"Oh," she stammered, at a complete loss as to what to do. "Well, um, okay?"
She felt a bit steamrollered, really, like he had bulldozed right over her and whatever she might have been about to say, but it didn't feel bad, just new. And a little bit overwhelming.
He said he couldn't cook, and she smiled shyly. "I... I was just going to have Stone Soup," she said in a small voice. "It's... well, it has a story? And I could... tell you the story while I show you how to make it?"
That, right there, was possibly the single boldest thing she had ever said, in her life, and she hoped it didn't sound silly, juvenile, or boring. In fact she was beginning to hope that he took her up on her offer.