would appear on his forehead for her to see. She sighed, "Thyme?"
He laughed, "Your grandmother's recipe?”
She opened her mouth to protest, but instead she nodded guiltily. "Yeah."
"Well, finish up eating. Try some of the salad and biscuits," he ordered grabbing a biscuit himself, slicing it in half and buttering it up.
"Well, did I get it right?" She sincerely wanted to know. His enthusiasm for cooking and her sudden need to please him made it impossible for her not to want to know.
He clucked his tongue off of the roof of his mouth and then gave her a wink. "Can't tell ya. But I'll let you know when you're ready." He pointed to her near empty bowl. "Now finish up I have a big day planned for us."
She groaned inwardly, itching to toss one of the biscuits at him, but they looked to scrumptious to waste in a food fight. As she finished eating she couldn't help but wonder what he had in store for them.
****
"What I would like to know, is in what world, this constitutes work?" Beth raised a cynical brow at Gabriel as he took aim and once again missed capturing the neck of the glass bottle with the red ring.
Gabriel straightened up and smiled over a Beth, who was reclining against the counter of the ring toss booth, at the annual Portland fair watching him in amusement. "Well, considering you've been forced to stay here twenty minutes and counting while I fail repeatedly to do this, I would constitute that as work." Pulling out his wallet he dug out another bill and handed it to the middle-aged, toothless male carnie manning the game and was rewarded with another pail of rings.
Beth pointed to the bear hanging from the game station ceiling. "You realize you could have easily paid for one for well less than it has cost you so far to attempt to win."
Gabriel huffed. "Yeah, I know," he grumbled, tossing a ring and growling as with a faint ting sound it went flying off of the bottle top and onto the floor with the rest of his failures. But it was now a matter of principal more than anything. The large pink teddy bear hanging from the ceiling of the booth taunted him. He'd be damned if he was going to walk away without Beth having that bear. He ignored the fact that she seemed more interested in teasing him than the prize.