Since she wasn’t working anymore, her mind was idle – and when her mind was idle, there was little more for her to do than dwell over the devastating billionaire whose roof she was currently under. Stretching languishingly, the dark-haired woman hauled herself from the bathtub to dry off before slipping into her cotton nightgown.
While she could still fit the garment for now, soon it would be far too small for her. The young woman’s lips curved as she contemplated the fact. She would see what she could do to hurry it along and burn off some of her nervous energy.
After twisting her damp hair onto a knot at the top of her head, Esme made her way carefully downstairs towards the kitchen. As she always did since the incident with her and Daniel, she peered into the open living space at the bottom of the stairs before she took the last few steps. Daniel, she knew, usually retired to his room early if he wasn’t in his office and today was no exception. The entire first floor of the house was utterly deserted, and not for the first time, Esme found herself wondering where on earth the staff were that kept the house clean.
There was no way he went around tidying up himself, and she’d never seen a single maid. They must be like well-trained ninjas. When Esme padded, barefoot, into the expansive, gleaming kitchen, however, all thoughts of maids and hidden staff vanished.
Though she’d been in the room several times since she’d arrived in the house, she’d never had the time to stop and truly admire it. Dark marble floors, what seemed like endless lines of mahogany cabinetry, state of the art-stainless steel appliances – from the immense double fridge to the six burner stove – and every possible gadget you could possibly think of. Coupled with a floor space of roughly seven hundred fifty square feet and you literally had her dream kitchen.
For a moment, she simply stood in the center of it all, savoring the sheer size and utility of the place. Then, a grin splitting her face, she made a beeline for the pantry, set on appeasing the hungry life growing within her.
Though the kitchen wasn’t as familiar to her as her own, Esme soon found everything she needed. It was almost as if a chef already resided there, so organized was the pantry. Within an hour, she’d made a sizeable mess, singing softly to herself as she prepared dishes from the top of her head – whatever caught her fancy. It seemed like it had been ages since she’d been allowed creative freedom in a kitchen – and never one of this size.
She knew she was making entirely too much food for one person, but Esme hardly cared. When she cooked, time, place, and quantity cased to access. All the tension bled from her as she sampled, added ingredients and sautéed, stirred and baked to her heart’s content. She reveled in the quality of the ingredients in Daniel’s kitchen – pure Colombian dark chocolate, Madagascar vanilla, Anchoa chiles from Argentina…
A low sound of appreciation escaped her as she sampled the chocolate chili sauce she’d created to go on her rare filet mignon before she sidled over to continue pan-frying some lightly seasoned baby potatoes. Then, she quickly sautéed the spinach she was working on before checking on her white chocolate soufflé.
She pinched off a corner of her beef to savor before her stomach rumbled, making her laugh softly. It seemed like the little one was just as hungry as she was. Honestly, it seemed like since she’d been pregnant, she had to eat every two hours or so. She wondered, off hand, if Daniel had the same appetite as his son or daughter. The man was immense. He had to put away as much as a small horse – especially if he worked on the ranch as much as she suspected.
“Esme?”
Jumping, the young woman whirled, torn from her thoughts as the very subject of them appeared before her. Quickly, she turned down the heat on her spinach before she burned it, straightening with her hands held before her like a criminal caught in the act.
Daniel stood in the main entryway of the kitchen, ten feet away, clad in a pair of dark sweat pants and a white t-shirt that exposed the rippling muscles of his arms. He appeared to be freshly showered, his damp hair slicked back from his face. His short beard was carefully groomed, his feet bare, and Esme swallowed thickly as her libido immediately kicked into overdrive. Heat shot to pool between her legs as she momentarily forgot everything she was currently cooking.
Christ. Did he have a right to be so good-looking?
The man had to be over a decade older than her and still he haunted her dreams like some teenage heartthrob. She was a grown woman, wasn’t she? Nothing said she couldn’t resist his ridiculous allure, right?
The man lifted his nose into the air, sniffing lightly before his lips curved in divine appreciation. “What is that smell?”
Esme shuddered, knowing that any attempt to reign in her libido would be a lost cause. “It’s…um…filet mignon.” She ventured tentatively, with sautéed spinach and baby potatoes.” At that moment, the double oven beeped, announcing it was time to check her soufflés. Quickly, she turned from the man, feeling his eyes on her back as she rushed across the kitchen to extract her precious package from the heat of the oven.
They were utterly gorgeous – the perfect light brown color with bubbling beige centers from which white chocolate ganache would ooze from them when they were penetrated. Esme’s mouth watered at the very sight of them as she very gently set them on the counter to cool.
“You made all this?”
The young woman turned back to Daniel to see him hovering over the beef resting on the cutting board. When his eyes met hers and locked, her stomach did a little somersault that had nothing to do with her pregnancy. She nodded quickly. “Is it really so surprising.?”
Please don’t let him be one of those guys who thought women shouldn’t be chefs. She’d fought enough men with those attitudes to last her a lifetime.
“When you said you worked in a restaurant, I assumed…” He trailed off, his expression turning sheepish. “I apologize. I just smelled your cooking from upstairs and I couldn’t help but come down. I’m starving. I…hope I’m not intruding.”
For a moment, the silence hung between them as Esme contemplated whether or not she could handle being in the same room with him when she so vividly remembered the burn of his mouth against her own. Slowly, she shook her head. “You’re not intruding.” It might have been the bravest thing she’d ever said, considering that she felt like she might jump the man at any moment and offend his sensibilities. “Go ahead and grab a plate. No, actually…” Taking a chance, she padded across the kitchen to push him gently out of the way. “Let me make you one. There’s just sauces and a bit of fresh ground pepper…it’s better this way…” She cast a cursory glance in his direction, trying to ignore the warmth of his body against hers. “Is that ok?”
“Perfectly fine.” The gigantic man gazed down at her as if he were seeing her in a new light, and Esme tried to quell the pride welling in her breast. How long had it been since she’d cooked for someone besides her mother? Years, really. Unless you counted restaurants stealing her recipes, that was.
She made each of them a plate with her rare filet mignon, the perfectly fried potatoes and the spinach, before pouring them each glasses of a merlot she’d come upon in the small wine section of the pantry. It would go perfectly with their meal, and her doctor had assured her that a tiny nip every once in a while wouldn’t hurt the baby.
It was slightly strange sitting at the table with Daniel for the first time, but the sense of surrealism was more than compensated for by the look of bliss on the man’s face upon his first bite of steak. Daniel’s eyes slid closed as his mouth shut around the fork and his expression was so much like what Esme imagined he might look mid-thrust that she squirmed slightly in her chair.
She had to force herself to take a bite of her own meal; relaxation came when her body sagged in her chair at the taste of the chili chocolate sauce and the delicate flavor of the beef. It wasn’t as if Daniel hadn’t been feeding her but this…this was absolute bliss.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?”
Daniel’s eyes bur
ned into her with a new interest that made her grin. If there was one thing she was confident about – one thing about which she could talk for hours on end – it was her love for cooking. In her enthusiasm, it was easy to forget that she and Daniel were supposed to be fighting their attraction for one another.
“A bit of culinary school, a bit of my own personal flair, a bit of my mother’s influence…a whole lot of different things thrown into one pot, really. You like it?”
“Understatement of the decade.” Daniel took another bite of steak, a low groan of pleasure escaping him. “This is better than I’ve had in some three star Michelin restaurants.”
Esme beamed with pleasure. “Really?”
“Without a doubt.” The man tucked into his meal with gusto. It took him under twenty minutes to finish everything on his plate – and Esme had piled it pretty high with a sizeable cut of filet mignon and plenty of veggies. “Is there more of this?”
Esme stared at him, awed, for a moment, by his mountainous appetite before she remembered to answer. “There’s plenty. I made a ton.”
“This is amazing, Esme. Really.” Rising from the table, Daniel went for another helping and Esme couldn’t help but gaze after the pert line of his behind. She then proceeded to watch him devour two more helpings of the food she’d prepared. Even she, who was eating for two, couldn’t have contemplated eating so much. When Daniel was finally done, leaning back in his chair to place his hands contentedly over his stomach, she was repressing laughter.
“When was the last time you had a home cooked meal, Daniel?”
He appeared to consider a long moment before he answered. “I can’t rightly recall. I don’t cook and Alyssa…she was certainly never into anything in the kitchen.” The man’s face fell for a moment and Esme’s stomach twisted. Without a doubt, the man was remembering his absent lover, which meant it was time for her to beat a hasty retreat.
Quickly, she gathered her plate and wine glass before walking along the length of the table to take his as well. “Well, I’m glad I could help.” When she made to head for the sink, she was stopped by a firm grip on her elbow. Daniel’s rough, calloused palm against her skin sent shivers of arousal down her spine.
“Esme…don’t go. I’m sorry I just…you have to understand it’s hard for me to adjust.”
Esme paused, her heart stuttering in her chest. Was this the part when the man poured out his woes over the woman who had walked away from him and the baby they’d planned to have together? Where she listened to him expound on how much he loved her – how she was just a tortured soul with a heart of gold?
“Alyssa was…difficult, but she was familiar. This…” He swept his free hand over the kitchen. “This isn’t familiar for me.”
“What isn’t?” Her words came out in a low, almost secretive tone as she stared down at him.
“Eating home cooked meals…living in the same house as a woman who doesn’t demand my attention…or twist me around her finger to get it.”
Esme let his words sink in as she listened to him, trying to hide her incredulity. Was the man trying to say that he’d never been with a woman who didn’t exploit him for what he had? That was certainly hard to believe. With all the money he had, the man had to have some sort of common sense. Gold-diggers were usually easy to spot from pretty far off. “Well, Daniel…” She finally ventured, “I can promise you I’ll never demand anything of you…unless, of course, the baby needs it.” She cleared her throat, hoping she didn’t come off sounding motherly. This child wasn’t hers – it was Daniel’s. “And if you want me to cook for you,” she continued, in an attempt to lighten the mood, “I can do that any old time. I enjoy it. It’s better when it’s for two.”
“Esme.”
Daniel turned in his chair, taking the dishes she held from her to set on the table before his deep blue gaze locked with hers. He never let go of her, his hold on her elbow turning soft as his thumb brushed over the sensitive skin just above her forearm. The place was surprisingly tender, and Esme swallowed thickly as her thighs tensed in anticipation. “It’s been a very long time since any woman cooked for me. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” His low, silky voice thrummed through her, and Esme wanted nothing more than to throw herself at his feet and beg him to screw her absolutely senseless. In her mind, she had absolutely no shame. But in the physical plane, she knew she had to show fortitude. Fortitude was the only thing keeping her from making a mistake she knew she might regret.
“Esme…I want to kiss you again.” The young woman inhaled sharply, the statement shooting directly to the core of her, heating it until the blood in her veins ran hot with repressed desire. “It’s been damn near all I can think of since the first time. Which was my fault, I know. I think of you sleeping just a floor below me, and all I want is to taste you again. Is that wrong of me?”
His words took her breath away. Esme could only stare into his blue, entrancing, utterly sincere gaze as her mind whirled. The last time he’d kissed her, the guilt she’d seen in his eyes following the encounter had torn her apart. She didn’t want to be a source of drama whenever his girlfriend decided to reappear.
But if what was between them was truly over…well, that was another matter entirely.
If they were going to live in the same house…Esme could handle a little tryst while she was waiting for the man’s child to ripen within her. She certainly wanted Daniel more than she’d wanted any man in a hell of a long time. She honestly didn’t care who he was or how much money he had. She had her own goals she was working to fulfill, and when she walked away, she’d walk away clean.
Like she always did.
“It’s not wrong.” She finally managed, wetting her lips slightly before she continued. “But I don’t want to convolute anything, Daniel. I’m you’re surrogate…and Alyssa is the mother of your child. If she comes back, I don’t want to-”
His mouth covered hers, firm and decisive, cutting off anything further she might have said. After a moment of shock, Esme allowed herself to melt into the kiss, her fingers sliding through his hair as she let Daniel tug her down into his lap. His tongue slid like silk against her own and a soft moan escaped her as she clung to him, liquid fire coursing through her veins.
When his mouth finally broke from hers, she was almost trembling with want. “I don’t want to make this about her.” The man murmured heatedly against her mouth. “And neither should you.”
It wasn’t the answer she was looking for, and Esme knew she should demand something more clear – but when Daniel’s mouth covered hers once more, she found herself at a decided lack of words. It was all she could do to hold tight to the man as his hands slid down to her hips, pulling her tight against the hard, flat pane of his chest as his mouth plundered hers.
He tasted like the chocolate chili sauce she’d made, that and his own spicy tang that was all his own, that reminded her of summer and sunshine and made her long for him to carry her right into the gardens beyond the house and lay her down on the soft grass to make love to her until she couldn’t remember where he ended and she began. For a split second, she wished that what was between them had nothing to do with the baby swelling in her womb – that he was just a man and she just a woman and their want was all that mattered.
At that moment, a low buzzing came from between them, startling the young woman into breaking the kiss as she tried to clear her mind of the haze of want that enveloped it. When the buzzing came again, Daniel cursed lowly, reaching between them to extract his cell phone from his pocket. He glanced at screen before scowling momentarily. When his eyes met Esme’s once more, however, the remnants of lust still burned there. “I have to take this. I’m sorry.”
A small sound of surprise escaped her as Daniel easily lifted her from his lap to set her carefully on her feet. He rose to his feet to pad from the kitchen, answering his phone as he went. As the sounds of the man’s smooth baritone faded to a low murmur, Esme took a deep breath, slowly coming
back to herself.
This man was dangerous. She should have known it from the first moment she’d seen him, but Esme had foolishly believed that she could somehow fight Daniel’s ridiculously enticing allure.
She’d been wrong – that much was obvious.
And now she was in a house with a man who had no idea how much power he had over her – had no idea his innate charm and the desperation with which he sought an accepting woman appealed to her.
Steeling herself, Esme took up the dishes she’d attempted to wash once more, carrying them over to the sink. She had to regain some modicum of control here. If Daniel could take her apart with one kiss, she could only imagine what the man might do to her if he got her in bed.
Glancing down at her stomach, Esme sighed softly. “Your Dad is going to be the death of me, little bean. For sure. If your mom doesn’t kill me first.”
**
Daniel watched her.
Leaning over the balcony that overlooked the kitchen and great room, he watched Esme flit around the kitchen, mixing ingredients for what he presumed to be some kind of muffin. She hadn’t even put them into the oven and already they smelled heavenly.
The woman worked wonders in the kitchen – to a point where he wondered how he couldn’t have known such a thing about her from the get go. Surely it should have been written somewhere in her surrogate profile? Not only was she intelligent, the host of impeccably good genes, but also she could cook like no chef he’d ever sampled before.
She had an innovative, interesting approach to food – didn’t try to plate it as if it were some sort of high end decadence and didn’t speak of her talent as if she felt she deserved anything from her cooking alone.
But her skill was evident.
While she was unaware, he watched her movements about the kitchen, smiled as she hummed softy to herself. It was such a wonder to see a smiling woman in his house after so long. When he tried to remember the last time Alyssa had smiled for him…he couldn’t.
What the hell had happened to them, he wondered? When they’d met, everything had been wonderful, and now, he was alone, anticipating the birth of the baby she didn’t want…with a woman who intrigued him far more than he wanted to admit.
The Cowboy's Baby: A BWWM Billionaire Cowboy Pregnancy Romance Page 7
