A Dash of Christmas

by Samantha Chase

  Besides, she’d promised to let him have his way with her after she finished eating.

  The sooner he let her eat, the sooner they’d get to have their fun.

  Chapter 10

  It was after ten and Carter was licking chocolate sauce off Emery’s nipple. Looking down at his handsome face, she could see the pure male satisfaction written all over it. He’d taken her to places she hadn’t thought her body would ever go, and right now she just felt like a quivering mass of goo as she tried to calm her heartbeat down.

  He inched his way up her body and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Mmm…delicious.”

  All Emery could do was hum softly before collapsing against his pillows. Earlier, when he had mentioned having plans for her, she’d had no idea he could be so creative. He’d managed to combine her love of sweets with her love of him, and it made for one hell of a combination.

  Weakly, she reached up and raked a hand through his dark hair. “You’re mighty tasty yourself.”

  Carter relaxed next to her and tucked her in close to his side, placing another kiss on her forehead. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

  “Mmm…me too.” Exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her and all she wanted to do was sleep. Last night at home in her own bed hadn’t been nearly as satisfying as she’d expected and her mind had been going in a million different directions, making it impossible to get a decent night’s sleep. But now that she was here…

  “Em?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “What would you think about…working with me?”

  Slowly, she lifted her head and stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Excuse me?”

  His expression never wavered. He met her gaze head-on. “You heard me. Come work for me.”

  Clearly, she was more exhausted than she’d thought, because there was no way she was hearing him correctly. “Um…Carter?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I think we both know I am a walking disaster in the kitchen and I’m a bit of a klutz when carrying heavy trays of food. I appreciate that you want to help me, but I don’t think putting me to work in a restaurant is the way to do it.”

  Laughing softly, he gently guided her head back down to his shoulder. “That wasn’t what I was talking about. Although the images in my head now are pretty damn funny.”

  Emery pinched his side and laughed when he cried out. “Making fun of me is definitely the way to kill the afterglow of some seriously spectacular sex.”

  “Spectacular, huh?” he teased, and she pinched him again for his smugness. “Ow! Cut that out!”

  “Then stop being…you know, you!”

  “Can’t help it. This is who I am and you love it. Admit it.”

  And that’s when she knew it was the perfect time. Lifting her head again, Emery met his gaze in the dimly lit room and said the words she’d been too afraid to say for some time now. “I do, you know.” She swallowed hard. “I love you, Carter.” Then she held her breath and waited for him to laugh at her, thank her, or simply pretend he hadn’t heard her.

  One strong hand came up and cupped her cheek. “I love you too, Em,” he said with something that sounded a lot like relief. “I’ve been wanting to say it, but…”

  “But…?”

  His smile was that lopsided one she adored. “But as usual, you beat me to it.” With his hand now anchored in her hair, he guided her lips back to his and kissed her so sweetly, so tenderly, she all but melted against him. When she lifted her head, he was still smiling. “You’re everything to me. I should have told you sooner, but…I was scared. Everything that’s happened between us has been so unusual and nothing at all like I thought anything should be. The last thing I wanted to do was add any pressure on you by telling you how I felt and then having you think you had to say it back to me. I kept waiting for the perfect time and—”

  “This was the perfect time,” she said softly, resting her forehead against his. “I was afraid to say it back in Montauk because my life was such a mess. And—let’s be serious—it still is. But none of that matters, because the only constant in my life is you and I need you to know how I feel, because…well, you’re stuck with me now.”

  He arched one dark brow at her. “Is that right?”

  Nodding, she said, “Yup. You took me in and now you’re stuck with me. I’m selling my house and I quit my job and—you know, for all the conversations we’ve had, I have no idea what a typical day in the life of Carter Montgomery is like. Or a typical month! How often do you travel? How long do you stay in one place? I mean, these are the things I’m going to need to know so we can at least see each other once in a while.”

  Maneuvering them so they were facing one another, sharing a pillow, he explained to her what he meant by working with him.

  “Something came to me on that last night in Montauk,” he began, “a new idea for the restaurant.”

  She looked at him curiously and remembered that he’d never really explained to her what he was writing down in his notebook that night. “You mean like the design?”

  “No, the menu.” He chuckled. “You’re not going to believe this, but you inspired the new menu and what I want to do with it.”

  “I…I don’t understand.”

  “Do you want to know what the best part of our time in Montauk was?”

  Emery blushed thinking of some of the amazing things she and Carter had done together while they were there. He lightly pinched her and she flinched. “Hey! What was that for?”

  “Such a dirty mind you have,” he teased lightly. “I’m being serious and your mind instantly went to the gutter. For shame.”

  Rolling her eyes because she knew he was teasing, she forced herself to be serious. “Okay, fine. Tell me what the best part of our time in Montauk was.”

  “It was the creativity you inspired in me—in my cooking,” he amended. “It really got me thinking and now I want to incorporate comfort foods into the restaurant—maybe even make that the entire theme of the place. There are enough high-end restaurants out there already. Wouldn’t it be nice to have something different? Something that’s not a diner, but it’s not a hundred dollars a plate, either.”

  The idea definitely had merit, she thought. How many times had she wanted to go someplace nice to eat and found she was disappointed because the food was overpriced and the portions small? And on top of that, most of the selections weren’t what she was looking for. What Carter was suggesting was really intriguing.

  “So what price point were you thinking of? Who is your target clientele? What will the interior look like?”

  He laughed again and hugged her close. “These are all the things I’m trying to work out and want your help with. I want to set up a test kitchen with you and maybe get some of the locals involved to see what we can do.”

  The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. “It’s so close to the holidays, Carter. I know you have an opening date in mind, but with all this new information, you may have to change that. Are you prepared to? Can you?”

  “I’m going to have to, because I refuse to open the place until it’s perfect. There’s going to be a bit of trial and error involved that I haven’t had to do before, but if we play around with ideas over the holidays, then kick off the New Year and hit the ground running, we just might be able to have a soft opening in the early spring.”

  “I guess we could. Where would we start? Where would we set up?”

  “We go back to Montauk. We sit down and talk food and menus and options, and then we start cooking and testing. Once we have the menu set, we talk about décor, and then I start looking for staff to work for us.”

  “Us?” she squeaked. “You mean you, right? I mean…it’s your place and you’re the boss and—”

  His fi
nger rested on her lips to silence her. “Us, Em. We are going to create this together. If it wasn’t for you and your crazy eating habits and you forcing me to leave my pretentious comfort zone, I would never have thought of this.”

  Holy crap was that a lot of pressure on her.

  Which was what she said to him. “Carter, just because I’m a weirdo who likes to eat that kind of food doesn’t mean you’re going to find customers who are willing to come out and eat it. It’s too much pressure on me. If this doesn’t work out and the restaurant tanks, I’d never be able to forgive myself! Please tell me you have a Plan B!”

  “There’s always a Plan B,” he said reassuringly. “That’s why we do a test kitchen and market research. We may end up with this being just part of the overall menu.” He shrugged as if it weren’t a big deal. “But it could also be a phenomenal success and we start a trend and this new model becomes the one I make into a chain. Can you imagine having dozens of restaurants with your menu?”

  She was going to be sick.

  “Carter, you’ve been mocking my food choices for over a month and all of a sudden you’re talking like it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever heard. Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

  “Never been better. Trust me.” Pulling her in close, he kissed her again. Slowly. Thoroughly. When he pulled back a few minutes later, he gave her a lazy smile. “Think about it, okay? You don’t have to decide right now. Tomorrow I’ll take you out sightseeing and we’ll spend the rest of the week here, and then—if you’re up for it—we’ll go check out my other two locations so you can get a feel for my business. And by the time we’re done, it will be time to head out to Megan and Alex’s for Thanksgiving. What do you say?”

  Right now she couldn’t do more than yawn and fight to keep her eyes open. “Sounds good,” she whispered.

  “I love you, Em.”

  “Love you too.” And then she was asleep.

  The next time she opened her eyes, the room was bright, the sun was shining, and she was sprawled out in Carter’s bed alone. Slowly, she rolled over and sat up. Feeling a little disoriented, she looked around and saw the clock read eight fifteen.

  Carter was already up and working in the kitchen. Emery could hear him moving around and could smell coffee brewing.

  Bless him, she thought.

  Yawning broadly, she stretched and was about to kick off the blankets when Carter appeared in the doorway. “Good morning.”

  She smiled and ran a hand over her hair in an attempt to smooth it a bit. “Good morning. What time did you get up?”

  Pushing off the door frame, he walked into the room and sat on the bed beside her. “About an hour ago.” He kissed her softly. “Did you sleep okay?”

  Nodding, she replied, “I did.”

  “Hungry?”

  “Always.”

  He smiled and kissed her again before standing to pull his robe from his closet, handing it to her. “Breakfast is almost ready. I hadn’t gone shopping since I got back and did a quick run this morning so we would have something to eat. I know you favor waffles, so I whipped up a couple of Belgian ones and they’re warming right now. And your coffee is waiting.”

  “You spoil me, Carter.”

  Gently, he pulled her from the bed and his gaze raked over her naked body. Before she could say anything else, he helped her into the robe. “Breakfast,” he said gruffly. “I’m going to go plate everything.” And then he was gone.

  Part of Emery loved how he seemed tempted to forget about the food and start the day right back in the bed, but part of her loved how he took his food and her appetite even more seriously.

  Securing the robe around her, Emery padded out to the kitchen just as Carter was putting their plates on the breakfast bar. She hopped up on a stool and reached for the mug of steaming-hot coffee waiting for her. The first sip was glorious. Not only could the man cook like a dream, but he made a fine cup of coffee too.

  Truly the total package.

  Last night there had seemed to be so much to talk about and they had barely scratched the surface. Although the most important things were said.

  She loved Carter.

  And he loved her.

  All the rest would fall into place, right?

  Today she was looking forward to having Carter show her around the city, enjoying all the magnificent food she’d heard about. Of course, she would do her best not to compare it to his cooking, but she had a feeling he was going to ask at some point. No doubt his ego could take a little comparison, but she was learning when to be playful with him and when to tread lightly. This was his career, after all.

  It was humbling.

  It was terrifying.

  It was…awesome.

  That one simple request from him meant more to Emery than anything she’d ever been asked before in her entire life. It showed that he trusted her—no matter how much he teased. And because of that, because he trusted her, she wouldn’t let him down.

  Sitting beside her, Carter gave her a sexy grin. “Dig in, beautiful.”

  And she did.

  * * *

  Their time in New Orleans flew by and before she knew it, they were on a plane to Orlando to check out Carter’s newest restaurant. They spent the weekend and a few days afterward playing tourists, hitting up the theme parks and enjoying more amazing food. All the walking they did during the day made her feel better about eating so much at night.

  They stayed in Florida through the middle of the week before flying out to LA to do it all again. She enjoyed it, but soon realized she was an East Coast girl at heart and sitting around spotting celebrities wasn’t really her thing. After only three days, they flew out to Vegas.

  “You know,” she said when they’d boarded the plane, “this is the one location you don’t talk about. Why?”

  He shrugged and accepted his beverage from the flight attendant.

  “Come on,” she urged. “There’s a story there. I can tell.”

  He took a sip of his drink and shifted to face her. “LA and NOLA were more than I ever thought I’d achieve. I was riding the high of their success and was approached to do a spot in Vegas on the Strip.” He took another sip. “I have a ton of investors and this one just sort of…I don’t know, I don’t have a connection to it.”

  “Why?”

  Sighing loudly, he placed his drink down on his tray table. “I used to love traveling to New Orleans and trying all the food. To me it was like the ultimate eating destination. LA wasn’t quite like that, but I got caught up in the atmosphere and the people. When I think of Vegas, it’s not the food I’m thinking about. It’s the shows, hotels, and gambling.”

  That comment stayed with her for a minute. “Okay, maybe I’m overthinking this, but if that’s how you feel, then…why Montauk? What is it about that location that has you wanting to open a place there? Where’s the connection?”

  “You’re not overthinking it at all,” he assured her. “Montauk is…it’s my happy place. Whenever I want to get away, it’s where I go—just…never during the summer months,” he added with a small laugh. “I love the town, I love the architecture, I love the privacy and the way I feel when I’m there. That’s why the idea of comfort food hit me so hard. Montauk is my comfort, so it only makes sense for the restaurant to share that vibe.”

  “Interesting.”

  “I’ve tried not to push, but…”

  She knew exactly where he was going. They hadn’t talked any more about her working for him—even though she clearly wasn’t putting much effort into looking for work anywhere else.

  “There’s so much to think about, Carter. I know you’re excited about this and I love how you’ve put your trust in me.”

  “But…?”

  “But we’ve spent so much of our lives competing with one another and not trusting each other and…I don�
��t know. I guess I don’t want you doing this out of some sort of misplaced feelings or something.”

  “That makes zero sense,” he said flatly.

  Now it was her turn to sigh loudly. “Okay, hear me out.”

  “Fine.”

  “Right now we’re in this really great place—this aspect of our relationship is new and wonderful and everyone is happy and in love.”

  “All good things.”

  “I know, I know,” she said, organizing her thoughts. “But why are you just starting to trust me now? We’ve known each other for most of our lives. Sex didn’t change me or the way I think or do things, so…why are you so willing to trust me now?”

  Carter’s expression went from pleasant to neutral to fierce in a matter of seconds, but he stayed silent.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it. I do. But the timing seems a little odd, that’s all. If we hadn’t started sleeping together and hung out in Montauk exactly as we had—minus the sex—would you be willing to do this?”

  “Yes,” he said adamantly, fiercely. “Yes, I would. I’m not about to screw around with my business because you’re good in bed, Emery.”

  The way he said it sounded crude and she was both offended and ashamed of herself for bringing it up. But if they were going to do this—if they were committed to this relationship—they were going to have to talk to one another about things that were uncomfortable. They’d never shied away from it before and she wasn’t willing to change that now.

  “I would hope not,” she snipped, “but then again, I don’t know much about your thought process and how you plan these things. I thought talking about it would help.”

  “And has it?”

  Honestly, it was like he was trying to be difficult. “At the moment? No. No, it hasn’t.” Letting out a long breath, Emery glared at him before taking a sip of her drink. “What is it you want me to say, Carter?”

  “I want you to say you’ve thought about my offer and you’re going to work with me!” he said with a little more heat than she expected. The gentleman across the aisle leaned forward and looked at them, and Carter quickly lowered his voice. “I didn’t think you were going to require so much time to think this over. You’ve always been decisive.”