She arrives at the bakery at 8:25 on the dot.
It's a red brick building anchoring the corner of a historic merchant street set in the middle of one of the nicer residential neighborhoods. Next door on one side is a dusty little bookshop that Katniss wouldn't mind exploring on another day. Along both front walls of the bakery are large, deep windows displaying beautifully decorated layered cakes, as well as tarts and pastries of every imaginable kind.
Katniss pulls open the large, heavy wooden door and is immediately struck by the delicious, heady scent of cinnamon and baking bread. She takes in the black and white tile floor, the old-fashioned display cases under the marble countertop and the large, hand painted sign reading, "Welcome to Mellark's."
There's no one behind the counter at the moment, but there is a bell available to ring for service. She's perusing the wooden racks filled with various loaves of bread—white, honey whole wheat, cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel—when Peeta clears his throat behind her.
She turns, giving him a small smile. "So many choices," she remarks, referring to the vast display of freshly baked bread.
"Would you like to try a slice of something?" Peeta asks sincerely.
Katniss gives him a smile in return. "No, thank you. Better not before we run," she explains.
"Ok, well…ready to head out then?" he asks.
…
They run about two miles and then head back toward the bakery to make it an even four. The area around the bakery is mostly quiet, tree lined streets, providing a nice canopy of filtered sunlight that seems somehow magical. It's early enough in the day that the two do not break much of a sweat, especially on the well-shaded route.
Katniss has just drained the last of her water bottle and finished her cool down stretches when she inadvertently gives Peeta the opening he needs to invite her to stick around for a while. "Well, now I'm starving," she says.
Peeta's face lights up in a grin. "Come on inside, I'll get us a snack," he says, opening the bakery door.
"Oh, I didn't mean…" Katniss is mortified to have suggested that he should give her free bakery treats. She would have to go and open her big mouth and say something about being hungry when they're standing right in front of his bakery.
"No, really," says Peeta, and there is such sincerity in his voice that she can hardly doubt him. "I was hoping you'd help me eat a few extra cheese buns. I made too many this morning."
He has her at the mention of cheese buns, even if he doesn't realize it just yet.
"Well, okay," she relents.
….
He leads her through the front of the bakery, past the counter where he gives a brief introduction to two members of the staff, and into the kitchen. There she finds another blond, blue-eyed man wearing a white chef's coat, maneuvering large baking trays out of an industrial sized oven.
"Hey baby brother," the man greets over his shoulder. "Thanks for all the extra prep work this morning." He turns and sets the large tray on one of the huge wire racks and then grins at the two standing in the doorway in their running gear. "Oh, hey! Who's your friend?" he says in an amicable tone.
"Rye, this is Katniss. Katniss, this is my brother, Rye," says Peeta.
"It's nice to finally meet you Katniss," Rye says, extending his hand in greeting. Katniss briefly frowns, wondering what he means by "finally" but she schools her features back to neutral in time to shake his hand.
"You too," she says quietly.
"We're just gonna grab a snack in the back," Peeta explains to Rye. Then he takes Katniss' hand and sort of pulls her along through a door in the back of the kitchen. Katniss is too busy wondering about Rye's comment to register that Peeta is holding her hand until he has already let go. But once he does let go, she immediately misses his touch.
"Two kitchens?" she asks, looking around at this back room, which is essentially another kitchen, with large stainless steel work tops and several more industrial size ovens. There are also boxes stacked several rows high against the back wall and a small table with a few chairs scattered around near a door that appears to lead out to the back of the building.
"Uh, yeah, this was the original kitchen, actually. But back in the 80s business expanded and my Dad ended up adding the extra ovens in what used to be the storage room," Peeta explains.
Katniss nods in understanding. Peeta disappears into one of the walk in refrigerators and comes back in a second carrying a tray filled with uncooked rolls of some type. He pops them into one of the preheated ovens and turns to her. "Have a seat," he says with a smile, gesturing to the table she noticed earlier.
"Are you, um, too hot for hot chocolate?" he asks, bending down to retrieve a small pan from one of the cabinets. Katniss tries not to stare at his sculpted body, on perfect display in his current position, but she really can't help it. She's never had this problem before—this inability to stop staring at a guy. What is it about Peeta that has her so…distracted?
"Katniss?" Peeta inquires, when she doesn't answer his previous question. He turns and catches her staring and she flushes all over when she sees the small upturn of his lips that reveals he noticed.
"Oh, uh, sure. Not too hot. I mean, it's hot…outside…and it's warm in here. But I'm not hot. I mean…" she struggles to form a coherent sentence under his knowing gaze.
"We'll let it cool down quite a bit," Peeta explains. "But it's just really good for dipping the cheese buns. They'll be ready in just a few minutes. They are better straight out of the oven."
Katniss nods mutely, still embarrassed by the fact that he caught her obviously staring.
Peeta gives an easy laugh and begins pulling out milk and cocoa to prepare the hot chocolate on the stovetop. He's making homemade hot chocolate, Katniss marvels. What can this guy NOT do?
Peeta works effortlessly, adding a bit of heavy cream and some spices to the chocolate mixture. He has Katniss fetch two mugs from one cabinet and some plates from another, pulling her into the process of putting together the snack and helping to put her at ease. She pours the chocolate into the mugs and sets them on the table to cool while he pulls the cheese buns out of the oven, declaring them ready to eat.
They sit together at the corner of the table, their knees brushing as he demonstrates tearing off a bite of the savory cheese bun and dipping it into the rich, creamy chocolate. She's watching his every move, fully expecting him to pop the bite into his mouth, when he surprises her. "Open," he says playfully, angling the bite toward her lips.
Caught off guard, she does exactly as he says, opening her mouth and accepting the delicious treat. It literally melts on her tongue and causes her to moan in unrestrained appreciation.
He raises his eyebrows and his lips quirk up in a smile. "You like?" he asks, but it's clear that he knows the answer.
"Oh my god, this is amazing Peeta. I'll just take all of these," she says, grabbing the plate of cheese buns and dragging it toward herself in a teasing gesture.
Peeta laughs in response and playfully tugs the plate back toward himself. "It's not good to eat too much after a run," he teases back. "Better limit you to just one."
She shakes her head, unable to contain the laughter that bubbles up. "No way!" she counters, tugging back on the plate with one hand while stuffing another large bite of a cheese bun into her mouth with the other. "I'll need at least ten of these. Remember, I'm starving," she says, dragging out the last part in a teasing voice.
"Maybe we can make a deal," Peeta says, a glint in his eye. He leans forward conspiratorially, arms folded in front of him on the table and looks at her in mock seriousness. "How about you agree to share these today, and in return I'll make you cheese buns anytime you like?"
"Deal," says Katniss gleefully. "But I have to warn you: I'll need them every day."
"That can be arranged," says Peeta, giving her a sweet smile. "I'll bake for you all the time if it means I get to see you every day."
Katniss flushes all over, but she is having too good of a time with Peeta, and enjoying the chocolate and cheese buns too much, to worry over his obvious flirting. Instead she sends him another smile and stuffs even more cheese bun into her mouth.