Recipe for Temptation

by Maureen Smith

  “That’s good.” Reese knew how much her sister’s luxury day spa meant to her.

  “As great as the conference was,” Raina continued, “the other things we did are what made the trip so special. We went on moonlit gondola rides, explored beautiful vineyards. Oh, and the food, Reesey. The pasta, those gelatos. You would have been in foodie heaven.”

  Reese smiled, fighting a small pang of envy. “It all sounds very romantic.”

  “It was. It felt like a second honeymoon.” Raina sighed. “You should have been there.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so. I would’ve been a third wheel. Maybe next time.”

  “Not as long as you and Victor are together,” Raina muttered under her breath.

  Reese’s smile faded. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing,” Raina said brightly—too brightly. “Anyway, enough about my trip.

  How’s Hotlanta? Are you having fun?”

  “You could say that.” Now that Reese finally had her sister on the phone, she didn’t even know where to begin. She had so much to tell her. And yet, a part of her wanted to keep the most intimate details of her liaison with Michael to herself, like a cherished secret.

  She decided to start somewhere safe. “First and foremost, I have some exciting news to share. Remember the contest I entered six months ago to become Michael Wolf’s apprentice?”

  Raina snorted out a laugh. “Of course I remember. You were—” She broke off abruptly. “Wait a minute. Are you about to tell me that—”

  “You’re speaking to Michael Wolf’s new apprentice.”

  “Oh my God!” Raina let out an ear-splitting squeal that must have brought her husband running. Raina excitedly repeated the news to him.

  “Hey, that’s great,” Warrick Mayne’s deep, masculine timbre could be heard in the background. “Tell her I said congratulations.”

  “Warrick says congratulations,” Raina quickly relayed.

  Reese smiled. “Tell him I said thanks.”

  “He just left the room. This is unbelievable, Reesey,” Raina continued in a breathless rush. “I knew that recipe you submitted would knock the judges’ socks off.

  Remember how much we all loved it when you made it for us?”

  “Yes. Thanks for being my guinea pigs.”

  “Hell, we should thank you. Do Mom and Dad know?”

  “Of course. They were very excited. I made them promise to let me tell you.”

  “Man, why did I have to be the last one to find out?” Being the baby of the family, Raina had a complex about being last in anything. “When’d you get the call?”

  “Tuesday, technically. But I didn’t listen to the actual message until Wednesday.”

  “Today?”

  “No, last Wednesday.”

  “Last Wednesday!” Raina cried in disbelief. “You should have called me!”

  Reese laughed. “I didn’t want to disturb you. Besides, there was a six-hour time difference.”

  “I don’t care! You could have called me any time.”

  Reese grinned. “Even if you and Warrick were in the middle of, ah…” She trailed off pointedly, clearing her throat.

  “Well…” There was no mistaking the naughty mischief in Raina’s voice.

  Again Reese laughed. “I didn’t think so.”

  “You could have left me a message,” Raina insisted. “That’s what voice mail is for.

  Anyway, you must have been thrilled when you got the call.”

  “Actually,” Reese said drily, “I was anything but.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, I’d met Michael Wolf at his restaurant the night before. Let’s just say we got off to a rocky start.”

  Knowing Raina would never accept such a cryptic response, Reese gave her a detailed account of everything that had transpired between her and Michael that night, as well as the next morning when he’d called to apologize to her, only to further antagonize her.

  “I can’t believe he behaved that way,” Raina exclaimed at the end of the story.

  “Warrick always speaks so highly of Michael Wolf. I wouldn’t have expected him to come off as such a jerk. It just goes to show—”

  “Wait a minute,” Reese interrupted. “What do you mean, Warrick speaks highly of Michael? Warrick knows him?”

  “Yes.” Raina sounded sheepish. “I’ve been meaning to tell you for months, but between planning the wedding and opening the new spa, I kept getting sidetracked. And I was also hoping to surprise you when Michael showed up at the wedding. I was so disappointed when he couldn’t make it. He had to fly to Barcelona to help judge the finale for Top Chef or one of those other cooking shows. But he sent us the most amazing wedding gift—”

  “How do he and Warrick know each other?” Reese interrupted again.

  “They met through a professional organization for engineers. You know, of course, that Michael was a successful engineer in his previous life. At any rate, he and Warrick really hit it off and have been friends ever since.”

  “Wow,” Reese whispered. “Talk about six degrees of separation.”

  “I know. So, uh, you’re not mad at me for not telling you sooner?” Raina said meekly.

  “No.” Reese smiled. “It’s obvious Michael and I were destined to meet eventually, anyway.”

  “Obviously.” Raina chuckled. “Don’t think I wasn’t going to comment on the fact that you almost slept with him the first night you met him. That is so unlike you, Reesey.

  That man must be even finer in person.”

  “Words can’t begin to describe,” Reese murmured.

  She shuddered at the memory of Michael gilded in sunlight as he stood before his bedroom windows—gloriously naked and fully aroused. When he’d begun stroking himself, it was all Reese could do not to leap over the bed and jump his bones. The knowledge that he’d been deliberately trying to torment her—mission accomplished!—

  hadn’t stopped her traitorous body from responding. She’d gotten so turned on that she’d started climaxing even before he left the room, and long after he’d dropped her off at home, her legs were still shaking. The erotic sight of Michael pleasuring himself had been added to a growing collection of images that were permanently seared into Reese’s brain.

  “So what happened at the audition?” Raina asked eagerly. “Obviously you guys must have patched things up, or you wouldn’t have been chosen as his apprentice.”

  Smiling, Reese opened her mouth to tell her sister about the wacky audition performance that had landed her a spot on Michael’s show.

  An hour later, she’d told Raina everything. About their wonderful day of sightseeing together, about meeting his family, about watching Michael in his element at the restaurant.

  Raina listened in rapt absorption, occasionally interrupting for clarification, laughing at funny anecdotes like their paintball adventure, groaning at their heated fight over Victor’s roses, sighing poignantly at Michael’s romantic overtures and purring wickedly as Reese described—sparingly but honestly—the explosive night of passion they’d shared.

  “Oh my God,” Raina breathed when Reese had finished speaking. She sounded completely flabbergasted. “I don’t even know where to begin. I can’t believe how much has happened, and you’ve barely been there a week! ”

  “I know.” Reese sighed.

  “If you were the type to play practical jokes, I wouldn’t believe any of this. It’s so incredible!”

  “I’m having a hard time believing it myself. It’s been a pretty surreal experience.”

  “Oh, Reesey.” Her sister’s voice softened. “Are you…falling in love with Michael?”

  Reese choked out a husky laugh that felt like a sob. “According to you and everyone else, I’ve been in love with him for years.”

  Raina didn’t laugh. “You know what I mean.”

  Reese closed her eyes as tears crowded her throat, making it ache. “I don’t know,”

  she whispered.

  Raina was
silent for a long moment. “What are you going to do about Victor?”

  Reese swallowed with difficulty. “I haven’t decided.”

  “Well, you’d better decide soon,” her sister gently advised. “Because when he tunes in to Michael’s show on Monday and sees the two of you together, he’s going to realize that he’s already lost you.”

  Chapter 15

  “Nervous?”

  Reese cut a sideways glance at Michael, who stood beside her in the backstage tunnel leading to the set of his show. “What do you think?”

  He grinned, unfazed by her rancor.

  The more relaxed he seemed, the tighter her stomach knotted until she was one big ball of nerves, sweaty palms and a galloping heartbeat. She’d expected some stage fright when the big day approached, but this was ridiculous. She hadn’t been this nervous since her days of doing clinicals as an intern. Her anxiety that morning was further exacerbated by the growing rumble of crowd noise as the studio audience awaited their entrance. She thought there had to be at least a thousand people out there. She was afraid to ask.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” she announced in a thin voice.

  Michael chuckled. “That should make for good ratings. My new apprentice, puking all over the set of my kitchen. Nice.”

  Reese closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on deep-breathing exercises. A moment later her eyes snapped open, and she stared at Michael in fascinated disbelief. “Are they…

  chanting your name?”

  “I believe so.” He winked at her. “I much prefer it when you do it, though.”

  Reese blushed at the reference to the way she’d panted, chanted and screamed his name during sex. Though she’d been trying for days not to think about their lovemaking, she was grateful to him for taking her mind off her jittery nerves, if only for a few moments.

  “Only you would think about that at a time like this,” she grumbled.

  His lips curved in a rakish grin. “Food and sex,” he drawled. “A match made in heaven.”

  She blushed harder.

  The assistant producer, standing nearby, began his countdown.

  Reese tensed up again.

  Michael reached out and took her hand, his warm touch infusing her with the strength and courage she needed to get through the next hour.

  “Just relax and be yourself,” he murmured. “They’re going to love you.”

  She gave him a tremulous smile. “How do you know?”

  Something softened in his gaze. “Because I—”

  “And we’re on!”

  At the producer’s cue Michael slowly released her hand, whispered, “See you soon,” then strode out to the set to a deafening chorus of cheers and applause.

  Reese watched, mesmerized, as he waved to the audience and shook hands with his band members and several random people in the first row. After kissing his mother, Asha and Samara on the cheek, he made his way onto the stage.

  A woman yelled out, “I love you, Michael!”

  He grinned and blew her a kiss as laughter and catcalls rippled through the crowd.

  When a rowdy group of fraternity brothers barked in rapid succession, Michael cupped his hands around his mouth and barked back.

  It was, Reese marveled, quite a sight to behold.

  When the noise had finally subsided, Michael laid his hand over his heart in a gesture of utmost gratitude. “Thank you so much for that warm Southern welcome. I’m definitely feeling the love right now.”

  “We missed you, Michael!” This came from a different woman.

  He laughed. “I missed y’all, too. It’s great to be back for a fourth season of Howlin’

  Good, and I thank all of you for being here and for tuning in at home. Before we get started, how about another round of applause for my family?”

  The audience clapped heartily as Sterling, Asha, Celeste, Grant, Marcus and Samara beamed with pleasure.

  After acknowledging a few more special guests, Michael continued his introduction.

  “We’ve got a lot of exciting things on tap for you this season. But what I’m most excited about is the newest addition to our Howlin’ Good family. As you all know, this year we launched a nationwide search for an apprentice. I want to thank everyone who submitted your best recipes to us. We had so many amazing, creative dishes to choose from. But at the end of the day, a clear winner emerged, and when you meet her, I think you’ll understand why. So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to my new apprentice, the beautiful and talented Reese St. James.”

  Reese unglued her leaden feet from the floor and strolled out to the set as she was showered with applause and whistles. Bravely she smiled and waved, inwardly gulping as she took in the size of the studio audience.

  As she approached Michael, their eyes met. Suddenly Reese forgot where she was, what she was doing and how she’d even gotten there. No man had ever looked at her the way Michael was looking at her now. It was indescribable, a look that drove everything else into the background until he alone was the focus of her attention. The focus of her universe.

  This time when her stomach clenched and her pulse quickened, she knew it had nothing to do with stage fright.

  As she joined him at the large center island, he gave her an intimate smile that melted her insides faster than a pat of butter tossed into a hot skillet. What is he trying to do to me?

  “Reese comes to us from Houston,” Michael announced, turning to address the audience. “We got any other Houstonians in the house?”

  In response to the enthusiastic smattering of cheers, Reese grinned and pumped her fist in solidarity, which drew some appreciative laughter.

  “Reese is a doctor,” Michael continued with a lazy smile, “but she’s taking time out of her busy schedule to study under her favorite chef.”

  “That’s right, Michael,” Reese said with just the right touch of breathlessness.

  “You’re my favorite chef in the whole—” She broke off suddenly. “What’s wrong?”

  Michael was frowning down at her white chef’s jacket, which had been monogrammed with RSJ—her initials. “Uh, Reese?”

  “Yes, Michael?”

  “This is my show, right?”

  She blinked innocently. “Of course.”

  “So…why are you wearing your initials instead of mine?”

  With a sheepish grin, she eased her hand over the em broidered letters. “Oops?”

  Michael scowled, shaking his head at the audience. “So much for being her favorite chef.”

  As the crowd roared with laughter, Reese and Michael exchanged sly winks.

  “There you are!”

  Reese turned and smiled as Celeste and Grant approached her, both elegantly dressed in dark evening wear.

  “You and Michael were simply amazing today,” Celeste exclaimed, clasping both of Reese’s hands in hers. “I always watch my son’s show and thoroughly enjoy it, but that was one of the most entertaining episodes I’ve ever seen.”

  Reese warmed with pleasure, though she’d been receiving similar compliments all evening. “Thank you, Mrs. Rutherford. I’m so glad you enjoyed the show.” She grinned ruefully, confiding, “I was a nervous wreck.”

  “No one could tell,” Celeste assured her. “You were a natural.”

  “My wife is right,” Grant said, smiling affably at Reese. “If you were anything but a physician, I’d encourage you to go into show business.”

  “Didn’t I see Michael’s talent agent speaking to you during dinner?” Celeste asked.

  Reese laughed. “He gave me his business card and urged me to call him if I ever grow tired of delivering screaming babies for a living—his words, not mine.”

  Celeste and Grant laughed.

  “And speaking of show business,” Celeste said, giving Reese an admiring once-over, “you look stunning enough to belong on a red carpet.”

  Reese beamed. “Thank you very much.”

  Outfitted in one of Asha’s exclusive designs
, Reese had never felt more glamorous in her life. Wanting to accentuate Reese’s figure, Asha had chosen for her a sleeveless white dress that molded her full breasts, hugged her narrow waist, glided over the curves of her hips and thighs, and ended in a frothy swirl around her feet. It was a sexy, sophisticated ensemble that reminded Reese of something worn by silent-era Hollywood stars. To complete the effect, Asha’s stylist had pulled her hair back and arranged it into a simple but elegant twist, while the makeup artist had applied smoky eye shadow and slicked her mouth with a moist red lipstick.