reading a VERY cute and hot contemporary by TJ Alexander called Chef's Choice, and it's always sooo satisfying when an author does just One Inspired Thing that bumps the book to another level...
and in this case, our American heroine didn't tell the French hero she's been fake dating (a rare moment in which fake dating works for me, and there's an ANCESTRAL COOKING CHALLENGE afoot, it's all quite fun) that she's been strengthening her French for the sake of the cooking challenge, and during their second "it's not serious, it's a one I mean two time thing" hookup he said some Very Intimate Things to her in French which he clearly wouldn't have said during a No Strings Hookup if he'd known that she could understand his ass lmao
and right before the HIGH STAKES COOKING CHALLENGE he walks in on her telling an assistant the ingredients she needs in pretty strong, near-fluent French and he's like "EXCUSEMFUCKINGOI YOU UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING I SAID LAST NIGHT???"
while this poor assistant, who just got here, who does not understand the dynamics but knows that he has just wandered into a very complicated conversation about the fucking that two people he does not know at all did, SHAKES
