Veggie Delight

"But you'll *love* it!"

"No."

"It's Italian, and I've *seen* the way you eat Italian food, Brat--"

"No."

"Oh come on--it's not going to *kill* you--"

"No, Mac--"

"After all our discussions about Diet for a Small Planet, and all the moral and physical justifications for vegetarianism and you're not even going to give me the benefit of a single meal?" He grumbled pleadingly. Rose looked up from the sofa in the middle of the Grotto and the statistics textbook she was highlighting as she shook her head.

"I don't *do* tofu, Handsome one. Call it an ethical failing on my part, but chowing down on compressed bean curd just doesn't do it for me." She made a face.

"*This* would--" he countered, a frown on his face as he looked in the fridge.

"Oh really?"

"I *know* it would. I've even fed this stuff to Jack without telling him, and he loved it--"

"What happened when he found out?" Rose giggled. Mac gave a helpless little shrug.

"I never actually got around to mentioning it--discretion is the better part of valor you know."

"Surrrrre it is--" she smiled. Pausing, she studied him as he poured himself a glass of pineapple juice and drank it.

"Means a lot to you, huh?"

"Kinda--I mean, I love the fact that you understand my lifestyle choice, and that you're willing to cook and share a lot of it with me--but if you were willing to at least *try* tofu, for my sake--"

"Tell ya what, MacLover--I'd be delighted to eat this casserole for dinner tomorrow night--with one tiny little stipulation," Rose relented.

Mac's pleased expression immediately changed to one of wary suspicion. He set down the empty glass and locked gazes with her.

"What's the catch? That we have Tabasco with it? That Barnum gets a bowlful too?"

"That you cook it in the nude, darling."

Mac went red, and gave her a pained look.

"Now you're just making fun of me--" he grumbled sulkily. Rose shook her head, hiding her grin.

"I'm not--but let's call it a test of your dedication to the soy bean and all its glory. Cook it completely in the buff my studly chef, and I'll eat two helpings, guaranteed. That's the offer, take it or leave it. Now let me get back to my stats, okay?"

He was torn; Rose could tell by the way he paced in the kitchen, rinsing out the cup and mumbling to himself. She went back to her homework, mentally counting the minutes. Finally he stalked over to her, and leaned over the sofa.

"Counter stipulation--"

"Oh I don't *think* so--"

"Play fair, Brat--it's not a level field if *you* get all the benefits," Mac warned with a grin. "Dinner and a show, as it were--"

She waved the pink highlighter at him threateningly, but he caught her small hand in his larger fist. They wrestled for a moment, and she gave in with a sigh.

"What's the addendum you're so eager to tack on this, Mac?"

"Simply that I'll cook it au naturale if you in turn eat it the same way."

"Mmmmm--A very intimate dinner for two?"

"I didn't say that--" he shook a finger at her playfully.

"Ohhhhhhh--you mean one at a time--" Rose pondered this thought carefully while Mac waited, eyes bright and watching. She mulled his suggestion carefully, tapping the highlighter against her lower lip.

"Wellllllll---Only if this is the *last* modification--no inviting company, or deciding we need to eat outside or something--"

"Would I do that to you?"

"Frankly, yes."

"Ah," came his reluctant admission, "You know me too well--but no Brat, this would be strictly between us, exclusive invitation only. One on one so to speak."

"Suddenly tofu sounds sexy, Mac."

"Doesn't it?" he gave her a seductive grin.

*** *** ***

Rose tried hard not to laugh, and failed. With a snort, she felt the giggles bubble out of her. Mac rubbed his face with one hand and leaned on the counter.

"Go on, get it out of your system, you unsympathetic carnivore--just remember *your* turn's coming in about an hour, Brat," he warned knowingly. Rose flounced over to the kitchen, darting behind the island and whistling.

"Oh baby! You know you've got a really nice tush, Mac--"

He shifted away from her and looked over his shoulder, determined to keep his dignity, even in the absence of clothing.

"A benefit of years of hockey--and if you're going to loiter here, I suggest you help out--get me a skillet--" he directed. Rose did so quickly. Mac made a big show of ignoring her, and looked over his recipe thoughtfully.

"Heat the oil, sauté the onions-- whoa, stop right there! No groping the cook, Rose--I'm not about to go to the Emergency room with burns in embarrassing places!"

"Don't you mean em-bare-ass-ing places?" she chortled. MacGyver shook a spatula at her, his expression more serious than before.

"Look, I might be naked, but I'm not about to be stupid too--just let me get through the high heat portion of this without any damage, okay?"

"Okay--looking's free anyway," she cheerfully reminded him. Mac began dicing the onions in his neat, methodical way as Rose propped her elbows on the counter and stared.

"Geez--you've seen me naked plenty of times--" he grumbled, slightly uncomfortable. She nodded.

"Yeah, but hardly ever in light this good--" came her soft reply. He looked at her for a moment, unsure whether she was teasing him or not, but the sincerity of her expression startled him.

"It's just a body."

"No, it's *your* body--" she told him. "--The one I wanted to see about two days after we first met. Nice to know dreams can come true, huh?"

To that, Mac rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. He minced the garlic and green pepper, adding them to the skillet, working in relative peace. He set aside the sautéed mix and reached for another skillet, making Rose snicker again.

"Sorry--you look so damned cute!"

"Cute!" he scoffed, looking at her face on. "I'm a lot of things, Brat, and cute isn't one of them. Cranky, self-conscious, determined and competitive, yes. Cute, no."

Licking her lips, Rose let her eyes slide down the length of his body, and he flushed crimson.

"Ah geez, stop it!" To block her stare, he opened the fridge. It was a bad move; he shivered as he reached for the huge block of tofu. Rose broke up again, nearly slipping off the stool as he grumbled, "The things I *do* for the moralistic high ground . . ."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop ogling and let you get to cooking--" Rose spluttered, watching him mash the tofu and sauté it in the other pan. He mixed the Italian spices in and let the tofu steam then added the sauce, then set the ziti to boil. Done with that, he began to wash off the pans. Rose came around behind him and pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades.

"Sorry, Mac--you've been a great sport about this, and yeah, I can see how important this dinner is to you--I'll behave myself, okay?"

"Did you really want to see my body two days after we met?" came his shy question. Rose laughed softly.

"Sure did. I started having erotic dreams again--I hadn't had any for *years*, so that kinda told me that you were something special."

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah. Of course, it was weird too--I mean, I'd dream about you, and then have to see you later that day in normal everyday sorts of settings and try not to blush--" she let her hands trail up the strong muscles of his arms up to rub his broad shoulders; Mac gave a little groan of pleasure, but kept washing the dishes.

"I kept rationalizing the dreams, telling myself that it was all just a physical response to an attractive body, but it was more--I just didn't want to admit it."

"Why didn’t you--?"

"What? *Tell* you? Are you nuts, Mac? How do you think you would have reacted two years ago if I came up and announced, "I've been dreaming about you and me naked, MacGyver?" Rose chuckled, and Mac laughed with her.

"Okay, yeah, that might have been really bizarre," he admitted, turning around to hold her.

"To say the least. I think your ziti's going to boil over--"

"Mmmmm that's one way of putting it--but I guess we ought to get the casserole made first--" Mac teased, kissing her forehead. Swiftly, he layered the noodles, the tofu and the sauce two times in a two-quart pan, topped it with Cheddar cheese and popped it into the oven with a smirk of satisfaction.

"Twenty minutes to bake, and then turnabout is fair play, Brat."

"Twenty minutes, huh?"

"Ah ah--this isn't about sex, this is about the inner conviction of appreciating soy for all of it's protein-packed goodness," he tapped her nose. Rose pouted prettily.

"Your mind is on morality, but your body's is saying something *else*, pal--"

"It's just overjoyed at the thought of tofu--" he argued with a wry grin. She laughed out loud, but gracefully walked to the door.

"Surrrrrrre--in the meantime, I'll be getting a dessert to go with dinner--back soon."

*** *** ***

"You turned down the thermostat--" she accused.

"Nope, but I see you're cold."

Rose crossed her arms over her bare chest, making Mac laugh. He smirked at her, dressed once again in a Hawaiian shirt and jeans. Rose shook her head, her shoulder-length hair loose.

"Ready for dinner, Brat Godiva?" he called. With a flourish, he pulled the casserole out and brought it to the table. It steamed fragrantly, and Rose drew in the scent of it with a small smile.

"Okay, the sauce smells heavenly, and I know I can eat the ziti--"

"--Yea of little faith--trust me, you'll love this. No napkin, Brat--if the sauce spills, it's part of the scenery--" he warned her. She set aside the linen cloth with a sigh as Mac served up a portion to her, then took one himself. Instead of sitting across from her as he usually did, he perched himself on the edge of the table, looking down at her.

"Enjoying the show?" Rose grumbled, not nearly as good a sport as before. Mac handed her a fork.

"Immensely. Eat--" he ordered. Rose scooped up a tiny amount and ate it, making a face. She brightened.

"I didn't have any in that mouthful--" Another forkful went in. Mac ate heartily, keeping a speculative eye on her. She chuckled.

"You messed up, Mac--I haven't hit any tofu yet!"

"You're so cute when you're naked and inaccurate. You should eat naked more often, Rose--"

"Inaccurate?" she scoffed, taking a second helping, less inhibited as her appetite kicked in.

He waved a fork at her.

"That white stuff isn't ricotta cheese, babe--you've been shoveling in tofu with every bite. It just absorbs the Italian flavor. As I see it, you've had about a cup and a half of the stuff already--"

Rose looked down at her fork in surprise. Sauce dripped onto her chest in a warm red trickle. Mac grinned, swiping at it with one finger.

"Surprised?"

"Totally. I didn't know it would just sort of--disappear like that--" she admitted, looking up at him. Mac nodded, but his gaze wasn't exactly on her eyes, and Rose gave a little exasperated sound.

"What are *you* looking at?"

"Given the view I've got, is this a trick question?" he dimpled a smile at her. Rose tried to ignore him, and finished up her casserole in thoughtful bites, Finally, almost reluctantly she nodded.

"Okay, it's good. You win, we can have this again sometime and I'll lay off the tofu jokes," Lazily she stretched, arms over her head,"--okay?"

"I'm sorry, did you speak?"

Rose gave a great dramatic sigh.

"Unlike *some* people, I can maintain my dignity when naked--"

To prove her point, she propped her feet up on the table, tipped her chair and promptly fell over backwards onto the floor in a graceless heap.

Mac broke into a loud laugh as Rose scrambled up, her face red.

"You were saying?" he sputtered, wiping his eyes. Rose gave in, and laughed herself, rubbing the back of one hip.

"Okay, okay--I deserved that one--can I go get dressed now?"

"You're not done--these dishes aren't going to walk themselves to the sink you know--" came his chiding tone. Rose made a great show of collecting the silverware and plates before carrying it all to the sink.

"Hey--as long as we're baring it all--" Mac called over his shoulder, "I had my eye on *you* from day one."

"Oh God--even in the nerd outfit?" came Rose's anguished giggle. Mac looked over at her, nodding guiltily.

"I don't know--something about that short plaid skirt or the straining misbuttoned blouse was enough to bring my libido out of hibernation--or maybe I just have a fetish for geeky girls--"

"Geeky girls with bodacious racks, more like--" she accused sweetly. Mac opened his mouth to argue then closed it again with a grin.

"Now can I get dressed?"

"What about dessert?" Mac commented, moving over to her. Rose shot him a cagey look and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well technically dessert isn't a part of dinner--" Rose started to argue. Mac slowly backed her into the kitchen; he shoulders hit the fridge with a bump and squeak. He braced an arm over her head and smiled down at her lazily.

"That is all a matter of semantics, Brat. I happen to think you'd look great in marshmallow fluff and chocolate syrup--"

"Mac . . ." she warned, ducking under his arm and making a break for the far side of the Grotto. He snagged her by the waist, laughing.

"Oh come on--you didn't think I'd cook in the altogether and I did--in fact, I won you over to at least ONE tofu dish, so be a sport and let's have dessert. You did get something, didn't you?"

"Yeah--" she admitted reluctantly, trying to wriggle free of the arm around her middle. He tightened his grip, pulling her closer. A suspicion crossed his face; he pressed his nose to hers.

"You didn't--"

"The bakery had them on sale--and I figured that after choking down yucky tofu, it would be a nice way to, ah, soothe your hurt feelings--" she gulped, her eyes wide.

"Rose--" he warned helplessly. She gave a deep resigned sigh.

"Yeah, snickerdoodles---Mac!"

But he was already carrying her off to the bedroom, a gleam in his eye.

END

MacGyver's Italian Tofu Casserole

1 lb firm Tofu

2 Tbs oil

1 Tbs minced garlic

1 small onion, chopped

1 green pepper chopped

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 qt spaghetti sauce

1/2 lb Ziti

1 cup (or more) of sharp Cheddar cheese, grated.

Set oven to 350. Using 1 Tbs of oil, sauté garlic until soft; add green pepper and onion and cook until onion turns yellow. Set aside. In a separate skillet, cook drained mashed tofu in remaining Tbs of oil until tofu stops steaming. (5-10 min) Add one cup of sauce, onion /pepper mix and simmer 5 minutes. Boil ziti until tender but not too soft, rinse. In a 2 qt baking dish, layer half the cooked ziti, 1-1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce, half the tofu mixture and half the cheese. Repeat, using all remaining cheese on top. Bake about 30 minutes or until all the cheese melts and sauce is bubbly. Eat nude or clothed, your option.