“If it’s anything legal, the answer is probably going to be yes. And that’s not the fried rum bananas talking yet,” Sabine joked.
“Be serious for a moment,” Koka ordered. “Will you go out with me again? On a real date? This is a serious request.”
Sabine groaned. “No . . . don’t ask me that. You’re going to bankrupt me.”
“Bankrupt you? That’s hopefully another joke, but I’ll gladly give you back the money you spent on my behalf yesterday if you would say yes. What do you say to that level of honesty?” Koka demanded.
Sabine leaned back in her chair, way back. “Didn’t you see that room full of beautiful, screaming women? I’m sure one or two of them would be way more suitable for you. The ink is barely dry on my divorce decree and . . . well, I have a lot to work out in my mind before I can date anyone.”
“Until yesterday I have been saying all women I meet are like the one at the back of the room who bid so fiercely against you. They don’t really want me, Sabine. They want to be fixed, to be made alive, to become something more because of being seen with The Sexy Chef, with Todd Lake. True compassion is absent from them. I’m tired of women like that. But you are not like that. I can read your heart and I’m rarely wrong,” Koka said, pointing his spatula at her.
He was disappointed at Sabine’s nervous gaze darting around as it avoided his. Unable to think of anything else to say that might persuade her to go out with him, Koka turned and started preparing their dessert. The task at least kept him from going back and trying to physically convince her. Pride was pushing him to either ignore Sabine or seduce her. There seemed to be no polite middle ground in his feelings.
Sabine stared at Koka’s strong back as he cooked, her gaze not even dropping to his appealing backside this time. Instead, all she could see was the invisible weight his too public life had put between his shoulder blades. It was an unfortunate by-product of her job to notice such things, one she could see now was going to cost her a hell of a potential romance with the man across the counter. Koka Whitman was part jaded and part innocent. But his vulnerability was something she wasn’t ready to violate for the sake of an amazing date or even ending her long streak of celibacy. Not that a date with the sexy, fun, and talented man wasn’t more appealing than pretty much anything.
But it wouldn’t be fair for her to work out her dating issues at Koka’s expense. For all the female attention he drew, he didn’t understand that all women were a bit like the woman at the back of the auction room. A woman’s sexuality was just as rampant as any man’s, and not all women managed to keep their beast side in check.
Martin had shredded her sexual identity when he had re-married before she had even had a chance to take a deep breath. Even counting the last two years of separate bedrooms in her favor, there were a hundred other little demons she still had to wrestle about getting naked with a new man. Clothing might even be one of those demons, if Koka was right about all men wanting a look at what she was hiding. Tonight her soft, aging body had morphed from a matter of acceptance into yet another big obstacle to moving forward with her romantic life.
“I’m more flattered than I could ever say that you would ask me out. But I don’t know if I’m ready for a real date yet,” Sabine said softly. “When I am ready, I could let you know—in case you might still want to date me then.”
Koka plated the still sizzling bananas and drizzled more coconut rum over them. “Well, at least it’s not a complete rejection,” he groused.
“Oh come on—you can’t be that heartbroken. Be honest here. Does a woman ever say no to you? If so, I imagine it doesn’t happen often,” Sabine said quietly.
“No, it doesn’t happen often. But lately I haven’t even felt like asking. You’re the first in almost a year who has even interested me,” he said.
Sabine nodded in sympathy. “Then I’m even more flattered you would ask me.”
He grabbed two spoons and headed around the bar to her. When he got back to his seat, he scooped up a bite as he sat. “Open your mouth,” he ordered.
Sabine snorted. “I bet you like to be in control all the time, don’t you? See—that would never work between us. I like to be in control too.”
“Sabine, stop talking and open your mouth for me,” Koka said more firmly, envying the spoon he held for getting to go where he wanted to.
She stared for long moments trying to decide. When she finally did open her mouth, a spoon full of heaven slipped inside. Flavors of the rum, the banana, and spices she didn’t recognize slid along her tongue. She swallowed and sighed. “Okay. That’s pretty amazing. My high standards are more than met.”
“I know. And I made it for kissing,” Koka declared, staring at spot on her lip that she unconsciously licked clean. “The flavors lubricate the palette and it has spices that neutralize dinner smells and tastes.”
Sabine felt her eyebrows rise, but smiled at his innocent look. “I swear to God—that is the best line to ask for a kiss that I have ever heard.”
Swearing under his breath at her relentless teasing, Koka scooped up another bite for her and fed her again. Then he scooped one for himself using the same spoon. He dared her to say a word about it.
She pondered the decadence of having Koka feed her and the intimacy of sharing the dish with him. Even if it was just some practiced seduction or clever intention to charm her, his serious frown would have kept her from believing it completely. On the next scoop, she placed her hand over his.
“That’s enough of that for me. I think I’m ready for my real dessert now,” she said, holding his quizzical gaze. “Let’s test your kissing theory.”
Fearing the offer might be retracted if he didn’t accept it quickly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips gently, but firmly to hers. Banana, coconut, and Sabine hit his taste buds. It was a heady combination. He pulled away reluctantly. “I cannot trust myself for more than one kiss. You are completely delicious.”
“So are you,” Sabine whispered, her mouth still amazed at the lingering tingle.
Koka sighed, frustrated to have to let her go home. Pekala’s prayers for a woman had been answered in a way that surprised even him. “The limousine that brought you is no doubt waiting impatiently. I was supposed to send you home thirty minutes ago. Pekala delayed the schedule.”
Sabine nodded and slid from her chair. “Pekala was a wonderful delay and I’m very glad I got to meet her.”
She walked on shaky legs to the small table where her purse had landed earlier. That simple little kiss had rocked her harder than she realized. On her way back, Sabine paused by the seat where Koka still sat unmoving. Evidently, he wasn’t going to walk her to the door.
Maybe he couldn’t do so yet.
The thought of causing him more masculine discomfort after their kiss went to her head faster than his pineapple cocktail. She looked at Koka and wanted to test that theory more than she wanted to take her next breath. Thanks to him she now believed there would be sexual life for her after Martin.
“Thank you for one of the best evenings of my entire life. I truly will never forget the pleasure of it—all of it,” Sabine said softly.
“On the islands, we say Mahalo to give thanks,” Koka said, his gaze asking her to act on what was in hers.
Sabine nodded and smiled, the effort forced. “Mahalo then. Good night, Koka Whitman. Thank you for a wonderful dinner.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Koka said.
“Seriously the best one I can ever remember having,” Sabine replied.
Then she walked to the door as quickly as she could to make her escape.
Chapter 6
Joe held up the special edition Sunday afternoon paper and looked at Sabine over the edge of it as he grunted.
“Your very expensive Todd Lake told all of Seattle that you were the most enchanting woman he’d met in years. All you said about him was that he was a great chef. Sabine, you’re in public relations for pity’s sake. Couldn’t you have though
t of something more eloquent to say about a date with one of Seattle’s premier bachelors?”
“Todd Lake is a great chef,” Sabine said, repeating without explaining.
She was having a hard time shrugging away the guilt Joe was causing. First she hadn’t even bothered to wear a dress to dinner when Koka’s show had sent a limo for her. Now she was having morning after guilt for not kissing him back like she had wanted to.
Was she wanting in or wanting out?
It simply wasn’t fair for her to be so on the fence about a relationship that didn’t have great odds of working out.
Frustrated, she glared over her coffee at Joe. “Since when are you a poet? What did you and your Todd say about each other the day after his first public outing on a man date?”
Ignoring her glare, Joe went back to reading the interviews. “Our situation is different. My Todd is still cautious about coming out all the way. In our interviews, we each sort of joked about the dinner being nothing overly important. I said he was a good sport for putting up with a flaming gay like me for the evening.”
“Well there. Doesn’t that just sum it all up? We both said what was necessary to protect our dates from excessive media hype and negative speculation.”
Sabine dropped her gaze from Joe and turned her attention back to her lackluster meal. The reason she had called him to come over was because she couldn’t stop thinking about Koka’s banana and rum flavored kiss. It had haunted her all night.
And Joe was not making things better with his nagging questions.
“I will never believe it was nothing more than a simple meal. I saw the way the man looked at you. Whatever The Sexy Chef might have fixed for dinner, tasting you was high up on his menu plans,” Joe said bluntly. “And you haven’t said if it happened or not.”
Sabine ignored the uncomfortably accurate comment and went back to eating her dry chicken. “Last evening is a blur now. I had most of a bottle of champagne in the limo, some killer pineapple shooter concoction he invented, and then a third glass of something I couldn’t identify with the two entrees he cooked. I was in coma after all that. Limo transport is the only reason I made it home in one piece.”
“I’m not buying any I-was-too-tipsy excuse either,” Joe said, folding the paper. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me what really happened. You have a right to protect your privacy even from someone who has known you for a couple decades.”
Sabine sighed. “How do you do that? How do you make me feel guilty for no good reason? Okay look Joe—I know I promised you three thousand on a second bet, but I’ll be damned if I spend one more cent on your hare-brained ideas where any man named Todd is concerned.”
Joe slapped the table in triumph. “I knew it. I knew I was right. He asked you out.”
Sabine nodded. “Yes, he did ask me—but I said no.”
When Joe looked deeply disappointed, she wanted to laugh. “Come on. It was not the kind of evening a newly divorced woman should take too seriously. I’m not ready to date a normal guy yet, much less one that looks as good as Todd Lake does. Martin already did enough damage to my ego. I’m not ready to risk letting another guy have a go at it. Besides . . . I would only be an additional complication in the man’s complicated enough life.”
Joe shook his head. “Pulling the freshly divorced card doesn’t work with me either, Sabine. I know you and Martin were over long before you two divorced. Don’t you know how lucky you are to find someone actually worth dating?”
“I didn’t say Todd Lake wasn’t worth dating. Don’t put words into my mouth,” Sabine ordered.
To make a point, she filled said orifice with another bite of tasteless food while she watched Joe throw up his hands. She loved him, but he was definitely a drama queen when he didn’t get his way.
“Sabine, you got your very own valentine delivered neatly into your hands and you threw the damn card away before you even read what it said. That was a very dumb move, woman. You need to take flowers to where Todd Lake works and apologize for your cowardice.”
“Give it up, Joe. He was the wrong valentine, or at the very least, not one meant to be mine for more than one dinner. In a week, he will have forgotten all about me. I’m just one tiny fish in the vast sea of his adoring female fans.”
“No. I don’t buy that at all. I saw the way he looked at you Friday night. Unless you were super bitchy to him over his pineapple concoctions, his heart is breaking right now because of your refusal. The man was interested—like sincerely interested. Do you know how rare that is?”
“Shut up, Joe.”
“No, I won’t shut up, and don’t give me that disbelieving look. I swear, talking to you is like talking to a wall sometimes. If Martin wasn’t my brother, I’d go kick his ass for making you feel like you’re not attractive. Because you are, even if you are older and curvier than that bony plastic doll Martin married. Hell, even my Todd said you were hot. He made me think he was going to turn out to be bi the way he went on and on about you.”
Sabine hid her face in her hand. “Joe, can we please drop this discussion? When I start dating again, it’s going to be some normal guy. Todd Lake is going to end up with one of those soccer mom workout queen types. The man’s muscles have muscles. The only working muscle I have is my brain.”
“Oh, I bet you have a few others he would find appealing. I bet he has some you’d like as well. That’s the full benefit of actively dating, sweetheart.”
Sabine pointed her empty fork at her torturer. “I will get laid in my own time and in my own way. I’m not using that sweet man for casual sex no matter how gorgeous he is. I like him, but he’s just not right for me. Now please . . . let’s change the subject. Finish your dinner before it gets even more inedible. Last night may have just ruined me for cooking my own food.”
“I’m hoping it’s ruined you for a lot more than that,” Joe said, picking up his fork. “Want to bet he comes up with a way to be in your life?”
Sabine laughed at Joe’s endless optimism. “Valentine’s Day is over, Joe. You can drop the romantic stuff now.”
“Fine. I’ll skip the romance. But I bet dating sexy Todd Lake is going to look like a much better prospect when you see the double-D assets my new sister-in-law got compliments of your retirement.”
Sabine snorted and glared. “Why are we friends?”
Joe made a smoochy motion with his lips and kissed the air. “Because as a man who fell in love with you at first sight, I immediately saw the signs when Todd Lake did the same thing.”
“This is the sad story of my love life. My husband left me for a skinny woman and a gay man loves me madly,” Sabine said.
She rested her fork on her plate and gave up trying to eat.
“And this has got to be the worst meal I’ve ever cooked for another human being. Don’t eat it, Joe. I’ll give you money to buy takeout on your way home.”
Joe looked at his food and back at her. “You’re just having withdrawals. Plus, I’m a way better friend than that. Now go open a can of pineapple for dessert. After I eat this, I’ll sing Blue Hawaii while you dance the hula.”
Sabine thought of what Koka might say if he ever heard Joe being flippant about his homeland and culture. He would probably make some incredibly nasty insult in his native language and say it meant something benign like “thank you for smiling”. But she would know the truth by that little huff of exasperation Koka would make when Joe looked merely pleased at the poetic sounding Hawaiian words.
“Are you thinking about Elvis before or after the banana sandwiches?” Joe asked.
Shaking her head at his teasing, all Sabine could do was laugh at them both.
***
At her request, her day nurse, Denise, opened the newspaper and began to read. Suddenly, she laughed. Pekala searched the younger woman’s face trying to decide if she wanted to know what had been said or not.
“My old eyes make it too hard to read. What does it say?” Pekala finally demanded.
“That’s beautiful. Why is that funny?” Pekala asked, wrinkling her wrinkles in her confusion.
Denise laughed again. “The woman said he was a great chef.”
Pekala chuckled at Sabine’s understatement. “No wonder he’s off lifting weights instead of cooking us dinner. She said nothing to give him any hope.”
“How long will he stay mad over this?” Denise asked. Her personal infatuation with her good-looking employer had died swiftly with the first sample of his sullen moods. The man never smiled—not really. He was kind to Pekala, but that was the only evidence of warmth.
Pekala shrugged. “Who knows? Koka is very much like my husband who only smiled over one thing. I did my best as his wife to make sure he smiled often.”
***
Koka pushed the bar and the weights up until his arms trembled. Then he let the bar drop down with a loud clang into the bench brackets where it struck metal against metal. Normally, the sound made him cheerful because it meant the workout had ended. A professional trainer had started his program, but he continued it because he enjoyed the results.
Until today.
Now he was sweaty, tired, and still frustrated beyond what a sane man could handle without going mad. Sabine Blakeman was all he could think about—including her incessant teasing and that soft, hot mouth of hers connected to his. She had licked his kiss from her lips after, and he had been afraid to move for fear of what he would do.
The woman had intrigued him from the moment she had stood up in the auction and yelled at Felicity—or Hayden—or whatever that woman’s name had been that he’d dated as a favor to Edwina. Neither she nor her name had lingered in his mind for a second whereas the soft, round blonde with a warped sense of humor continued to star in the endless fantasies playing through his mind non-stop.
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