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“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes. Let me get my shoes.” I turned and walked into the living room. This was the perfect time to tamper down the heat that was skyrocketing. I pranced to get the shoes I conveniently left on the side of the couch. I bent down to secure the strappy heels. To my surprise, the little show I planned so well was all to Prince’s back. He turned around, wholly staring the other way toward my driveway. I couldn’t get a track on this man.
“I’m ready,” I whispered. He moved away and stood behind me while I locked up. He walked me to his car and opened the door on the passenger side. This car was different from the one I’d seen him in before, or should I say the one he dusted my ass in. It matched our black perfectly. Always betting on black was the way to go.
“Who you listen to?” Prince settled into the driver’s side.
“No preference. I’m an old school kind of girl.”
“What’s old school? Somebody hit me with some 2005 shit talking about old school. Shit had me hot as fuck.”
I laughed so hard I snorted, and that made his ass laugh so hard I couldn’t do anything but laugh more.
“No, seriously.” I waved my hand. “I’m talking about 90s R&B type old school. I love a few new songs because they were in such heavy rotation at the clubs, but at home on my own time, the last thing I want to do is listen to stuff like that.”
“Connect to my system then. We have about a thirty-minute drive.”
“Where we going?”
“You’ll see,” he replied, and I didn’t push. I did what he asked and paired my phone to Bluetooth. I appreciated the moment he was giving me to recover from earlier. Something about the car ride and listening to my favorite songs on the way didn’t allow me to remain uptight. The way he held the road so seamlessly made me feel at ease. No jerky stops or quick changing of lanes. Don’t get me wrong, we were zooming, but I couldn’t describe the trip as anything other than relaxing.
My defenses should have been higher, but as he opened my car door and helped me stand upright next to him, a feeling of comfort spread through me. I ogled the building in front of us.Chateau Le Fleur.It was definitely a restaurant, but one I hadn’t heard of before. We walked to the door, he gave our names, and the gentleman at the door opened it for us.
“We serve alcohol. We do need to check IDs, please,” the gentleman asked. I fished in my purse to pass mine over, and Prince followed suit. When he passed it back, Prince hovered over my shoulder.
“Le Monroe. I like that,” he quoted my middle name. It was like silk on his tongue. I would’ve corrected him if I didn’t want him to say it again the exact same way.
When we stepped inside, it looked nothing like a restaurant for dining, as the outside presented. Six different stations were set up. Couples were already standing behind them at four stations and putting on aprons. We walked around the closest table and went to the only other open one, and I saw both of our names on the placards.
“What in the world is this, Prince?”
“It’s a couple’s cooking activity. Don’t make us lose, either,” he said, pulling an apron from under the covered station and looping it around his head.
“Me? Can you even cook?”
“I guess you betta show me if I don’t.”
I smiled. I had to give him points for his creativity. I was ready for dinner and a movie, but he entered us into a challenge. He didn’t know he was waking up a monster because I didn’t lose at anything besidesto him.I was sizing up the competition as we spoke. The first few couples were so enthralled with each other that I could tell they wouldn’t be focused on the task at hand. There was a couple in the corner that I would have to keep myeyes on. Sis’ looked like she could throw down, and her man was a teddy bear looking like one of those IG food influencers.
“Look at yo’ pretty ass. You are already sizing everybody up. I figured if I gave you somebody to fight with, you wouldn’t be fighting with me all night. Did I tell you how good you look tonight?” Prince’s hands seared to my side as he planted firmly before me. His touch was so sure.
“You are handsy, ain’t you?” I popped my head back, trying to show a little attitude. Even if I planned to ride his dick all night until I forgot all about the bullshit currently going on, he didn’t have to know that. It didn’t have to be easy.
“Oh yeah. I should have asked for permission. May I touch you, Le? Is that a problem for you?” he asked, knowing damn well it wasn’t. My words didn’t reach my lips fast enough before he turned around and started securing the apron around my waist.
“Okay, it looks like everyone has arrived! First, thank you all for signing up for this exclusive package. As you know, the opening of Château Le Fleur has been highly anticipated, and you guys will be the first to taste the menu and cook it yourself! We appreciate you purchasing our platinum package, and the winner of today’s cook-off will be entered for a chance to win a special gift!” The host stood in the middle of the floor. The excitement leaked from him so fiercely that it made me excited myself.
“Up first, we will have the appetizer round. You can pick from three options that you would like to prepare. You will have thirty minutes for each round to prepare your dish. We have everything you may need and want in the pantry.” He waved his arm toward the makeshift pantry in the corner of the room, filled with spices and goodies. I hummed to myself. I don’t understandhow he could have thought about something like this or set it up so soon. I felt like he was sitting outside my window while I watched one of my favorite shows on the Food Network. Cooking was my element, and throwing competition in there? You got me, hands down. I turned to him and cocked my brow. Damn, I was impressed.
“You betta stop looking at me like that, Le,” he warned.
“I would tell you two to stay focused so you can win the prize, but if I am not mistaken, sir, you seem like you already did.” The host winked at Prince and dropped a form on our table, and I blushed.
We picked out our starter dish. I let him decide on the main course. The dessert round was mine, hands down.
“Alright. Let’s begin!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, I started bringing the pots and pans from under our station while Prince dashed over to get the ingredients. He worked next to me egoless. He surprised me. He knew exactly what he was doing in the kitchen. I mean, he was not me, but he knew a little something. While the other couples were laughing and making eyes at each other, we worked hard on the task. I could see halfway through that he was just as competitive as I was. He was trying to come out on top. We won the starter round easily. When we got to the main course, I worked on the sides while Prince cooked the perfect medium steak.
