Presque Vu

Chapter 24

Jared wanted pancakes for breakfast. He had woken up bouncing with energy, pulling the sheets off of Raina while she grumbled and rolled into her pillow. He promised to make her breakfast but only if she got up and got moving. Seeing as how he made it clear that her only other option was a spanking, and she wasn't awake enough to start down that road, she made her way to the bathroom.

She went through her normal morning routine, more and more things from her overnight bag making their way onto Jared's bathroom counter. As she placed her toothbrush into the holder, she thought about how all this had started, both of them desperately attracted to each other but not wanting to give an inch. How far they had come in what was really just a few weeks. She wondered how differently their relationship might have developed without the added pressure of her relationship with Shannon or her sudden illness. Something told her it would have taken her much longer to get to this point with Jared, willing to let him lead her, curious as to where he might take them. Surrendering control had been something she had never in her life been comfortable with. It puzzled her that she had such a deep need to do it now, but she couldn't deny it was enormously satisfying.

Once she was dressed she made the bed and made sure things were straightened up in the bedroom before joining Jared in the kitchen. He had already laid out a bowl of fruit and some almond milk and the kitchen was filled with the aroma of pancake he had going in the skillet now. She was surprised at how good it smelled.

"Wow, I guess you can cook," she said, impressed. Jared just chuckled.

"I can make pancakes, grilled cheese, simple things," he told her, giving the pancake currently in the skillet an awkward flip.

"That's more than I can do. I basically just reheat things," Raina confessed.

"Well all that processed food has been making you sick," Jared pointed out. "You need to learn to cook at least a little bit. You could learn to operate a rice cooker, and fish is easy to grill. Cut up some fresh vegetables and you have a meal."

Raina laughed. "My grandmother spent years trying to teach me. I basically grew up in her kitchen and she was an amazing cook. I still set off the smoke alarm trying to boil water."

"Tell me about her."

That wasn't the response Raina was expecting. "What?"

"Your grandmother," Jared said, grabbing a plate for the nearly ready pancake. "You don't talk much about your family but I get the impression you had a pretty good childhood. So tell me about your grandmother."

Raina looked at Jared, smudges of pancake batter on his apron, waiting expectantly for her to begin talking. She realized he wasn't going to cut her any slack, he expected her to continue opening up to him. She supposed her grandparents were as good a place as any. "I did. Have a pretty good childhood I mean. My mother and I lived with her parents on their farm in South Carolina. It was really nice actually."

"What about your father?" Jared asked carefully.

Raina shook her head. "He died before I was born. I never knew him. My mother didn't get along with his family and they never made any effort to get to know me so I really don't know much about that side of my family."

Jared nodded knowingly, placing one finished pancake on the plate before starting a new one. "My situation was a little different but I get not knowing your father." He put a mug full of tea in front of Raina. "You know, we lived with my grandparents for a while too when I was a kid. In Texas."

That brought a smile to Raina's face, thinking of young Jared. "I actually really liked growing up like that, it was nice having my grandparents so close. And like I said, I practically lived in my Abuela's kitchen, but I wasn't really there watching her, even though she tried hard to get me interested. I was with my Tito, learning to play chess."