Heat pounding harder. Body throbbing. Girly parts…tingling. She’d love for him to show her who was boss. Would he…
“Crack the egg, Julia.”
She turned her head so that she could see the egg. Focus! And not on the idea of him demonstrating his “boss-ness”. That kind of thinking would lead to…bad things.
Sighing, she blinked hard, trying to wipe out the images flashing through her mind. With another light tap, the egg cracked, forming a perfect line. “I did it,” she breathed excitedly. She glanced back at him, but the look of approval in his green eyes was too intense and she had to look away.
“Do it again,” he urged softly, handing her another egg.
She blinked as she looked down at the egg in her hand. When she hesitated to crack the shell, he gently laid his hand over hers and helped her. Once again, a perfect crack and no shattered shell fragments. Two more times, she cracked the egg with his help and Julia struggled to hide her body’s intense, crazy reaction to his touch.
“Good job,” he murmured when she finished the last one. Was his voice huskier? Or was that just her own imagination? He’d spoken to her like that in her dreams. Too many times! “Now the milk.”
She sighed with relief when he moved beside her. As much as she loved feeling his strong, muscular chest against her back, it was…distracting. Painfully, brutally distracting!
Blinking, she focused on the present. Not on the fantasy that had repeated over and over in her mind the past several years.
“How much milk?”
He shrugged and she gave him the Evil Eye. His soft laughter affected her almost as potently as his closeness.
“Half a cup,” he replied.
Julia turned to look for a measuring cup. “There aren’t any,” he told her. “At least, not that I know of.”
She turned back to him, frantically trying to make sense of this scene. And the lack of measuring cups! “Why do we not have any measuring cups?”
Once again, he moved closer, his large, strong hand burning against her back while his chest brushed against her arm as he reached for the carton of milk sitting on the metal countertop. “Because I don’t measure anything. I cook by instinct. So, there’s not really a need for measuring cups when one doesn’t use them.”
Good point. “I’ll get some measuring cups later.” She watched while he poured what she assumed was half a cup of milk into the eggs. His hands were so strong, so sure. Would he touch a woman like he cooked? Would his long, sexy fingers touch her breast like…?
“Pepper.”
Julia had no idea what he was talking about. “Pepper?”
Tony handed her the pepper grinder and she stared at it for a long moment, trying to figure out what it was. Her mind didn’t work properly with Tony this close. Touching her. Making her head spin.
“Turn the end,” he explained, as his hand moved higher on her back. Then lower. Too low! Julia wanted to toss the pepper grinder across the room and lean into his touch, forget about eggs, cooking, and spices, and just…beg Tony to touch her.
But she inhaled and looked at her hands, fumbling for a moment before she finally was able to twist the end and grind the pepper into the eggs and milk.
“Now garlic.”
Thankfully, he moved away from her to retrieve garlic from the shelf and that allowed Julia enough space to think properly. Garlic. Yeah, his food usually included garlic.
Then a thought occurred to her and she swung around. “Oh!” she straightened, excited. “I watched videos of this last night! Where’s the garlic press? I can do this one!”
He laughed. “You don’t need a garlic press. Just use the knife. You’ll get more crushed garlic that way.”
Her mouth opened and closed with confusion. “But…! The press! You just stick the garlic in and press. The crushed garlic comes out the other side.”
He shook his head and handed her a knife, impressively spinning it around so that the handle was facing her. “Knife.”
She stared at the knife, realizing that this wasn’t just any knife. This was one of his special chef knives. “You don’t let anyone use your knives,” she whispered reverently. Every chef bought a set of knives that were forged steel, well balanced, and cost thousands of dollars. And every chef protected their set from everyone else. No one was allowed to use one of Tony’s knives! He was adamant about that and everyone who stepped into his kitchen knew that sacred rule. Tony even had his name engraved on every handle.
“You’re special. I’ll let you use my knife.” He leaned in closer. So close! “This time,” he whispered.
When he pulled back, Julia was both flustered and amused. “That’s very sweet of you,” she said, as she turned back to the counter. “Although a garlic press is faster.”
She said it just to rile him and it worked. Unfortunately, her taunt backfired.
Pressing up against her, he growled low and sexy. “Who is teaching who?” he grumbled and his muscular arms wrapped around her once again. He put the knife in her hands, and pulled a cutting board closer, which pressed his groin more firmly against her bottom…just like she’d wanted moments before. But now that he was…and she felt every part of him…she could barely breathe!
Letting out a breath when he pulled back, she gripped the knife in her hand as if it might keep her from falling down. “Relax, Julia. Cooking is relaxing.”
Not when the man who starred in way too many of her dreams was doing things that were better than her dreams. And in her dreams, they were both naked! This was crazy!
“Turn the knife, on the flat side, and crush the clove with your hand on top.” He shifted the knife. “Like this,” and he leaned into her back again. She felt the rigid part of him against her bottom and…Wait? Rigid?
“You’re not paying attention, Julia,” he pointed out and she glanced down, watching as he used the knife to mince the crushed garlic. “Now just scrape that into the bowl with the eggs and milk.”
Her fingers trembled slightly as she lifted the cutting board to push the garlic into the mixture with the edge of the knife. Not wanting him to realize how much he was affecting her, she quickly put the knife and board down. “What else?”
“Keep things simple your first time.”
She stepped away from him. “What would you do?”
He leaned against the countertop. “Depends on what I am putting in as the meat and cheese. I might add some fresh basil or rosemary from the greenhouse. Or maybe some ginger just to be different.” He shrugged. “I have lots of different ideas.”
She looked up at him carefully, then shook her head. “You’d do a whole lot more to it. I’ve watched you cook. You’re crazy in here.”
Tony only laughed as he walked over to the fridge. “Yeah, but you love everything I make you.”
He had a valid point. But he was missing the issue. “I didn’t like that eggplant stuff you made as the house special last week.”
He brought back already grated cheddar and the ground sausage he’d used in last night’s meal. “I didn’t make that for you,” he came right back and kissed the top of her head. “I know you hate eggplant. That’s why we had the scallops for dinner together after closing.”
Her scalp tingled where he’d kissed it and she felt even more flustered. Especially when he confirmed that he’d cooked something special, just for her. Could a woman sigh with happiness? Probably – but then he’d ask why, and she’d have to come up with some silly answer. Better to just smother her sighs.
“Yeah, seafood is my favorite.”
“I know,” and he pushed the plastic bin of cheese closer. “That’s why I made it.”
As she lifted a pinch of cheese from the bin and dumped it into two of the small mini casserole dishes, she thought about that night. Scallops hadn’t been on the menu. She turned suddenly. “You made the scallops specially for me, didn’t you?”
He didn’t answer. “You like your eggs cheesier. Add more cheese.”
Juli
a hesitated for a moment, still stunned by the sweet gesture. That night, she’d been too exhausted to think. But now…why had he done that? He must have been just as wiped out.
“You’re not paying attention,” Tony warned as he spooned sausage into the mini dishes as well. “Whip the eggs.”
She jerked upright and looked around. He handed her a whisk.
She took the tool and looked at the eggs and milk. It looked…weird. “Okay, just whisk everything together?”
“Yes. Go.”
She plunked the whisk into the mix and started stirring just like she would anything else. But then she remembered seeing Tony using the whisk and sped up.
“Everything is going to go flying if you do it like that.” Once again, he moved behind her and Julia couldn’t stifle the groan this time.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Fine!” she snapped, but she didn’t sound fine.
Tony moved behind Julia, wanting to feel her against him again. He was rock hard and ready to bend her over the countertop, run his hands down her spine, spread her legs, and…
Damn! He couldn’t go there. Julia wanted to learn to cook. She didn’t want to learn that her boss and best friend wanted a hell of a lot more than a mere friendship.
“Like this,” he showed her, reaching around her once more, demonstrating how to use the whisk in a circular motion.
He showed her, but when she took over, he had to step back. The feeling of her moving against him like that was too much for his body to take.
“Is this right?”
He didn’t laugh at her excited expression, but nodded even though she was jerking the whisk instead of moving it smoothly in a circle. “That will work.”
When she stopped, looking as if she’d just done something miraculous, he wanted to bend down and kiss her soft, rosebud lips. She was so thrilled and all she’d done was mix eggs and milk together. In his mind, cooking was simple. Instinctive. But to Julia, it was a mystery. He never teased her about her inability to cook, although it stunned him how she could ruin even the simplest recipe. Tony knew how to cook, but he couldn’t run the restaurant efficiently, didn’t have a head for the numbers or keeping track of the details. So, he never teased Julia about her inability to cook because he would hate to manage the business side of things, leaving those issues to her.
But now she wanted to learn how to cook. He’d be furious if she went to anyone else for help in this area, so he was putting effort into being patient and not taking over each task. Besides, he liked teaching her, even if it was a mixture of heaven and hell. Heaven because he could get close to her, smell her lemony shampoo, feel the warmth of her slender body and see the excitement in her pretty, hazel eyes. This close, he could see the soft dapple of freckles across her nose and cheeks that she tried to hide with makeup.
And hell, because…well, because he wanted to feel more of her and knew that she only thought of him as a friend.
Focusing on the present and not how amazing her round bottom had felt against his groin, he focused on the next step. “Good. Now pour it into the dishes, right over the cheese and sausage.”
He almost groaned out loud when her sexy tongue peeked out the side of her mouth as she concentrated, pouring even amounts into both dishes, then stood back, looking victorious. He couldn’t stop the amusement this time, but he turned away to check the oven.
“Okay, I think this is the main problem from your earlier attempts.” He adjusted the dials and opened the oven. “You can’t cook a casserole at four hundred and fifty degrees.”
She frowned at the offending appliance. “Four hundred?! I thought I’d set it to three hundred and fifty.” Julia bent down, peering at the dial more closely. Tony, on the other hand, looked at her ass more closely, enjoying the way her position pulled the wool of her slacks tighter. Not for the first time, Tony acknowledged that Julia had the perfect ass. Of course, it would be even better if she weren’t wearing anything at all.
Pulling his eyes away, he looked at her soft, sandy-brown hair. “Knowing you, I’m guessing you got impatient and turned the oven to four-fifty thinking that it would heat up faster.”
When she stood up, the expression on her lovely features was admission of guilt and he threw back his head laughing. Pulling her in close, he hugged her. “Honey, you’re adorable. But ovens don’t work that way, and it still would have been too hot. That’s why it cooked too fast around the edges and not enough in the center.”
He released her only because she felt too good. He walked over to the countertop and started to put things away, which was really just an excuse to give himself time for his body to recover.
“How long are those going to take to cook?” she asked.
“About thirty minutes, give or take.”
She stared at him, waiting for him to continue. But when he just looked back at her like everything he’d just said made perfect sense, she shook her head. “Teaching? Remember? What am I looking for?”
Her smirk made him want to paddle the bottom he had just been admiring. Instead, he walked towards her, pinning her against the countertop with a hand on either side of her. “You think I’m going to allow you to be sassy in my kitchen?”
Obviously, he wasn’t stern enough because she just laughed, her pretty, hazel eyes sparkling in the bright, overhead lights.
“I didn’t realize I was being sassy,” she replied with a sassy lift of her chin. “I thought I was cooking.”
He shook his head. “You might be learning, but this is still my kitchen.” He bent lower. “And I command everything and everyone in my kitchen.”
Her eyes brightened and a pretty pink tinge came to her cheeks. “You don’t scare me.” When he only cocked an eyebrow, she hoisted herself up onto the countertop. “Remember, I’m the one that orders all of your food and finds all of those crazy ingredients you demand. So…”
“So?”
She grinned triumphantly. “So you’d better be nice to me, or you’re using mild cheddar cheese for the next two weeks.”
He reared back, truly horrified by the threat. “You wouldn’t!”
She laughed and crossed her legs. “See? I know your buttons.”
He grabbed her ankle, his fingers sliding up her bare leg. “You think you have me all figured out, huh?”
The laughter dissipated and she stared at him, that trembling starting all over again. “Um…no. You’re right. I shouldn’t have…”
“Hey Tony…”
They jerked apart and spun around to stare at Daisy who had just walked into the kitchen. She stood there, staring curiously at the pair, and Tony knew exactly where her mind was going.
“What’s up?” he asked, quickly turning away to look into the oven. There wasn’t any need to check on the egg casseroles, since they’d put them into the oven only a few minutes ago, but it gave him time to get himself back under control. His erection was pressing painfully against the zipper of his jeans and he was still having thoughts about pressing Julia over the counter and making love to her.
“Um…I just…” Daisy lifted a bottle of wine up into the air. “We got back from California and…” her eyes darted between him and Julia. “Well, here,” she finished and put the bottle of wine down on the countertop and backed away. “It was…um…really good. Thought you might like it. For your guests.”
A moment later, she walked away and Tony thought he heard her muttering something like, “If I’d only waited…” or something close to that.
Julia jumped down off the counter and looked around, appearing flustered and…possibly just as frustrated as he felt. “I should just…I have inventory to finish,” she muttered and with that, she realized that the stockroom was now behind her and spun around.
She was halfway to the stockroom when he remembered the egg casserole. “I’ll call you when this is done,” he yelled to her retreating back.
Julia simply lifted her hand as acknowledgement, then disappeared into the stock room.
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Tony closed his eyes and muttered several curses under his breath. “So close,” he growled.
Chapter 2
“Don’t you dare!” Julia warned, glaring up at a box of bar napkins that hadn’t been stacked properly. Whoever had put them up on the top shelf had shoved them too precariously and walked away, not stopping to ensure that they would remain on that shelf.
After yet another night of tossing and turning, only to wake up with the sheets twisted around her legs and her whole body aching for relief from the intense sexual frustration that haunted her after yesterday’s cooking lesson, Julia was exhausted, frustrated, and ready to snap for even the smallest of reasons.
“Never again,” she whispered with fervor and checked off the number of boxes of bar napkins. “Never, never.”
Moving on, she sorted through each of the neatly stacked shelves in the storage room, noting items that needed to be ordered. Wine was next and she moved to the wine fridge, counting out the labels for each brand and marking them off her list.
It was tight back here, but also quiet and cool, as the wines needed to be stored at a very specific temperature. She loved this area, especially during the day, because no one else came back here.
“Julia?”
The deep voice startled her and she looked towards the doorway. Tony stood there, looking hot in jeans and a tee shirt that showcased his muscles. He really was ripped, she thought. At thirty-two, the man was in the prime of his health. Flat stomach, bulging biceps, strong shoulders…she wondered what his legs looked like and suspected that they were just as strong.
“What’s up?” she asked, tearing her eyes away from his body to look at her inventory sheet. She was finished, but didn’t want to walk closer to him. That would mean getting close and…well, she knew from yesterday’s experience, she couldn’t do that.
He was walking towards her and she backed up slightly.
“Marilee is making a special meal for Emerson tonight. She needs…” He reached behind her and pulled out a bottle of white wine.
Julia leaned back, pressing her shoulders against the wall in an effort to avoid touching him. No more touching! It was probably casual to him, but to her, it meant another sleepless night. Or worse, a night where she dreamed about him. She was losing her mind, not getting enough sleep and felt like a zombie lately.
Seduced (The Lottery Winners Book 8) Page 2