Way to a Heart

Kimberly grumbled. Short of buying a house, there was no way she was going to find an apartment in a decent price range with a decent kitchen. What kind of kitchen only has counterspace for a dish drainer? Chicago apartment kitchens.

She was stressed, to say the least. She needed to find an apartment and soon. The only way she was going to be able to cook for the boys was if she commandeered one of their apartments for the time being, and she hated to intrude. She sighed and got out her phone to send a mass text.

Kimberly:Hey guys. I need to borrow one of your kitchens to work on dinner for y’all. Any takers?

Brandon Saad: I have the worlds tiniest kitchen.

Andrew Shaw: And the world’s dirtiest house.

BS: I didn’t see you offering.

AS: my kitchen is non existent right now. renovations suck.P.s fuck you Manchild

Patrick Kane: My kitchen needs to be broken in. I have no pots or utensils. We could shop today for them, if we need to.

KB: Patrick Kane Saves the day! I’ll meet you at your house to assess. Text me the deets?

BS: haha assess looks like asses

Jonathan Toews :and this is why we call you manchild.

BS: Fuck you Tazer.

Kimberly laughed at the banter flying across her phone. God she missed having friends.

Patrick Kane: Trump Tower, obviously. I’ll be here. Just tell them the passcode: 1988pk

Kimberly: You should really make a harder passcode. Be there in a few. :)

Kimberly managed to make her way up to Patrick’s Apartment and knocked on the door. She heard footsteps thundering through his apartment and the door opened.
He was shirtless, and his hair was wet and dripping onto his collar bone and Kimberly had to remember how to breathe again.

Patrick wasn’t faring much better. She was no longer wearing the professional chef’s coat that hung loosely off of her skin. Her shirt was a little tighter, black, v necked and long sleeved. She wore a red plaid scarf around her neck and a loose fitting black beanie over long brown wavy hair. Her jeans were skinny, tucked into black combat boots with …”Are those bats on your shoes?”

He stared at them trying to figure out what exactly she was wearing.

“Yeah, a little leftover from my “I’m so hardcore” days. I couldn’t bear to part with them.” She spoke, trying not to choke on her surprise. “Also, hello to you too.”

Pat laughed and stepped back so that his wickedly hot body was no longer filling the door frame. “Hey, come in. I’ll be right back, let me get changed.”

She walked in and he shut the door behind her, locking it and proceeding to his bedroom. “Make yourself comfortable!” He yelled down the hallway.

Kimberly plunked her bag into a cozy armchair and looked around at the pictures hung on the wall. Friends and family filled some of them, other ones were of his hockey career. One in particular of him on the ice with a superman cape. She smiled, he was adorable. Moving on, she finally saw the view from his condo, stunning her into being still. There was a view of the chicago river and some kind of green space next to it, maybe a park? Either way it was beautiful and caught her attention.

Patrick reentered the room and found her staring out of the window. He took a second to take her in. She was petite and curvy with an hourglass shape. Kane was normally a leg man, but damn if her ass wasn’t cute in those skinnies she was wearing. Her chest was better though, if he was honest. And he was nothing but honest.

He quietly walked behind her, noticing the casual way she stood, her arms crossed, and her hips jutted out to the side.

Curves. For. Days.

“You’re looking at the entire reason I bought this place.” He said, walking up beside her to look at the view. She jumped about a mile high before laughing.

“So much for the eyes in the back of your head.” Patrick said laughing with her.

“They were closed.” She spoke, looking at him. He’d combed his curly blonde hair back away from his face and thrown on a denim blue henley that did amazing things for his eyes, and even better things for the outline of his shoulders.

<i/>Girl. Stop that mess! He’s your boss!Chill out. Besides its not like he would date you anyway. You’re fat. He’s athletic. You have linebacker shoulders. He probably wants a waif. </i>

Her brow furrowed and she shook her head to clear her mind of thoughts she shouldnt be dwelling on.

“Let’s get to looking at that Kitchen.” She spoke moving away from the window.

Kane had watched the emotions travel across her face and wondered what she was thinking but let it slide. They barely knew each other. This was supposed to be professional. He watched as Kimberly grabbed a pen and a notebook from her bag and proceeded to find everything wrong with his kitchen. He was stuck playing secretary as she listed all of the things they would need to fully stock his kitchen.

“This is going to cost a fortune.” Patrick said, feeling a little faint at the two page list.

“Don’t worry. We’re getting you the basics. I’ll pay for the rest.” She smiled, walking over to clap him on the shoulder.

And so they went to Sur la Table, which was conveniently down the street from his place, and stocked his kitchen. He enjoyed watching her geek out over all of the cooks tools, claiming that some kind of french dutch oven was “the absolute best”, and when she gushed over a braising pan, he absolutely lost it.

“Are you seriously nerding out over a pan?” He asked laughing at her.

“Um. duh.” She said not even thinking about it. “Do you know how many yummy things I could make in this? Wait, don’t answer that, if you did. I wouldn’t be here helping you stock a kitchen.”

She spoke almost absentmindedly as she continued into a different section of the store. “The answer of course, is all of the yummy things can be made in this pan. All of them. And OH! It’s apple season! I could do an apple cider braised beef with carrots and sweet potatoes and some kind of greens. Oh my god. That’s what we’re doing for supper tonight.” She spoke excitedly, the words flying out of her mouth, her amber eyes lighting up to gold tones the more she talked. “Of course we’ll need some whole grains to go with it. Carbing up for that game tomorrow. Hmmm… how does wild rice sound?”

Patrick’s stomach rumbled and she didn't miss a beat and with a smile she spoke. “I’ll take that as a yes. OH! lookit! It’s on sale!”

She grabbed a turquoise braising pan and settled it in her hip, flipping the top over to rest upside down in the pan. She walked further along and placed a couple of silicone spatulas and spoonulas on the inside of it. Ready to find a few other gadgets she needed.

Patrick could only stare at her as she efficiently moved from section to section piling things in his arms that they needed. Which, granted turned out to be not too much, and definitely less expensive than he had originally thought. Not that he didn’t have the money, but it was nice not to have to spend it all in one store. When they got to the counter, Kimberly removed a few of the things from his hands and set them at the register.

“Those are yours to buy. These are mine.” She said, looking at all of the items. She glanced back at his hands and took a few things out and set them in her pile. “As a thank you for being patient and for letting me use your kitchen.”

Patrick loved that she didn’t try to spend his money, and before she could actually register what he was doing, he stepped in line in front of her. “All of this. On this card.” He told the lady behind the register.

“But Patrick!” Kimberly started to move in front of him. “That braiser alone costs like 300 dollars.”

“As a thank you for cooking for me and showing me what I need in my kitchen.” He said stepping solidly in front of her as the cashier rang up the items. “And also with a request to teach me how to cook a little.”

She huffed, looking down at her shoes. She hated when other people bought her things. “Fine. In lieu of payment for cooking lessons then.”

“Awesome” Patrick said “I’ll be the next Wolfgang Puck.”

Before she could think about it, she stood on her very tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

Patrick’s skin tingled under her lips, like the fizzy feeling you get after you pour a soda in a cup and drink it before the foam has time to settle. It was a foreign feeling to him and he wanted more.

All in due time. First he needed to get to know her a little better.