Hazel was incredibly moved by that statement.
She gripped the edges of the bowl, her face the picture of absolute sincerity. "Julian, you are such a good guy!"
Julian was speechless.
A good guy.
The amusement in his eyes faltered for a fraction of a second. "Just a good guy?"
Hazel was too busy inhaling her pasta to pick up on the subtle implication.
She thought about it seriously for a second, then added, "With amazing cooking skills!"
Julian paused.
A moment later, he let out a helpless, quiet laugh.
Whatever.
There was no rush.
This little foodie needed to be won over slowly.
He smiled. "Then eat up, Miss Hazel."
Completely oblivious to his shift in mood, Hazel buried her face back in the bowl.
In no time at all, she had devoured every single noodle and drained every drop of broth.
She leaned back in her chair with a satisfied sigh, patting her stomach. She was practically radiating happiness. "I am alive again. Julian, this pasta literally saved my life."
Julian pulled a napkin from the dispenser and handed it to her. "Eat slower next time. I told you, no one is competing with you."
Hazel took the napkin and grinned. "I can't help it, it was too good!"
"Plus, it's a force of habit. Back when Demon—cough, I mean, Serena and I were out in the wild, we had to be fast to get anything to eat. If you ate slow, you starved."
Julian's gaze shifted, his voice turning impossibly warm. "From now on, in the Lancaster home, you don't have to fight for your food. Whatever you want to eat, you'll have."
Hazel froze.
She looked up at him.
The man sat bathed in the warm, golden light. His features were refined, his voice a soothing cadence.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, those words made her heart skip a beat.
She blinked rapidly, quickly masking her reaction with her usual carefree grin. "Well then, I won't hold back from now on!"
Julian smiled. "You were never supposed to."
Hazel remained completely oblivious to the sheer romantic tension radiating from that sentence.
All she could think was that Julian was truly the greatest guy on earth.

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