Cooking Him Dinner

Pairing: Calleigh/Stetler
Rating: PG
Word Count: 691
Sequel to Mending Fences
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Calleigh was nervous. Not only was it was the first time he would be at her apartment, but she was also cooking a special dinner for him. They had several dates, mostly taking each other to their favourite restaurants, and the occasional walks on the beach. It was after a particular walk left them both covered in sand that she decided to invite him over for dinner. In turn he requested a southern style meal. She'd pulled out her recipe box but nothing sounded appealing to her so he hit the cooking 101 website, and then the food network website until she found just what she was looking for <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/black-eyed-pea-risotto-with-bacon-and-southern-greens-recipe/index.html"> Black-Eye Pea Risotto with Bacon and Southern Greens</a>. She thought about having cornbread but decided against it, thinking she could make that for him later. A stop at her favourite Whole Foods grocery on the way home from work last night to pick up the fresh vegetables and she was prepared.

She'd soaked and cooked the black eyed peas, sliced the swiss chard and collard greens, diced the onions and celery, sliced the jalapeno and serrano peppers, minced the garlic and cut the bacon into slices. With everything prepared and sorted into small dishes. Now all she needed was for him to arrive and hopefully soon before she continued to chop things in her nervousness and ended up with minced ingredients. Calleigh had debated whether to have it all done and waiting but half the fun of making dinner with for someone was having them there and maybe even participating in the process.

A knock had her taking a deep breath to calm her nerves before going to answer it. She wasn’t, however, prepared for what she saw when she opened the door. There he stood, out of his customary suit and tie in a pair of fitted faded jeans and a black silk shirt left untucked.

"Wow..." Calleigh said opening the door further to allow him to come in.

"I didn’t know what you were making so I brought both red and white," he said holding up a carrier with two bottles of wine.

"Why not drink both," she said with a saucy smile, leading him to the kitchen. "I thought you could keep me company while I cook," she added.

"Oh fun..." he said, trying to be unimpressed with the idea but his smile said otherwise.

Calleigh opened the bottle of red and poured two glasses for them. He sat on a stool within arms reach of her and her individual dishes, handing them to her when she needed him. They laughed and joked while she stirred and continued to dump dishes of ingredients into the pan.

"Want some help?"

"Sure, you can stir this for me," Calleigh answered holding up the wooden spoon. She expected him to come around and take the spoon from her. She didn't expect his arms to go around her or for him to pull her back against his chest. "Hey..." she tried to protest.

"This isn't what you had in mind?"

"Not quite but I'm not complaining," she told him as she leaned into his embrace. She took his hand and together they held the spoon and continued to stir the rice mixture. Of course her attention wasn't necessarily on the dinner she was cooking, not with him nuzzling her neck with his lips and his other hand splayed on her abdomen.

"Good."

When the risotto was finished Calleigh set it off the burner and turned in his embrace. "Should we eat or put dinner off for a while?" she asked standing on her tip toes to kiss him.

"I wouldn't want to waste all the effort you've put into dinner."

"Racking up the brownie points aren't you?" She said with a laugh then moaned as he tightened his hold on her and claimed her mouth for a long deep kiss.

"Do I need to?" he asked when they parted. Pointing to the risotto, he asked, "dinner?"

"Yeah..." she said turning to work on the last bit of their dinner before turning back to him. No Rick, you don't need brownie points..."