Summer Magic by Rochelle Alers

watched Caryn watching him as an expression of annoyance narrowed her gaze. She reminded him of a cat with her large, expressive gold-green eyes. And he could tell her mood by their color. Gold indicated she was relaxed, happy, while pinpoints of green revealed anger. He didn’t know why, but he wondered what color they would be if she were aroused by passion.
    And he knew she was a passionate woman. He had seen her flirt openly and deliberately with several men, while her full lower lip was a positive clue to her voluptuous nature.
    “You don’t clean and you wait until you’re nearly starving to eat because you can’t cook—”
    “I never said I couldn’t cook,” he interrupted defensively.
    A low, sultry laugh bubbled in her throat as she gave him a disbelieving stare. “No!
You
cook?”
    “Yes, I do. And very well, too.”
    Caryn registered his annoyance at her implication of his ineptness along with a hint of cockiness. “What can you prepare?”
    “Everything. You name it and I can prepare it.”
    “If that’s the case, then what are you going to prepare for the Fourth of July celebration?”
    A wide grin revealed the perfection of his straight white teeth. “My lip-smacking baby back ribs.”
    His fork dipped again, this time in the creamy cole slaw, but Caryn was too astounded by Logan’s claim that he could cook to protest. “Where did you learn to cook?”
    “Miss Nettie. She’s my family’s cook. She came to work for my parents several years after they’d adopted me. And when I was old enough to differentiate that I looked nothing like the man and woman whom I called Mama and Daddy, I instinctively gravitated to Miss Nettie.”
    “I take it Miss Nettie is African-American?” He nodded, smiling. Wrinkling her delicate nose, she gave him an expectant look. “Will you allow me to sample a few of your lip-smacking ribs before you take them to the celebration?”
    “Of course,” he replied quickly. “But only if you’d let me sample your contribution.”
    “I haven’t decided what I want to make.”
    “You have only a day to make a decision.”
    Caryn picked up a fry with her fingers. “I’ll probably bake several loaves of homemade bread, but I can’t decide whether I want to make an antipasto platter or a seafood salad.”
    Logan took the wedge of sweet potato from her limp grasp and popped it into his mouth. “It probably would be easier to get the ingredients for the seafood salad than the antipasto.”
    “You’re right.” She slapped at his hand when he reached for another potato. “Logan, stop. You’re eating all of my food.”
    “I promise I’ll let you have some of mine when it comes.”
    And he kept his promise, spooning a portion of everything on his plate onto hers. They ate in silence, theirgazes meeting across the small space of the table and surreptitiously measuring the other’s reaction.
    Logan reluctantly admitted that he was more than physically attracted to Caryn Edwards, and he now felt comfortable with her despite their initial acerbic encounter. She was beautiful, feminine, and appeared quite at ease with her femininity. And because she was, it was expected that men would be attracted to her. He had not been exempt.
    “Where are you going after you leave here?” he questioned Caryn as she touched the corners of her mouth with a paper napkin.
    “I’m going back to the house to pick up my car.”
    “You need a ride somewhere?”
    She nodded. “I want to go to a larger supermarket.” Marble Island’s minimarket did not stock the items she needed to prepare a dish for the Fourth of July celebration.
    I’ll drive you. There are a few things I also have to pick up.”
    “You don’t mind?”
    “Not at all.” And he didn’t mind. Driving Caryn around would allow him more time with her. They’d shared breakfast and now lunch. And the more time he spent with his housemate, the more he wanted to spend with her. He didn’t think he would’ve openly