Shit. Chris could make anything sound sexy. Seth felt his cheeks burn as he looked into the box. Ooh, a chocolate-frosted crème-filled donut—his favorite. “I love these kind. Thanks, Chris.”
“A man after my own heart,” Chris whispered as he pulled out another crème-filled one and took a bite,his gaze never moving from Seth’s face.
Karlee grabbed another donut. “I’ll take the box and see if Cody wants one.”
Chris nodded as his eyes scanned the counter. “Looks like something’s not working.”
“A new ice cream maker,” Seth explained. “Parts are cheap and won’t fit. Definitely not something we want carried in the store.”
Chris pushed some of the pieces out of the way and rested his elbows on the counter, leaning forward only inches from Seth.
Seth’s heart raced, and he struggled to find something to say. He glanced at Chris’s jeans. “Cranberry.”
Chris raised an eyebrow.
“Your jeans. They’re the color of cranberry sauce. The kind you get out of a can.”
Chris grinned. “You’re right.” He chuckled. “When I got them, I thought they were a little darker, but I still like them.” He paused as his eyes widened and he gaped. “What do you mean ‘out of a can’?”
Seth shrugged. “You know, the kind that jiggles on a plate at Thanksgiving? The kind that stays in the shape of a can.”
Chris visibly paled. “Please tell me you’ve had real cranberry sauce?”
Seth shook his head.
“Oh, Eggplant,” he drawled in mock pity, “please tell me you don’t live off of canned food?”
Seth’s cheeks burned hot as he took another bite of his donut and tried to look away.
Chris cupped his cheek. “I have much to teach you, then, Young Seth,” he whispered and smiled.
Seth smiled back and decided to be honest. “You can try, but Karlee has given up on me.” He shrugged. “She doesn’t ever want me around the stove again. We had an incident at her place a few years back whenI was trying to help. Think soup dripping from walls, vegetables on the floor…it was…bad.” He omitted the part where the smoke detector went off and the fire department showed up because they got a call from a neighbor. He’d leave that for another day.
Chris blanched and straightened. “Well, now it’s going to be my mission to teach you.” He turned to Karlee as she rejoined them. “I want Seth to be my assistant when we start the classes.”
Karlee nearly choked on her donut as she froze in place. “Wh-what?”
Seth shot Chris a half-smile and shook his head. “Never gonna happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want the place to burn down,” Karlee answered. “No. No way. Never. Nope.”
Chris’s gaze bounced between them and he smiled. “I don’t give up that easily. I can teach him.”
Karlee giggled and took another bite, while Seth shook his head in exasperation. It looked like Chris would learn the hard way that Seth should never be allowed in the kitchen.
* * * *
Later that day, Joey showed up with his guys and got right to work breaking through the wall to the new space. Seth was shocked by how fast they were able to create the doorway and get the mess cleaned up.
Chris spent most of the afternoon next door, helping to tear out the counter. After a lot of discussion,he and Karlee had decided to install something completely different and in another area. The old counter took up too much space and wasn’t conducive to what they had planned anyway.
Seth found quite a few excuses to visit the new place. Thank goodness it was a slower day. Something pulled him to Chris, and when he saw the man in his T-shirt, covered in a light sheen of sweat, he had to keep his tongue from rolling out to the floor. Fuck, the man was sexy. Seth grew harder every time he sawhim and he was losing his mind.
When Joey and his guys left for the day, Seth stepped through the new doorway and glanced around, but didn’t see Chris. Had he left without saying goodbye? Maybe Seth had been busy with a customer and hadn’t seen him leave. Disappointed, he turned to head back to the shop.
“Fuck!” The word bounced around the empty space, sounding louder than it probably was.
Seth stopped. “Chris?”
“In here,” he hollered from the small room in the back.
Seth made his way past the now-destroyed counter and peeked into the room. “You okay?”
Chris stood cradling his left hand in his right palm. “Fucking stove.”
Seth rushed over and took Chris’s hand in his. “What happened?” he asked as he searched for signs of injury.