|
Suspicious
Minds
excerpt...
“Problem will be
fixed by this afternoon, miss.” The building superintendent had
arrived a few minutes earlier. “I’m Ross Grayson. Just called a
repairman and he should be here within the hour. Sorry for the
inconvenience.”
“Inconvenience? It’s
freezing in here.”
“Again, I’m sorry, miss.
I’ll be back to check on you tomorrow to make
sure the heat’s been fixed.”
He walked across the
room and her eyes followed every step. Watched
the taut pull of his jeans as he moved.
She nodded, pulling her
eyes away from him. This man had one fine butt. Uncomfortable with
noticing, she grabbed her coat off a nearby counter. “If you’ll
excuse me? Now that I know the problem’s being taken care of, I need
to get back to the hospital. I have to check on Janna’s baby.”
The building’s
maintenance man strode around the kitchen, surveying things. He
stopped when he reached a pie cooling on a rack.
His brow raised as he
bent and took a deep breath, a lock of light brown hair falling over
his forehead as he did so. Straightening, his eyes locked with hers.
“Tell me this isn’t a chocolate cream pie.”
Darcy smiled at the
little boy expression on his face, easing the sexually charged
tension crawling under her skin. It was the only little boy thing
about him. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, strong thighs—the man was
drop dead gorgeous. She had a hard time thinking!
“As a matter of fact, it
is. I’ve spent so much time at the hospital,”—she smiled
wistfully—“they insisted I take a break, get away for a while. They
removed Janna’s baby’s breathing tube today. I came here to catch up
on some things. I’m not very good at cooking or baking, so I figured
I’d best learn—at least until I decide what I’m going to do about
the restaurant.” And the baby, she thought. Sighing deeply, she put
the decisions from her mind; she’d deal with them later. “Alice told
me she’d teach me how to bake some desserts, though I’m afraid she
bit off more than she can chew, if you’ll pardon the pun.” She
sighed deeply. “I have no idea how I’ll keep open this restaurant my
sister loved. Have no idea why I let her talk me into agreeing to be
the next owner if something ever happened to her. I’m not sure I’m
cut out to run it. Although it’s on the menu, I can’t serve peanut
butter and banana sandwiches all day.”
A look of delight lit
his tanned face, his blue eyes twinkling. “Need a taster? I’d be
more than happy to make certain no one gets poisoned from this.”
She laughed—first time
she’d done so in days—and resisted the urge to brush the hair from
his forehead. “Taste all you want, but I warn you, I have no idea if
it will be any good or not. Alice just left and she insisted I stay
in here until you arrived.”
A blush of clear
embarrassment crept up his cheeks. She couldn’t tear herself away
from his countenance. He reminded her of movies she’d seen of a
young Robert Redford.
“Ah. Knowing Alice, I’ll
bet that means she wanted you to bake it for me.”
“Indeed?” She cocked her
head.
He pursed his lips and
nodded. “She knows I rarely eat home cooking. She must remember
chocolate cream pie is my favorite—although I’m partial to anything
sweet.” He arched a brow as he lazily let his eyes wander from the
top of her head to her toes and back up again.
Darcy furrowed her brow.
“I really need to get back to the hospital. Tell you what, why don’t
you take the pie with you?” Turning back to the counter, she placed
her coat on it, bent and found a carry-out box.
Arms surrounded her as
she gently slid the pie inside the box. “Just one bite?”
Still locked within his
embrace, one arm on each side of her against the counter, she looked
back over her shoulder into the bluest of eyes. She bristled,
unwanted heat flooding her body. “I beg your pardon?”
His eyes lit with
mischief as he stepped back. “Of the pie. May I have just one bite
before you close the box? I warned you I’m a sugar junkie.”
Warmth rose to her face,
embarrassed by her intruding sexual thoughts. So totally unlike her.
What had she been thinking? Even worse, what had she been wanting?
Silly questions. She knew what she’d been thinking, wanting.
©2007
Leanne L. Burroughs
short
story from Recipe For Love
|
