“Justin, pass me that tomato over there, would you?” Selena muttered absently, hustling about the small kitchen area of the apartment she and her boyfriend shared.
“Sure, baby,” Justin replied, grabbing the tomato on the table and throwing it to her.
Selena whirled around and caught it quickly. Justin nodded to her, “Nice catch, Sel.”
“Don’t throw these things like that unless you want a mushy, red glob on the wall.”
Justin smirked. Selena was always very concentrated when she was cooking. When she had first moved in with him, the first thing he noticed was that Selena hadn’t been the best cook in the world…Justin would sometimes have to choke down some of the food she’d made. But with a little help from Pattie, some nice cookbooks she’d borrowed from her mom, and a hell of a lot of practice, Selena’s cooking skills improved greatly. As a matter of fact, Selena had become a damn good cook over the past couple of months. She could take the little amount of food they had and turn it into a great meal.
He always liked to help her out in the kitchen when he wasn’t working or in the studio. It was fun for Justin just to know he was helping her out, and that he got to spend quality time with her to make up for the hours he’d spend away from her.
He watched her make the pasta sauce, carefully sprinkling a little of this and a little of that in the pan. Justin wasn’t really paying attention to the ingredients she was adding—he was paying a lot more attention to the way Selena’s eyebrows furrowed just slightly, how her tongue was sticking out of her mouth just a bit in concentration…her cheeks flushed because of the heat of the stove.
He stalked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. Selena jumped.
“God, Justin, you scared me!” she cried.
He leaned down to brush his lips against her neck. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“S’okay…” Selena replied, picking up a spoon to stir the pasta sauce.
But Justin wasn’t finished yet. Kissing her temple ever so gently, he said, “I love you.”
Justin detected a flash of a smile on Selena’s lips before it faded away to a pout. “I have to finish making dinner, Justin.”
“So? What’s your point? You finish, I give kisses.”
“My point is that you’ll distract me and I’ll never—” Kiss. “Justin!”
He’d found his way back down to her neck. “Mmm?”
Selena stomped her foot firmly. “Stop.”
“Why?”
“Because I have to finish dinner. Didn’t we already go through this?”
“Yes.”
Selena crossed her arms and let out a sigh. “I’m apparently not making myself clear.”
“I love it when you act strict.”
“Justiiin!”
“Whaaaat?”
Selena rolled her eyes. “You’re supposed to be helping me.”
“I am.”
“If you were, you’d be getting me the sugar in the top cupboard.”
“Aww, that ain’t fair, you didn’t ask me for it!” Justin rested his chin on her shoulder. “How was I supposed to know?” He paused. “Wait…why do you put sugar in the sauce?”
Selena laughed, turning around to face him. “To make it sweet, silly. Everyone knows that.”
Justin nodded. “I see. Sweet.” He tapped her nose with his finger lightly. “Just like you.”
She smiled a bigger smile than before, flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately.
When they broke away, Selena whispered in his ear, “I think your idea of ‘helping’ is a little bit different than mine.”
Justin smiled, kissing her neck. “That makes two of us, Miss Gomez.”
Selena had been right.
Dinner was never finished.
