A Pinch of Kitchen Magic by Sandra Sookoo Page A

bidding.”
    Aidan nodded, her throat
too dry to utter words. If I force my
magic to make him do my bidding, would he kiss me? That thought, too, was shoved to the very back
recesses of her mind. Don’t be silly,
Aidan.
    When he released her hand, she nearly
cried out—she felt the loss of his warmth that deeply. “Try
again.”
    “ Okay.” She focused her
eyes on the chef’s knife, she imagined herself filling the cool
metal of the blade as she rested herself in the weighted balance of
the handle. Swishing her wrist, a smile curled her lips when the
knife levitated a few inches over the cutting board, wobbled for a
brief second or two, and then inexorably glanced off the side of
the first tomato. The carving piece landed with a clatter on the
cutting board. “Crap.”
    “ It will come. You just
need to practice.” At the snap of his fingers, a bushel basket full
of ripe, juicy tomatoes appeared on her cutting board at the snap
of his fingers. “Again.”
    “ That’s not fair!” A knot
of dread grew in her stomach. It may have well been a thousand
tomatoes since she couldn’t slice even one.
    “Nothing in life is. When you have
mastered the art of cutting the tomatoes in half, call
me.”
     
    *****
     
    Dedication
     
    To all my loyal readers who
not only buy my books but also tell others about them, share my
links on social media and generally encourage me to keep on writing
even when things are tough. I couldn’t do what I do without you.
Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.
     
    *****
     
     
     

Chapter One
     
    It Started with a
Spark
     
    “ Who the hell are you?”
Aidan demanded and retreated behind the kitchen island putting it
between her and a strange man. Just two minutes before he’d
materialized out of thin air, she’d managed to set a casserole on
fire, scorched a potholder, and splattered the inside of the
microwave with the remains of a cheese soufflé.
    The man before her was gorgeous: short
chestnut hair curled just to his collar, eyes the color of a
turbulent storm-tossed sea, and not to mention he possessed a body
every actor in Hollywood wants. He exuded so many pheromones, Aidan
fully expected women from two states away to beat down her door any
minute.
    A dark glossy brow cocked with
inquiry. “I’m your condemnation or your redemption. Either way,
your life is about to change.”
    She clutched a dishrag to her chest,
struggling to calm her frantic heartbeat. “What do you want with
me?”
    “ My name is Matteus.” The
corners of his mouth tilted up in a slow smile. “I desire nothing
more than to teach you how to channel your magical energy. If you
refuse my instruction, you will eventually destroy yourself and
those around you. The choice is yours.”
    Aidan considered her options. She
glanced from the charred rag in her hands to the man on the other
side of the butcher block island. A sigh signaled her imminent
surrender of the situation. He was right: she had a choice and it
didn’t involve tangling with some sort of magical hottie. She might
not know a lot of stuff about that realm but she knew enough to
suspect this man was way more powerful than she could handle. “Are
you from the agency?” She tossed the rag in the sink, determined to
put her attraction to the stranger from her mind. “I called them
two hours ago.” Turning on the cold-water tap, she held her right
hand under the flow, hoping to calm the angry red burn.
    “ If you’re referring to
the Institute for Magical Instruction, then yes. I’m here to assess
your skill level.”
    “ Good, because I have to
tell you, I almost burned the kitchen down—again. I have no idea
how.” He was directly behind her, so close his breath whispered
over her cheek, so close she came perilously close to losing her
train of thought. She frowned when he reached around her to turn
off the faucet. “I don’t understand this power, this electricity,
that’s inside me.”
    “ Obviously.”
    She ignored his