PASSIONATE HISTORY - LIBBY WATERFORD

 

The bittersweet smell of dark chocolate filled the kitchen, making his mouth water almost as much as the curvy woman swiping the melted goo over sheets of acetate.

“You need to let it cool a little before you put it on or it curls the sheets.”

With a delicate hand she slid the sheets into the fridge to set. Her warm cinnamon eyes met his.

“You don’t need to watch.”

He rested his elbow on the counter and grinned.

“Yeah, I do.”

Her responding smile made his heart warm.

He watched her cute butt-wiggle while she measured ingredients into the mixer, shimmying to the sound of Adele with a fire in her heart. Much like the one in his.

Thick chocolate frosting was whipped up then smoothed all over the three tier cake. Tempted to dip his finger in, he raised his hand.

“Don’t think about it.”

Like he wouldn’t dream of it, he rested his chin on his hand as though that had been his plan all along. She knew him so well, the gleam in her eye told him so.

She slipped the sheets of chocolate out of the fridge, used a tape measure and efficiently ran a pizza cutter through the partially set chocolate.

“You measure all around each cake, divide the measurement by however many panels you want.”

Hmmm, bright as well as artistic. She slipped them back in the fridge.

Amazed at the efficient swooshing of frosting all over the cake, he shuffled in his chair to get a little closer, delighted when she handed him the bowl to scrape out.

“Should you have chocolate?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought it wasn’t good for dogs.”

Insulted he whipped his head up and stared at her.

“I’m not a dog, I’m a wolf – and currently I’m in my human form. Chocolate is good. Do not try to deprive me of it.”

She turned her back, but he still heard her soft snort.

The bowl full of half dipped strawberries had almost the same result on his taste buds as the chocolate, but nothing could compete with the effect the woman had on him.

Quick and proficient, she removed the chocolate panels from the fridge, touching them to the sides of the frosting so they stuck.

“It’s a bit like glue.”

“Tasty glue.”

Removing a round panel from the acetate, she slipped it on top of the chocolate fudge cake.

“It needs a little more security, because the sponge is so soft it may not be able to hold the strawberries.”

She piled them in so it gave the effect of an overflowing basket, then placed single strawberries on the ledges of the next two layers.

A quick swipe of dark chocolate on the exposed board, then she whipped a pretty ribbon around and stuck it down.

“Ta Da!”