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“It felt good.” There, her words were the truth, but it also felt like a kind of confession. “Hearing the words from you. I’m sure you knew that when I came to work in your kitchen I was scared almost out of my mind.”
His hand paused, lowering the handkerchief. “I never had that impression of you, Caroline. Never. I recall thinking you were coming to work in my kitchen to take over. People gravitated to you from day one.”
“They took pity on me.” She smiled thinking of the people that had worked for him back then. “Fresh out of culinary school. I would be one of two things to a staff like yours. They would either see me as ‘Fresh Meat’ or they’d be kind.”
“My staff,” he shook his head, “isn’t kind. They respected you. The fact that you went toe-to-toe with me only made them like you more.”
“And Stephen was right about staging for you.”
“He told me that you didn’t want to work for me.” He leaned forward and put a hand on her knee. “He called me about you before I made my decision to take you on.”
She lifted a brow at his words.
“He told me that by the end of your time with me I’d either love you or hate you.”
Caroline cringed at his words. “He didn’t tell me that.”
Lucas’ lips turned up in a smug smile. “Of course he didn’t.”
Silence fell between them again as they went into their own thoughts. Caroline didn’t know what was in his head, but she knew what was in hers.
That night.
“That last night, after Stephen left, when we were alone.” She shook her head, frustrated with herself. “Never mind.”
“No,” his fingers gripped her leg tighter, “no never mind. What were you going to say?”
“Why? Why did you kiss me?” She still had more questions resting on the back of her tongue. She had more she wanted to know. More she wanted to say but that question was at the tip of the iceberg. “Do you… have you done that before?”
It looked like he drew in a breath to steady himself, but she felt his thumb gently stroke the inside of her thigh.
“I could play coy and give you an answer meant to stall, but I want to answer you as long as you answer a question for me.”
Her heart kicked against her ribs and made her breaths shallow as she managed to nod and agree. “Okay.”
His smile reminded her of that night. The warmth she felt being near him was something she never forgot. Or the hard length of him pressed up against her own heat. Sitting there before him she felt that same heat arcing from him and into her. She just didn’t know if she wanted him to be aware of it.
“Do you want me to answer first?” She almost spat the words out, too nervous for her own good.
She watched him ponder the matter and she wasn’t sure she liked the serious set of his features when she’d seen him just a few hours before, smiling so easily.
“No.” He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple bob under his chin. “I’ll answer you first. No. I don’t do that. Not ever. A chef’s kiss, cheek to cheek, that would almost be expected with a woman, but I can count on two fingers the number of women who have staged in my kitchens. Not because I won’t take them, but few have the courage to do so even though they would have access to their knives.”
A corner of her mouth kicked up and she mumbled a bit under her breath. “I thought you weren’t going to be coy?”
He drew in a breath and she couldn’t help but notice the line of his shoulders under his linen shirt. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but she swore he looked better than he did before. “Maybe I can’t keep it back when I’m with you. Some things are impossible to do when you’re this close to me.”
His gaze dropped down to her lips and she wondered if he might be feeling the same attraction she was.
A stubborn muscle ticked in his jaw. “I kissed you because I couldn’t stop myself. All those months putting up with your smart mouth. I knew I needed to feel it under mine. Once I held you in my arms, I didn’t want to leave it there.” He leaned in closer and she felt his hand stretch across her thigh.
She might be at the end of her thirties, but being this close to him made her almost feel like she was back in her college days, hormones just under the surface, ready to boil up at a moment’s notice when the hot guy down the hall comes knocking after weeks and weeks of flirting.
“And I want to know,” he leaned over her, making her tip her head back to look into her eyes, “I need to know…”
She was breathless, her ribs lifting in shallow gasps as her hands clutched at the sofa.
Just one word.
