Tender is the Nerd Read Online Free Page A

rolled in a slow boil on a back burner as she added the veggies to the garlic and onion. She cooked all the time but she hadn’t done it for someone else in a while.
    Her girlfriends usually came over for a meal every few weeks, but everyone had been crazy busy recently and two months had flown by. The rest of her family lived in LA and she only got together with them once or twice a year. She hadn’t had a guy to cook for since her last boyfriend had taken a job in Thailand and they’d decided a long-distance relationship wouldn’t work for them.
    Preparing a meal for people she cared about was part of her DNA and she cared about Rylan. Poor man had a lot of pressure on him. He’d been trying to deal with that alone but she didn’t intend to let him do it anymore.
    But now she had a small dilemma. The veggies were fork-tender and the pasta was done. She’d warmed a loaf of bread in the oven and uncovered the soft butter she kept in a ceramic dish on the counter.
    If she served the meal now it would be perfect. If she delayed, the veggies and pasta would become mushy and the bread would cool. On the other hand, Rylan seemed totally engrossed in his work and apparently the app creation was going well for the first time in days, maybe weeks.
    Yet she’d planned to convince him vegetables could be wonderful by fixing them so they’d show off to best advantage. She decided to dish up the meal and gently try to get his attention. If he didn’t respond, she’d eat her dinner and make another one for him later on. She’d rather waste food than serve him a substandard veggie dish.
    After arranging everything in two wide-lipped pasta bowls, she pulled her phone from her purse and took a picture because they were just that pretty. She sliced the bread and wrapped it in a checkered cloth before laying it in a basket. Then she took silverware and cloth napkins from a drawer, loaded a tray and carried everything into her small dining room.
    Although she was still renting, her apartment was twice as big as the one she’d had in college. The two bedrooms were small, but having a dining room and a roomy kitchen with a gas stove had trumped the size of the bedrooms.
    Last of all she dimmed the lights and lit the assortment of candles grouped in the center of the table. Good food was important but so was a gracious atmosphere. For one brief moment she wondered if the setting looked too romantic, but she brushed the concern aside. This was about wooing Rylan to a better relationship with fresh produce, and considering his background she’d need plenty of ammunition.
    Walking back into the kitchen, she picked up the wine bottle and her nearly empty glass. She debated announcing to him that dinner was ready, but then she decided to quietly speak his name, instead.
    For the first time since he’d turned on his laptop, he looked at her. She was surprised by the sharp focus of his gaze. She’d expected him to be disoriented and maybe a little muddled after his intense concentration on the app.
    Instead he seemed extremely alert. “What?”
    “Dinner’s ready. But if you need to keep working I’ll underst –”
    “Nope.” He closed the laptop with a decisive click. “After sucking up the smell of that food, I’m starving.”
    “And here I thought you were lost to the world.”
    “Not at all.” He stood and picked up his wine glass. “I didn’t have my music, but that was okay because instead I had the smell of food cooking and the sounds of you moving around the kitchen. Considering the app, that was better background noise.”
    “Glad to hear it.” She led the way into the dining room. “Did you make any progress? You looked as if you might be onto something.”
    “I made more progress sitting at your kitchen table than I’ve made in . . .” He stopped in the doorway to the dining room and drew in a sharp breath. “Wow, Miranda.” He stared at the candlelit table. “You went to a lot of trouble.”
    “I don’t