“Are we all good?” Andi asked from behind him.
He shut the double-door fridge and turned around. “You did great. Everything’s here, plus some extras.”
Andi grinned and did a little fast clap. “Yay. I’m ready to learn. And I hope it’s a quick-cooking thing because oh my God am I hungry.” She cocked a thumb toward the tripod. “I’m already recording.”
He eyed the phone like it was a bomb ready to go off. “I can’t promise I’m going to get this right on one video take. Or twelve.”
She waved a hand. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m going to record us in one long take, and I’ll edit and piece it together. So if we mess something up, we’ll just pause and do it again. This is just for fun. My followers aren’t going to expect it to look like a show on the Food Network.”
He nodded. “Got it.”
She grabbed a blue-striped apron off a hook on the wall and looped it around his neck. “Let’s do this, Chef.”
He smirked as he tied the apron around his waist. “I don’t know why you’re putting the apron on me. You’re the one who’s going to be cooking.”
“True.” She peeked over her shoulder at the camera. “Pray for us, y’all.”
And with that, they were off and running.
Andi talked to the camera while Hill set things up. “Hey, everyone, today I have something a little different for you. After a long night of recording a podcast about a really sad case, my friend Hill offered to come by and feed me to cheer me up.” She looked over at Hill and gave him a little wink. “Isn’t he the sweetest?”
Hill chuckled under his breath. Andi wasn’t going to let go of that word. “I’m downright adorable.”
“Yes,” she agreed, looking pleased that he was playing along. “Yes, he is. And lucky you, I’m going to share him and his skills with you tonight because I’m sure I’m not the only one who could use a little help not setting her kitchen on fire.”
“I’m prepared for that, too,” Hill said, arranging items on the kitchen island next to the thick butcher-block cutting board.
Andi reached out and put her hand on Hill’s shoulder, making him pause in front of the camera. “Yes, this handsome guy is also a retired firefighter, so no one need worry for the surrounding villagers. We’re all safe here.”
A wave of awkwardness crashed over him at the thought of anyone watching this, but he took a breath and tried to center himself. This is just cooking. He finished laying out all the ingredients on the counter and tried to imagine he was teaching an impromptu class at the firehouse, that there were only friends in the audience.
He turned to Andi, giving the camera a side view. If he focused on her, he’d be all right. “Before you start cooking, you want to make sure you have everything you need for the recipe. If you’re missing something, you can google substitutions so that you’re not caught off guard when you get to that step.”
Andi opened a spice bottle of red pepper flakes and gave it a little sniff. “Whoa.” She blinked. “That’s going to be hot. How do you know if it’s okay to substitute something?”
Hill took the bottle from her. “Don’t inhale those or you’re going to be hating life.” He set the bottle down. “With substitutions, you’ll develop a feel for that the more you cook. Unless you’re baking, most of the time, substitutions won’t be catastrophic, but they may change the flavor profiles, so look for things that keep the heart of the dish.” He picked up a bottle of sriracha sauce. “For this dish, your key flavor profiles are sweet and spicy and Asian-inspired. So if you don’t have sriracha, you can experiment with a different hot sauce. If you don’t have brown sugar, you can use white sugar or honey. But something like the soy sauce is more integral, and it will change the profile if you switch it out.”
Andi smiled. “Sweet and spicy. I think that should be our cooking team name.”
“You’re not going to let me live down calling you sweet, huh?” he asked with a smirk.
“Nope.” She scooted between him and the counter to grab the pasta pot. “And I would obviously be the spicy one in that equation.”
Without thinking, he braced his arms on the counter on each side of her, caging her in, and bent down and kissed the spot where her shoulder met her neck. “Maybe we could take turns. I’m not always sweet.”
She stilled for a moment, her back brushing against his front, and he quickly moved his hands off the counter. He hadn’t been thinking. He didn’t want her to ever feel trapped in any way.
“Sorry—” he started, but she spun around before he could continue.
She looked up at him from beneath those dark lashes of hers and gave him a little smile. “Forgot the camera was there?”
“Maybe just for a second,” he admitted. “But I was saying sorry about caging you in. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Caging me in?”
“With my arms,” he said, doing the motion again but lowering his arms quickly. “I know it might make you nervous to have someone in your space like that, blocking you from moving.”
Her lips parted as awareness dawned. “Oh. Right.” She glanced back at the camera. “Give me a sec.”
She stepped around him and headed back toward her phone. She touched the screen, presumably stopping the recording, and then walked back over to him.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
She gave him a considering look, and then she stepped between him and the kitchen island and hoisted herself onto the counter so that she was closer to eye level with him. “I’m okay. But maybe we should talk.”
He hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “All right.”
She took an audible breath, and a line appeared between her brows. “I know I’ve been vague about what happened to me. I hate talking about it. I rarely tell anyone. Hollyn doesn’t even know.”
“You don’t have to—”
She lifted a hand to gently halt him. “I know I don’t have to, but if we’re going to attempt this kind of friends-with-kissing relationship, we’ll need an open line of communication. I don’t want you to feel like you’re walking on eggshells around my triggers, and I also want you to feel comfortable being open with me about what’s going on with you. I’m not sure this works otherwise.”
“I think you’re right,” he agreed. “I’m really worried I’m going to do something to scare you.”
“Right. So maybe we should talk a little bit more about what may or may not freak me out and why,” she said, resolve in her voice even though she looked worried.