Cooking with Kandy

by Peggy Jaeger

  She nodded and took a sip of coffee. “My grandma had the same kind.”

  “He’d seen her do it a thousand times, and I guess he figured he could, too. He turned the knob to let the gas come up, just like he’d seen Mom do. Before she could blink, he’d struck a match and put it to the coil.”

  “Stop,” she said, putting up a hand. “Let me guess what happened next.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “I’m betting Ian didn’t know there were height controls on the knob and he just turned it all the way up, right?”

  He pointed his thumb and index finger at her in the form of a gun. “Got it in one. When the match hit the gas, boom. The pot shot up to the ceiling and a flame jumped onto a potholder sitting near the stove. Engulfed it in a heartbeat.”

  “Was your brother hurt?”

  “No. Mom turned at just the moment he tossed in the match and grabbed him away from the stove. He was okay. So was she. The kitchen was trashed, though. After that, none of us were ever allowed in there again when she was cooking. We didn’t even have basic food prep skills growing up. The first time I ever made toast for myself I was in college.”

  Kandy laughed. “Did you burn it?”

  Josh’s mouth split into a grin. “To a crisp.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Her heartbeat accelerated when she saw the childish glee in Josh’s eyes and the curve of his full lips. Lips she wanted to feel against her own.

  When she’d been in his arms earlier, his powerful hands caressing her back and arms, Kandy knew a peace she hadn’t felt in quite some time.

  It felt so good, so blessed good, to be held by this man. Not many men were physically matched to her height. Josh was a good several inches taller and yet she fit against him as if they were each a piece of a puzzle. She’d felt coddled and protected, secure and safe.

  But she felt much more against the hard, solid wall of his chest, his stone-cut, muscular thighs pressed against hers. Feeling safe and secure was one thing. Lust and longing were quite another. Drops of passion drizzled down her insides and puddled into a simmering heat in her pelvis. If Josh had kissed her at that moment she would have exploded all over him, giving into the escalating desire that had been drilling within her.

  Kandy was a woman who knew the benefit of the visual. Her cooking show proved it in the way its every shot was conceived to make the food look as good as it tasted.

  Because of her discerning eye, she noticed every little nuance about Josh. The way his hair fell across his neck, curling at the ends, that his eyebrows were uneven, one slightly bushier than the other. She’d memorized the line of his cheek as it curved into a jaw that was as firm and dense as an oak. She could see the lines of his chest without a shirt since she’d had a glimpse of it that morning in the gym. Broad and firm, with a smattering of hair traveling all the way down past his waist, the rest of her view hindered by the trousers riding low on his narrow hips, draped down his long legs.

  She knew she shouldn’t be distracted by such thoughts. She needed to concentrate on her work and her family. She had her plan.

  But what good was a plan if it didn’t provide for unforeseen contingencies?

  And Josh Keane was a very unforeseen contingency. A sexy, unabashedly, all-male one.

  “So thanks for letting me prove not all the Keane men are hopeless in the kitchen,” he said, pulling her out of her introspection.

  “You’re not hopeless.” She rose when the oven timer dinged. “You just need guidance.”

  When she pulled the batch of muffins from of the oven, Josh groaned.

  “Please tell me you can get extra out of that batch,” he said, one hand over his heart.

  Smiling, she put the tin down on the cooling rack and ripped off her oven mitt. “Of course I can. I always make more than I need.”

  “I’m your eternal slave,” he said, adding a sigh.

  “You’re a cliché,” she tossed over her shoulder as she checked the second oven for the status of the bread.

  “How so?”

  She turned to him and saw by the quick way his eyes darted up to her face he’d been checking out her butt while she’d been bent over.

  Her insides quaked with pure female delight.

  “The fastest way to a man’s heart is…”

  “Through his stomach,” he finished. “It’s true. In my case, anyway. A woman gives me food this good and I’ll shoot the moon for her.”

  Kandy laughed and sat back down. Downing her coffee, she stared at him over the cup and asked, “So, is there anyone waiting at home with a hot recipe file?”

  She watched his face squint into a puzzled expression. “Are you asking if I’m married?”

  She flipped her hand in the air. “Married. Involved. Whatever.” Her heart stalled like a flooded car engine while she waited for his answer.

  “None of the above.”

  When she could breathe again, she asked, “Why not? Were you ever married?”

  He shrugged. “Came close twice.”

  “What happened?”

  He leaned back in the chair, the coffee mug wrapped in his fingers. “The first, we met in high school, dated through college. Then I got accepted to the police academy. Things were fine initially. But after a few months she realized she didn’t like the gun or the danger aspect involved, not knowing if I was going to come home for dinner or be brought home in a box. That’s what she told me, anyway. She broke it off. I stayed with the police force. Since then I’ve been busy. Haven’t had time for much dating.”

  “Why did you quit the force?” she asked. “I’ve been wanting to ask you since we met. I mean, you’re still young enough to be on it.”

  She watched some unreadable emotion pass over his face as he took another hit of the coffee.

  “I’m thirty-four, for the record,” he told her. “I was on the force for seven years. And it’s not such an interesting story about why I left,” he told her. “I was forced out.”

  “What?!”

  Josh scratched absently at his chin. “Five years ago, my partner and I were involved in a shooting. We were chasing a rape suspect down an alley. The guy pulled a gun and I didn’t see it. My partner was in front of me. He took a bullet in the neck and I got shot in the shoulder. Luckily I managed to shoot the guy in the leg. He couldn’t get far after that.”

  “What happened to your partner?”

  Josh pitched forward, put his elbows on the table, his hands out in front of him on the counter, clasped. “He’s in a nursing home in Queens, pretty much brain dead. His only family, his sister, won’t give up on him. She’s a devout Catholic and prays every day for a miracle.”

  Without thinking, Kandy reached forward and wrapped her hands around his. “I’ve heard they do happen.”

  His smile was sad and she wanted to comfort.

  “Why do I get the idea there’s more to this story?”

  When he lifted his gaze and nailed her with it, the heat she felt rise throughout her system was overpowering.

  “You’re very perceptive,” he said with a sigh.

  “That’s one word for it. Grandma used to call it just being plain nosey.”

  She was happy when his mouth tilted upward. In the next instant he was all seriousness again.

  “At the time of the shooting, I was…involved with my partner’s sister. We were pretty much living together and had talked about getting married. A lot, actually.”

  He stopped and Kandy stayed silent.

  “After the shooting, things changed. She…blamed me.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Not to her. She thought—still thinks—I should have anticipated the perp would have a gun. I should have been faster to get my own gun out, should have pushed her brother out of the way. You name it, she’s thought of it. The end result is she feels I was responsible.”

  “I think she’s wrong.”

  Josh shook his
head. “I’ve been over that night so many times in my head, trying to figure out a way it could have been different, and I’ve never been able to see it ending any other way than how it did.”

  “So why were you forced to leave?”

  His gaze dropped to their joined hands. “Disability. I got shot on my dominant side, my shooting arm. I was out for more than three months recuperating. I failed my first two firearm checks after that, so the department decided I couldn’t be trusted with a weapon, even though I’d shot the guy after being shot in the arm myself. They wanted to give me desk duty. I said no. I didn’t join the force to sit at a desk. I’d wanted to be a cop since I was six. It was all I ever wanted to be. Get the bad guys. Sitting at a desk wasn’t being a cop to me. So they gave me the option of an early out and I took it.”

  Kandy could see the pain his decision had caused written in the flatness in his eyes as he spoke. She had no doubt he’d been good at his job. To be retired to a desk at such an early point in his career must have hurt.

  “You turned it around though, didn’t you?” she said. “Started your own business. Utilized your skills and knowledge of law enforcement. That’s something to be proud of.”

  He chuckled and continued staring down at their hands. “My family said pretty much the same thing.”

  Kandy realized she’d been rubbing his hands with her thumbs, comforting him much the way he had her earlier.

  “Funny thing was, after I left, I spent a ton of time getting my shooting arm back in shape. I was at the range every day for almost six months. I could pass that firearms test now with a perfect score. And with my eyes closed.”

  “Would you consider going back?”

  He didn’t hesitate before replying. “No. I’m done with it. I’ve got a good business, I’m my own boss. I’m cool with the choice.”

  “Your family’s right, you know. Stacy told me her dad hired you a few months ago to look into something having to do with his business. She wouldn’t tell me what it was, just that Uncle Max was impressed by how professional and thorough you were. High praise from him. You should be proud of what you’ve done with your life.”

  He didn’t answer for a few moments, just continued staring at their hands. All of a sudden, his head shot up and he pierced her with an intense gaze that caused her lungs to stop expanding.

  “So how come you’re not married?” he asked. “I’d think someone who values family and home as much as you do would be.”

  She wanted to tell him the plain truth. No one had ever asked her. Pride kept the words unspoken. “I’ve been busy, too,” she said, instead, “building my business, my brand. As you’ve seen in the short time you’ve been around, it’s an all-consuming entity. I don’t really have time to devote to a relationship. It’s a full time job just being in one, and men don’t like coming in second. They tend to like being number one in your universe.”

  “What about moron-boy?” Josh asked. “You made time for him.”

  She laughed with a tinge of bitterness and removed her hands from his when the second oven timer dinged. Rising to remove the bread, she pulled on her oven mitts again. “And look where that got me. I didn’t even realize I was being played. Pretty pathetic loser radar, if you ask me.”

  She took the two loaves from the oven and placed them on the cooling rack. “You want one of these muffins? They’re cool enough now.”

  She turned to ask him the question and was caught off guard when she found him right behind her, barely a hair’s width away. She stumbled back, falling into the counter. Josh grabbed her by the upper arms to steady her.

  “Careful,” he said.

  She could feel the heat from his fingers searing through her thin shirt. All he had to do was tilt his head down a tiny bit, or she could raise hers, and their lips would come together. For a moment Kandy wondered who would feel the need to move first.

  “For the record,” he said, his hands still holding her, “I think you’re wrong.”

  She swallowed. Hard. “About what?”

  “Most guys respect a woman with career aspirations and goals. If the relationship is worth it, if the woman is, we’re willing to compromise time together. It makes the time spent as a couple all the more satisfying.”

  Kandy couldn’t think of a response. In all honesty, she couldn’t think of anything but the feel of his fingers wrapped around her arms, the gentle warmth of his breath floating down across her face. Her heart was hammering against her chest and she knew he could sense the drumming since their bodies were so close. She stared up into the forest color of his eyes and lost herself in the reflection. Rising, just slightly, on her unshod toes, she arched, ready and wanting his lips on hers.

  His head bent toward hers at the same time. In the next instant their bodies were jarred apart by the shrill shriek of the wall phone.

  When Josh stepped back he said, “Wait until I get to the other line.”

  He jogged from the room while she took a deep breath and placed a hand on her quaking stomach.

  “Go ahead and pick it up,” he called.

  “Hello?” She held her breath. “Oh. Hi, Mom. No, I was just baking.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Josh replaced the receiver to give her some privacy.

  He needed some air.

  Hell, he needed to have his head examined.

  What had that scene been all about?

  He moved into the guest room, tore open the sliding doors, and went out to the balcony off his room. The warm night air slapped him in the face and he was thankful for the jolt.

  If the phone hadn’t rung he’d have had Kandy on her back, spread naked across the kitchen counter, pounding into her without a moment’s thought.

  What the hell was going on with him?

  He’d never talked about leaving the force. With anyone. Not even the police-appointed shrink he’d been forced to see. He’d dealt with the demons and disappointments alone. His own family didn’t know about the weeks he’d spent sequestered in his apartment, drinking himself into semi-consciousness night after night in an attempt to purge his mind of the nightmare. If he’d only been a split second quicker, as his partner’s sister had accused, the perp would never have gotten a shot off. If he’d ducked or turned when he saw the gun, the bullet would have missed him.

  His career, all his dreams of a life in uniform, of marriage to a woman he thought he loved, ended in a millisecond.

  It wasn’t fair.

  With time, though, he’d come to accept what he couldn’t change.

  Kandy had been correct when she’d said he’d taken his skills and made a new career for himself. He was proud of that.

  But why was he still yearning for something more? And just why did the touch of her hands covering his make every bad feeling in him slip away into nothingness? What was it about her that made him want to protect and comfort while craving to be treated the same?

  It didn’t make any sense. She was a job…a client.

  He kept repeating it, but it still wouldn’t sink in. Not when she looked at him with those warm, soulful eyes, or when she licked those full and luscious lips nature had blessed her with.

  And certainly not when she was standing before him, desire pouring off her, begging to be kissed.

  After he cleared his head he returned to the kitchen to find it empty, a note perched atop the counter.

  Josh—I’m beat. A long day tomorrow, so I’m off to snoozeville. Have a few muffins while they’re still warm. Butter’s in the fridge.

  With a deep, tired sigh, he pulled the butter out and slathered three muffins, all the while thankful he was alone.

  His reaction to Kandy Laine was perplexing. More than just the physical desire he had for her—and that was strong enough—it was the person she was who intrigued him, pulled him in, made him want to be around her. She was one of the most single-minded women he’d ever met when it came to family, something he admired her for.
She hadn’t batted an eyelash while giving Daniel her ultimatums, yet she’d been gentle with him. And her excuse for her actions was simply because he was family.

  Nepotism was the name of her game. She had the means and opportunity to supply her family with well-paying jobs and secure positions, and yet he hadn’t seen her lord it over any of them, something she could easily do since it was her money, her earnings, her hard work and sacrifice paying for their wages and lifestyles. If anything, she felt responsible for them all instead of them feeling beholden to her.

  The fact that she was so career-driven didn’t faze him in the least. It added to her fascination. At an age where she should have been going to proms, making out with boys, and trying on clothes, she’d been focused on a goal. A goal was the last thing to enter the minds of most teenagers. Kandy had put her career choice at the forefront. She’d worked hard for her achievements and could, by rights, sit back now and start to relax, having attained the kind of notoriety and success of a much more seasoned woman. Instead, she was forging ahead with new projects and plans.

  He’d discovered she was a brilliant businesswoman when he’d done a financial background check prior to accepting the job offer. Astute, brave, and savvy, she’d propelled herself, her personal image, and brand, to the top of the culinary elite, all the while giving full credit to her grandmother’s tutelage.

  Grandma Sophie may have been a great cook, but it was her granddaughter who was the clever and savvy megastar in the family tree. With every second he spent in her company, Josh was coming to enjoy being around her more and more.

  But he was here to find out who was tormenting her, not to be tormented by the sheer want of her. He had a job to do, and do it he would. He’d find out who was responsible for harassing her and when he did, when it was all behind them, he’d walk away.