by Peggy Jaeger
“It’s easy.” She held an ear up for his inspection. “Just grab the biggest part of the husk, twist, and yank. The rest of the covering comes without any excess effort. Try it.”
He did and was amazed when the husk came off in one piece.
“Now, what were you talking to yourself about when I came out here?” she asked, shucking another ear.
He winked an eye against the still-bright sun and said, “I was just thinking you’re doing everything for this party and you don’t have any help.”
“I do so,” she said, her brow wrinkling. “I have you.”
His mouth twisted into a scowl. “If I wasn’t here, would you have help with all the food prep?”
A heartbeat passed. “No. Why does it matter?”
“It matters because you’ve already put in about a hundred hours this week with your real job, not to mention being frightened once or twice, Kandy. I think it’s only fair someone in your family should have volunteered to help out.”
“I like working alone.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I do it all the time. I know you find this hard to believe, but cooking, baking, devising new recipes, all helps me relax. You could say it’s a very cheap form of therapy.”
“I get that,” he said, staring at her, while she deftly removed another husk in a way he envied. “I get you’re actually one of those rare people who absolutely loves what they do. It’s not just a career for you, but a way of life. But honestly, you work entirely too hard and too much.”
“I disagree,” she said, tossing another husk into the bag. “It isn’t work for me, not really. Oh, the show is, for sure. I can’t deny that. Long, sometimes boring hours; a full schedule almost every day. It does get a bit much. But for the rest, well.” She shrugged again. “I can only say I love it. I’d never be happy if I couldn’t cook.”
“And yet, I haven’t seen you eat more than two full meals since I’ve been with you.”
A wide, impish grin split her face. “That’s because it’s so much more fun cooking for other people than cooking for just me.”
He shook his head, not understanding her in the least.
It was at that moment his stomach growled.
Loudly. Enough to be heard over the roar of the surf.
Kandy’s giggle carried on the breeze billowing around them. She stood. “I’m a horrible hostess. Just because I don’t take time to eat doesn’t mean you have to starve. I’ll go get dinner started.”
He stopped her in her tracks when his hand shot up and pulled her back down into her seat.
“You will not,” he said, the steel in his voice unmistakable.
Frowning, she asked, “What?”
“We’re going out to eat,” he declared, leaving no room for discussion by his tone.
“Josh, that isn’t necessary. I can whip up something fast—”
“No, Kandy. We’re going out. As soon as this bag is finished, you’re taking a break and we’re going into town.”
“But I have so much left to do.”
“It’ll still be here when you get back, don’t worry.” He tossed his last husk into the garbage bag and stood. “You deserve a break.”
She stared up at him and he could tell by the firm tilt of her chin she was all set to argue.
He was amazed when she didn’t. Instead, she tossed her last husk into the garbage and stood with him.
“Do I get to choose where we go?” she asked, wiping her hands together.
“It’s your neighborhood.”
“Okay. Give me five minutes to freshen up.”
“Take ten.”
She smiled. “Five’s more than enough.”
As she walked back into the house he let out the breath he’d been holding since making his announcement.
That hadn’t been as hard as he’d thought it would.
Chapter Fourteen
Kandy knew of a place frequented only by the year-round residents and they’d driven to the small, secluded, off-the-beaten-path Italian restaurant for dinner.
After greeting Kandy like a prodigal daughter, Mario Cuttone led them to a table in the back of the restaurant next to a window overlooking the ocean.
“This is private. You won’t be bothered here,” he’d told them in his thick, Brooklyn accent.
They ordered fresh salmon and a radicchio salad, plus a bottle of the establishment’s best white wine.
“I haven’t been here in a while,” Kandy said, sipping her drink. “I’ve missed Mario.”
“He an old friend?”
She nodded. “His parents were friends with Grandma and Grandpa. They lived down the street. He was eating dinner at Sophie’s table with Uncle Peter before I was born.”
“What about this place?” Josh cocked his head. “Sophie have something to do with it?”
“No. Actually, Mario’s dad was a chef in Italy before they emigrated. The rumor I grew up hearing was he’d cooked for Mussolini, but I always thought it was a made-up story. Mario Senior. opened this place when Junior was in college. He left it to him when he died.”
Josh surveyed the room and nodded. “Old-world charm,” he said, taking a sip of his water. “I like places like this. The food is always great, always fresh, always plentiful.”
Kandy smiled.
When she followed it with a sigh, Josh asked, “What are you thinking about?” He rested his arms on the table in front of him.
She shook her head. “You’ll think it’s silly.”
“Try me,” he said, leaning in closer, his hands just a fraction from hers.
In the subdued, soft—dare she think romantic—lighting, Kandy could see the circle of dark green surrounding the outer, lighter color of Josh’s eyes. For a second she wished beyond hope he’d lean forward, take her face in his hands, and kiss her.
“Promise you won’t laugh?”
“I’d never laugh at you, Kandy.” His voice was filled with kindness.
She glanced down at their hands, so close, yet so far away, wanting nothing more than to grab them and place them all over her body.
“I’ve got this plan.”
When she didn’t elaborate, he tapped a finger on her clasped hands. “And?”
She ran her tongue over her teeth and stared across the table at him.
“I’ve never told anyone this. Not even Gemma.”
He waited.
“Like I said, I’ve got this plan. In two years, when my television contract expires, I’m not going to renew it. I want to open a restaurant,” she said all in one breath. “A bunch of them, really. Specializing in comfort foods. I want to use Sophie’s recipes from when we were kids. Baked macaroni and cheese, grilled ham and cheese, the best tomato soup ever. Chicken potpie to die for.”
“Why would you think I’d laugh at that?” he asked.
She lifted her shoulders. “Not you maybe, but people in general. Opening a restaurant seems like such an inconsequential thing, considering all I’ve done with my life.”
“Like a consolation prize?”
Her head whipped up and she met his eyes. “I can’t believe you said that. It’s what I’ve been thinking all along, ever since I came up with the idea. I’ve thought people wouldn’t understand why I would want to go from the limelight of a national cooking show to the relative obscurity of owning and running a small, boring restaurant.”
Josh laughed. “Believe me, when you open it, it won’t be small or boring. We all have comfort foods in our memories. Foods that make us feel good, feel loved like we were as kids. Whenever I get home, my mom always makes me her meat loaf. Sends me back with enough to last a week. I love it.”
“You should taste mine sometime,” she said with a huge grin.
“Glad to. Your restaurant will be a big hit, Kandy. In fact, I’ll make a reservation right now if you’ll take it.”
In that moment she knew without doubt he was the kind of man she could lose her heart
to if she allowed herself that freedom. The realization pierced through her like an arrow. To fall for Josh was definitely not in her plans.
But how could she help it? How could she steel herself against it? He was sweet and kind, yet totally masculine and male. He was man enough to beat the living daylights out of Evan for her, and yet he’d helped her chop and prepare the food for the party without blinking or complaining.
He was everything a man should be. Everything she’d always dreamed of finding and never had.
Her father’s defection from their family had traumatized her more than she’d ever admit. As the oldest, she’d watched her parents’ marriage unravel from a young age, knew the pain and hurt her mother had endured from his philandering and spiteful ways, and had vowed never to let a man treat her in the same fashion. When the divorce was finalized, Kandy’s emotions had warred between giving thanks, spewing anger, and feeling abandoned.
As strong-willed as she was about ever letting a man get close enough to hurt her, she’d still found herself picking men similar to her father through all her short-lived relationships.
Womanizers, narcissists, and shallow men, one and all. Evan Chandler had been the only one whom she’d thought was different. He’d never seemed to mind her tunnel vision where her work was concerned, never once argued with her when she had to choose it over time to spend with him. Kandy had thought she’d finally found a man evolved enough in his own right and secure enough in his own ego to start getting serious about.
The thought had flown once she’d found out his true motives.
Josh Keane was as different from every other man she’d ever been with—as different as chalk was from cheese.
And he’d told her more than once he was with her because he was doing his job. That’s all she was to him. Nothing more.
Looking out over the water while the sun settled low on the horizon, Kandy admitted to herself she really wanted there to be something more.
They ate with a slow and leisurely ease, enjoying the quiet atmosphere and delicious food. When it came time to settle the bill, Mario called her an idiot in Italian and kissed her on the mouth.
“You don’t pay,” he said, his firm voice brokering no debate. “You make me one of Grandma’s cheesecakes.”
Kandy laughed, hugged him, and promised she’d deliver it before heading back to the city.
* * *
“I have to admit,” she said, when they walked back through the front door of the beach house two hours later, “that was a nice break. But I still have a ton of things to do.”
She turned on the lights in the foyer and both of them immediately saw the blinking light on the dock station where she’d left her cell phone to charge.
“Go ahead and listen to it,” Josh said, coming to stand beside her, sensing her unease. Her spine had stiffened the moment she’d spotted the flashing blue light.
She took a deep breath and hit the voice mail and speaker icons.
“You have four new messages,” the mechanical voice recorder told them.
The first was a frantic call from Gemma saying she would be late arriving in the morning because a filling had come out and she had an early appointment with her dentist.
“But Abby’ll be there. Plus, I imagine you’ve got the hunk with you, so you won’t have to do everything by yourself.”
Josh’s left eyebrow rose at Gemma’s descriptive phrasing.
Kandy grinned.
The second message was from Hannah Laine.
“I’ll be a little late to the party, honey. I’m having my highlights redone at one, so I’d say four at the earliest. Carlo couldn’t get me in earlier and I do want to look good for my youngest one’s happy day. Hope this isn’t a problem.”
Kandy turned to Josh and shrugged. “You’ll understand when you meet her.”
The third call was a hangup.
Kandy stared up at Josh and he could see the pulse pounding at her neck. After the fourth beep, they both heard a familiar voice.
“Think you’re smart by running away, Kandy? Well, we’ll see who’s smart, bitch. Whore!”
The last word was shouted.
Kandy’s hand slammed the message function off.
Her breathing grew erratic and labored as she turned to face Josh.
“Let me see if I can trace it,” he said calmly as he picked the cell phone up and punched in an access code. “No,” he said a moment later. “I’m sorry.”
She ran her hands up and down her arms. “I need some tea,” she said, moving toward the kitchen. “And I need to finish up the food.”
“Kandy.”
She turned, heat and anger in her eyes. “I need to finish,” she repeated, her hands still hugging her upper arms. “I need to work. I won’t let anything, or anyone, stop me.”
Her face, just a few minutes before so happy and carefree, was now ashen and drawn. But Josh saw the determination in the hard set of her lips.
He nodded. “I’ll help.”
For the next three hours Kandy was in constant motion, not standing still once. Josh marveled at her focus and concentration. Every movement was deliberate and precise as she rolled, floured, spread, and baked herself into what he knew had to be exhaustion. He was tired just watching her.
He let her do it, though, understanding her need for the distraction.
When the last tidbit had been taken from the oven and placed in the storage refrigerator, she pulled a mop and bucket from the cleaning closet.
“You’re gonna wash the floor? Now?” He glanced down at his watch.
It was almost midnight.
“I never leave off cleaning my kitchen after a big prep,” she said, filling the bucket with hot water from the sink.
“Here, let me do it,” he said, taking over. “You’ve been going since four thirty this morning. It’s time for bed, Kandy. Go get ready. You’ve had a full, exhausting a day.”
She wouldn’t give him the mop. “I’m doing this, Josh. It won’t take more than five, ten minutes, tops.”
“Your work ethic astounds me. I can’t decide if you’re just plain stubborn or obstinate, but you’ll be no good tomorrow if you’re overtired and have a house full of company to entertain. And you still have stuff to do in the morning.”
She didn’t budge.
“Kandy, it’s midnight. You need sleep. Rest. Now let me have the mop.”
He put out his hand. She glared at it for a few beats and then ignored it, turning back to the sink to lift the bucket.
“No. You go to bed. I’m finishing this.”
“Look, I’m not playing around.”
“Of course you’re not. You’re just naturally bossy and domineering. Well, here’s a news flash, Joshua Keane,” she said, dropping the bucket back into the sink, water sloshing out the sides. “I’m a grown-up. I do want I want, when I want. And I want to wash my floor. Now. You go to bed.”
He couldn’t believe she was arguing with him over something so stupid. For that matter, he couldn’t believe he was contending with her. But something in her tone rattled him and, even though he knew it was childish, he refused to back down.
Arms crossed, legs braced in a stance of defiance, he said, “You know, I weigh double what you do. I can just take that mop out of your hands. It wouldn’t be hard at all.”
She turned back to him, the blue in her light eyes deepening. “Go ahead and try,” she challenged, one hand on her hip in a stance of rebellion, the other gripping the mop handle.
They were standing toe to toe, each unwilling to bend.
Josh’s hand snaked out to grab the mop and Kandy effortlessly slapped it away. Without missing a beat, his other hand wound around her back, yanking her full force against his chest, the mop between them.
Kandy’s cry of surprise spit from her as she stared, wide-eyed, up into his face.
They were so close he could see the pulse beating at her temple as he stared
down at her.
“Don’t challenge me if you’re not prepared to meet the consequences,” he said, his voice low and blunt.
She stared up at him, a sneer just beginning to form on her lips. “You don’t scare me.”
In the span of a heartbeat his head came down to hers, while she craned her neck toward him.
When their lips met the argument died.
Damn it.
He knew she’d feel like this, taste like this.
Heaven. Pure and total heaven.
Josh snaked his hands down her back, delighting in every curve and crevice he touched, to settle on her sweet ass. He swallowed her gasp against his mouth and gripped her butt, grinding her against his immediate, rock-hard erection.
When he felt her, soft, warm, and plastered against his body, he echoed her groan with one of his own.
He’d dreamed it would feel like this with her. Hot and spicy, delectable and scrumptious, just like her cooking. Her mouth was made for kissing, full and lush, swollen with need and desire.
Josh wanted nothing more than to eat her whole.
Clenching her even tighter, his lips left the mouthwatering taste of hers to wander across her cheeks, down to her chin. His tongue tasted the hollow behind her ear, his lips gliding across the silky skin of her neck. Like a man starved for a lifetime, he devoured her.
Kandy arched backward, giving him free access to all those regions, while clutching fistfuls of his hair in her strong hands.
His tongue laved at the exposed skin of her collarbone, trailed back up to the corner of her ear, and when he captured the small lobe in his mouth and sucked, felt Kandy shudder with such erotic violence against him, he almost dropped to his knees.
“Josh.”
He pulled back and stared down at her flushed and glowing face. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted, waiting for him to kiss her again.
She was, without doubt, the most beautiful, most desirable woman he’d ever seen.
She felt so good, so right, against him. As if they’d been created and carved for each other.
And he wanted her like he’d wanted nothing else in his life.
