“I just washed them."

“When?"™

“When I washed the cherries." Erica wondered why the fuss.

"Go wash them again!" he ordered.

‘Why is he so obsessed with cleanliness and washing hands?' She glanced at the seafood noodles, hesitated and argued, “Do I really have to? I am not going to eat with my hands anyway..." She was not a cleanliness freak.

Matthew insisted, “Yes! Wash them!"

She sighed in exasperation, and took a whiff of the noodles before reluctantly going to wash her hands.

A minute later, Erica sat down at the table again and started to eat the noodles with chopsticks.

“This sausage tastes really good, but why is it white?" she asked.

Matthew put the pot he had used to cook the noodles under the tap and explained, “It's called a weisswurst, made from minced pork and veal, flavored with parsley, lemon and other natural ingredients." A weisswurst was a traditional Bavarian sausage which literally translated to white sausage because of its white-colored skin.

“Did you use the oven to roast it again?"

"Yes, I did," he said, putting away the dishes he had just washed.

Erica ate with satisfaction, gulping down her food without pausing to breathe.

"I didn't expect you to be such a good cook!"

Her words of praise made him smile, but as she continued to eat another mouthful, she said something that made him want to give her a good beating!

“You know what they say, the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach. Did Paige fall in love with your cooking before she fell in love with you?" ‘Wow! This tastes amazing!' She was completely enamored by his cooking, even though totally oblivious of his mood.

He watched her put a shrimp into her mouth and chew it happily.

Matthew walked over to the table and sat across her.

“If I want a woman, all I need to do is call her. I don't have to cook for anyone."

“Wow! You've got a lot of confidence! But, I guess you're right. You're handsome and rich. You're in good shape and great at cooking. You're the whole package! I'm starting to feel a little reluctant to let you go back to another woman." Although, Matthew had a bad temper, he was everything a woman could ask for in a man!

Matthew said calmly, "That's not something you can control."

“You are right about that too!"

Erica took another mouthful and suddenly something important popped into her mind. She asked the man sitting opposite to her, “Don't you want some?"

“Thanks, but no.“

She held the bowl to his face and brought some noodles to his mouth.