Page 27 of One Hot Moment

"You order that, and I'll choose the maple crème brûlée."

By the time the waiter returns to take our order, the poor guy has enough written on his notepad to fill the whole page. He doesn't complain, of course. The waiter even compliments our food choices and calls us "the most innovative diners I've ever met."

That is definitely the strangest compliment I've ever heard. But I like it.

All through our dinner, we chat about whatever comes to mind. At first, Spencer does most of the talking as he tells me even more about his family. His sister Bindy has three children, but his brother Kendall has never been married or even dated much despite being forty-three. Bindy sounds like lots of fun. Both she and her husband have strange occupations. Jonah works as a vibration consultant. Apparently, a person can earn a living by telling engineers and architects how to minimize noise and vibration levels in buildings. Who knew?

According to Spencer, Bindy makes a living by running an online business, selling knitted items made from unusual fibers.

"What qualifies as an unusual fiber?" I ask Spencer. "I don't know much about knitting."

"Neither do I. But I've learned about it from Bindy." He shoves a large bite of spicy shrimp into his mouth and moans with pleasure while he consumes it. "This is bloody fantastic."

"I thought it was excellent too. But I'm dying to hear more about Bindy's unusual fibers."

"She used to buy only sheep's wool. But then she found out she could purchase more exotic fibers through various websites around the world. She now uses fibers from yaks, bison, camels, guanacos, and possums."

A tiny laugh hiccups out of me. "Possums? I can't imagine wearing a sweater made from that. I mean, those poor little critters are destined to become roadkill."

"But they do make excellent yarn."

"What is a guanaco?"

"I haven't a clue. It's probably some sort of camel-esque creature." Since we've just finished our meal, he spears a chunk of bundt cake and offers it to me. "Try this. It looks delicious, but I'll let the lady have first taste."

"Dessert chivalry. That's a new one for me."

I open my mouth, and he slides the bit of cake onto my tongue. I chew slowly so I can relish the myriad flavors within the simple-looking confection. It's a true gourmet dessert. I remember what the menu said about this cake, and suddenly, I find I can identify every last element. Snickerdoodle. Salted caramel. Chantilly cream. Sugar glass. Sea salt. But when I tell Spencer about my culinary orgasm, he shakes his head.

"It isn't simply sea salt, love. You read the menu. This cake has Maldon sea salt."

"Are you sure it wasn't moldy sea salt?"

"You would enjoy eating mold?" He wags a finger at me, clucking his tongue. "Careful what you say, Tabitha. This artisanal sea salt was harvested in the village of Maldon in England."

I let him feed me another bite of cake. "Mm, yummy. So, this is British cake. Did you know that when you ordered it?"

"Yes, of course I did." He shoves a huge bite of cake into his mouth and devours it. Crumbs get stuck to his lips and dribble onto the table. He slides his tongue out all the way and laps up the crumbs slowly, sensually, until he's swept his lips clean. "That was wonderful. But I'd much rather taste you."

"We haven't tried the crème brûlée yet."

"And you won't taste it until you answer a few questions." He grabs the cup of crème brûlée and pulls it over to his side of the table, out of my reach. "I have questions, Tabitha, and I want to hear the answers from you."

"An inquisition during dessert? I won't crack, not even if you put me on the rack."

He slants toward me, laying his hand over mine on the table. "This won't be any sort of inquisition. We agreed we want to get to know each other better. I've told you about my family, but I know almost nothing about yours. You warned me you hadn't shared everything."

"Yeah, I've been avoiding that."

Spencer folds his arms on the tabletop, aiming a sly look at me. "Are you on the run from the mafia? If so, I could help you stow away on an airline flight, then you could hide out in the wine cellar at Sommerleigh House. The authorities would never find you there."

I pat his hand. "That won't be necessary, but it's nice to know you'd help me evade the law if I ever did become a fugitive from the mafia."

"Anything for you, Tabitha."

Oh, God, he's just so unbelievably sweet and understanding. Our silly conversation only made me feel like more of a heel for not being upfront with him about my family. I've never met his relatives, but I've learned all about them, almost as if I've met them. So, yeah, it's time to bite that bullet and hope it doesn't explode in my mouth.

I sit up straighter in my chair, smooth my napkin over my lap, and just do it. "My family is rather...unconventional."

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