Hired: The Cinderella Chef

by Myrna Mackenzie

  They’d been in bed together.

  Darcy groaned as she realized just how vivid her dream had been. She reached out and pulled a pillow over her head, but that didn’t erase the vision or the bereft sensation she felt now that the dream had ended and reality had set in.

  Dreaming about making love with Patrick? No wonder his sisters were concerned. She was acting like a fool. Just because he had kissed her a couple of times.

  He’d probably kissed a thousand women. And walked away from every one.

  Except for maybe Angelise, Darcy thought, remembering the statuesque brunette with perfect breasts, a tanned, fit body and killer legs made even more gorgeous by the lacy stilettos she’d been wearing.

  “Stop it,” she muttered from beneath her pillow just as she realized that someone was knocking on her door.

  Immediately she sat up, shrugged on a robe, transferred herself into her chair and rolled over to slide the pocket door open.

  “How was it?” Cerise asked before the door had completed its slide. “You came home so late that I didn’t get a chance to ask. Did Patrick walk you home?”

  He had. And as he had seen her into the house, he had slid his palm over her cheek and thanked her once again in that low, deep voice that had seemed incredibly intimate in the darkness.

  Where in the world was her pillow? She had to stop the images, the memories, the longings.

  Yeah, that would really decrease Cerise’s curiosity. Darcy took a deep breath and managed a composed smile. “It was very successful. The meal went well, and I had people asking me to cater their parties.”

  “Wow, I’m impressed, but how does Patrick feel about that?”

  And just like that, it hit Darcy full force. “Patrick will be flying overseas in a few weeks. He’ll be gone a long time and he won’t be needing my services after that.”

  And when he returned, Darcy thought, would he marry the beautiful Angelise and settle down to have babies? Darcy’s breath caught, her throat burned. How foolish she was to have had those fantasy dreams of him. Their worlds and their lives were so different…

  She clenched her hands on the wheels of her chair as if to remind herself of that.

  “Did you hear that Julio’s company laid him off yesterday?” Cerise asked, changing the subject.

  Immediately, indignation and regret shot through Darcy. Not Julio. That was so unfair. Julio was a favorite of everyone at Able House. He had been much older than the rest of them when he’d suffered his injury and his recovery had taken longer, so just getting back into life had been more difficult. His injury had been no impediment to his job as a midlevel executive at an insurance firm and for the past few years he’d returned to his old field. But he was already in his fifties and it would be difficult to face having to start over again. Getting a new job at his age would be a challenge.

  “Did you hear what I said, Darce?”

  Darcy blinked. “I’m sorry. I missed the last part.”

  “Patrick found him a job as an apprentice piano tuner. Julio is in love with the idea!”

  “A piano tuner?”

  “Sure. You know how he loves to play that baby grand in the lobby.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Apparently Patrick noticed his skill, questioned him about it and when he heard about the problem yesterday, he made some calls, pulled some strings and now Julio is over the top. He hated the insurance business.”

  And who else but Patrick would have even thought to notice or to put two and two together and come up with such a perfect solution? Patrick’s attentiveness to detail, the care he took with all of them made Darcy’s heart fill. And break. Patrick was the kind of man every woman wanted to know. But could a woman know this much of him and not want to know more? But to open up that way to a man who was determined to leave…could she survive the heartbreak when he left her behind?

  “Still,” Cerise said. “All is not well.” She related her concerns to Darcy. One of the other residents had had a run-in with one of the few neighbors who continued to resent having so many wheelchairs cruising around the elite neighborhood and, supposedly, negatively impacting their property values. Words had been exchanged. There had nearly been blows. It had been ugly.

  Darcy frowned. “Don’t tell Patrick,” she said. “And tell everyone else to keep it a secret from him, too. Patrick will only worry, and this is something he can’t fix. He can’t change every person’s opinion of us, and I don’t want him to leave here concerned that things aren’t right for the residents of Able House. If he’s concerned…”

  She didn’t want to be a responsibility to him, a loose end he hadn’t tied up. Darcy bit her lip.

  “Darce?”

  Darcy looked at her friend. “I’ll spread the word,” Cerise promised. “Are we still going dancing tonight? You said we’d hit the Domenici Ballroom out in the suburbs. I assume Jared will be there?”

  Jared? Darcy had almost forgotten about him. That wasn’t right at all. Jared was the man she should be thinking about. They had a lot in common. He was a nice man, a handsome man. For sure, she would try to start thinking of him romantically, but for now…

  “We’re going,” she agreed. “We’ll talk more later. I have to get ready for work now.”

  I have to get ready to steel myself not to think about kissing Patrick when I see him this morning, she thought.

  But later, when she finished setting up the small buffet she had arranged for breakfast and Patrick, the only early riser in the house, came up behind her, she turned and the first thing she looked at was his lips. And those arms that had held her, those hands that had touched her…

  She caught herself and frowned.

  “Don’t,” he said just as if she had spoken. “I’m not going to touch you again if you don’t want me to.”

  She wanted him to. “It wouldn’t be a good idea,” she told him. Or was it herself she was reminding?

  Darcy started to retreat to the kitchen.

  “Could I have a minute of your time?” he asked.

  She stopped moving and waited.

  Patrick sat down in a chair beside her. “In two days time, I’m supposed to be helping out at a fund-raiser for a children’s charity. It was organized before you started working for me, and since it’s a brief affair, food wasn’t to be a part of it. But Eleanor, who’s also involved, apparently had one of those middle-of-the-night aha! moments. She asked if I could convince you to prepare some treats for the kids, but I don’t want you to feel obligated in any way. I know that’s not in your job description.”

  She looked at Patrick and saw that he was studying her intently. That dark green gaze seemed to see parts of her soul that she had been trying very hard to keep hidden.

  “This is an event where there will be lots of children,” he said, his voice deep and low and gentle. “And…your aversion to my nephews at dinner was more than simple dislike, wasn’t it?” he asked.

  Indignation and remorse threatened to overwhelm her. “I didn’t dislike them! I couldn’t. They’re adorable. Sweet. So very little and innocent, but…”

  Patrick waited.

  “It’s not that simple,” she finally said. “Remember how I told you that I was engaged when I had my accident?”

  “Of course. Your fiancé turned out to be a shallow imbecile.”

  She managed a slightly wobbly smile. “Thank you, but there’s more. I wasn’t just engaged. I was pregnant. I lost my baby.”

  He leaned toward her. “Darcy…”

  She held up one hand. “I’m not telling you this so that you’ll feel sorry for me, but so that you’ll understand. I could never dislike your nephews. I just can’t—”

  As if he didn’t even see her hand, Patrick reached out. “Darcy,” he said again, pulling her onto his lap and tucking her against him. “I’m so sorry you lost your child.”

  Darcy felt warm and safe lying here against Patrick’s heart. She felt as if she could tell him anything. “It wasn’t jus
t the loss of my baby that made me this way,” she said. “Under other circumstances, I think I might have healed a bit more than I have or maybe even tried again. As it was, not long after I finished my physical therapy when I was first learning to get around in the chair, I was in a shopping center where I’d gone to practice maneuvering. As I was moving past a flight of stairs, I looked up. Back in those days I always looked up when I saw stairs. The newness and the despair of realizing that staircases had become as insurmountable as a snow-capped Mount Everest seemed to draw my attention every time. But this time, it wasn’t just the stairs. There was a little girl, a toddler standing at the top of the staircase, playing. Her mother must have moved away or looked away for a minute, and the child…she was so close to the edge and she was ungainly in the way children of that age are.

  “In my mind, I can still see her taking one more step and I can still feel the horror that there was no way I could even begin to try to help her in time. I yelled, but I didn’t think anyone heard. The little girl pitched forward and…just as she did, someone, another woman shot past me and caught her. She’d fallen a step or two and was banged up a bit, but she hadn’t tumbled very far. I was so relieved, but also…so scared. I kept thinking, what if that person hadn’t passed by at that moment? And what if I ever had a child? I couldn’t chase her in that kind of a situation. I might not be able to move fast enough or to reach her if she was somewhere that my chair wouldn’t go and…I just can’t have children,” she finished quietly, looking up at Patrick. “I can’t—I don’t want to be too near children. It’s just so painful. The fear is always there. The loss is always there, because I wanted them…so much.”

  “Shh, Darcy, Darcy,” Patrick said, rocking her in his arms. “I promise you I won’t put you through that. I won’t—I’m calling Eleanor and telling her no.”

  Instantly Darcy sat up. “No, that’s not what I meant. You’ll do no such thing.”

  Patrick looked startled.

  “I mean…don’t call Eleanor, please,” Darcy said, realizing that she had, once again, forgotten that Patrick was her boss. She quickly pushed away from him and transferred herself to her chair. “I can’t be with them, but…preparing the food…that is one thing I can do for a child. I can be anonymous but still give something. It’s such a small thing, but it would mean a lot to me. Please let me help in this one little way,” she said.

  He shook his head.

  Darcy frowned. “Why not? Are you telling me no?”

  “I’m telling you yes. I’m telling you that you’re an amazing woman, Darcy Parrish.”

  But she couldn’t allow herself to accept compliments from him, not when she felt herself to be a coward. Had she really been so far gone that she had allowed him to take her onto his lap? She could have said no. She was sure he would have listened to her. That was the kind of man he was.

  Instead she had snuggled up to him and fallen even farther into infatuation.

  “Hey, this isn’t such a big deal. It will be fun for me,” she said, knowing that it would be a form of torture, of penance for not being more mentally tough. And staying here with Patrick any longer was only going to test her resolve to back away from what she was beginning to feel for him.

  “I’d better go think of something to make.” She turned away.

  “Thank you. I have to get going, anyway. I’m on my way over to Able House.”

  Uh-oh. Her mind went on full-alert. “Something wrong?” Had he heard about the new argument with the neighbor and the heated words that had been exchanged?

  “No, not at all. Just details. Eric is moving to Tennessee, but I guess you knew that.”

  “Oh. Sure.” She smiled brightly. Maybe too brightly.

  “Something wrong?” he asked, using her own words.

  “No. Nothing.” Darn. Definitely too bright. She’d been caught off guard with no time to don her poker face.

  Patrick leaned close. He bent down. “Okay, you don’t want to share?” he whispered near her ear, sending a thrill through her body. “I won’t pry into your secrets.”

  That was good, because her darkest secret was that while she had promised herself she wouldn’t be interested in Patrick, she was. She wanted to feast on his kisses.

  Thank goodness she was going dancing with Jared tonight. Surely if she paid more attention to him, common sense would kick in, she would develop an attraction to Jared, their friendship might turn into something more, and this insane something she was feeling for Patrick would completely disappear.

  Maybe she’d even be on the road to being over him by tonight.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  PATRICK lay awake in the gathering light the next morning and cursed the reason why he had tossed and turned all last night. When he’d gone to Able House yesterday, Cerise, who taught fitness classes, had been the only resident around and she’d practically been bouncing around in her chair.

  “You look happy,” Patrick had told her, and she had explained to him that she and Darcy were going dancing later that evening with some friends. It had been clear from the glow in her eyes that the friends were men.

  The cop, he had thought. Be happy for Darcy, he’d told himself.

  He was. He was also something else, something unacceptable, and he didn’t want to think about that. He had no business being jealous of Jared O’Donahue just because the man had spent the evening dancing with Darcy. And yet…

  Patrick let out a growl, got out of bed and stood under a cold shower. Then, he went to the kitchen and prowled around. Darcy wasn’t there, but Lane was.

  “Where is she?” he asked.

  Lane didn’t even bother pretending she didn’t know. “Cara and Amy are coming over. I wanted to have breakfast on the lawn, so I had your new gardener carry the tables and gear out. Darcy is out there with a blender and some secret ingredients making something luscious, fruity and frothy for us to drink.”

  Patrick nodded. He made a beeline for the French doors and continued on a straight line until he reached the semi-shaded area at the far end of the broad expanse of lawn where Darcy was working her magic.

  She stopped her blender at his approach. “Bad night?” she asked. “You look grumpy.”

  “You’re not supposed to tell your boss he looks grumpy,” he said.

  She peeked up at him from beneath those long eyelashes, a mischievous look on her face. “Too late. I already did.”

  “You seem very lively this morning. Have a good evening?” Patrick cursed himself for not being able to prevent himself from asking the question. Dammit, her private life was none of his business, was it?

  Her wonderfully expressive face had grown more pensive at his question. Slightly distressed.

  “Forget I asked that. Cerise told me that you were going dancing, but I shouldn’t be intruding on your privacy.”

  “No, it’s all right. Really.” She waved her hand, dismissing his concern. It’s just, I should have had a good time. I’ve loved the lessons so far. The dancing is exciting and fun and I love learning new things, but up until now the lessons have been private. Last night, at a public ballroom where we stood out so much, I felt as if I was on display. It was a small crowd, so it wasn’t completely terrible, but…it was uncomfortable. I felt as if we were taking up too much space on the dance floor.”

  “You had as much right to be there as everyone else.”

  Darcy laughed suddenly, a bright sound. “Thank you for saying that, but…I wish you could see your face. You look so wonderfully miffed on my behalf. A little bit pompous, too, as only someone of your stature can be.”

  Patrick couldn’t help himself then. “As if you care about my stature.” And wasn’t that part of Darcy’s appeal? She didn’t care about his rank. She didn’t care about…

  He stopped himself cold. He’d been nearing forbidden territory again. “Was Jared there, then?” he asked, wading right in where he didn’t want to go.

  “Who’s Jared?” Cara’s voice broke into his though
ts and Patrick turned to see his sister marching across the lawn, toddler in hand.

  He felt the lightness fade right out of Darcy even though he couldn’t see her. Panic, sadness emanated from her. He could sense it. And—was it his imagination or did she retreat further behind the table?

  “Jared is a friend of Darcy’s,” he said. “And none of our business.”

  “Oh? Sounds delicious,” Amy said, following her sister. “I’m happy for you, Darcy.” She sounded happy, too. Too happy.

  Patrick shot her a warning look. He quickly scooped up Charlie on one arm and Davey on the other as if to protect Darcy, even though his nephews were loving little boys. “Hey, scamp,” he said to Charlie.

  “Me, too?” Davey said.

  “Absolutely, you, too. I was just going to say hi, scoot,” he told Davey. The little boy beamed.

  Patrick felt Darcy’s eyes on him and turned to catch a look of such pained longing, such utter sadness that he quickly made his excuses and started to carry the boys away.

  “You haven’t had your breakfast,” Darcy said, but her voice seemed a bit broken.

  “It’s all right, Darcy,” he said, even though it was clear that nothing was all right. “I’m fine.”

  She got a stubborn look in her pretty eyes. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You shouldn’t miss it.”

  Amy’s and Cara’s eyebrows rose.

  “I know. I have a bad habit of lecturing him. I’m working on it,” she told his sisters, that stubborn, unbending look still firming up that pretty chin of hers.

  “I wouldn’t worry about trying to learn not to lecture him,” Lane said as she came outside, too. “After all, he’s leaving the country soon. Then how you treat him will be a moot point since he won’t even be around. By the time he comes back, who knows? He might be married and have a wife who cooks for him and lectures him.”