Page 67 of Recipe for Temptation

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

“I don’t care! You could’ve called me anytime!”

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 voicemail is for. Anyway, you must’ve been so thrilled when you got the call.”

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

“What? 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, only to further antagonize her.

“I can’t believe he was tripping like that,” Raina exclaimed at the end of her 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 sooo unlike you, Reesey. That man must be even hotter in person.”

“Words can’t begin to describe.” Reese shivered at the memory of Michael gilded in sunlight as he stood in front of his bedroom windows—gloriously naked and fully aroused.

When he began stroking his huge veiny cock, it was all she could do not to leap over the bed and jump his sexy bones. The knowledge that he was deliberately trying to torment her—mission accomplished!—hadn’t stopped her traitorous body from responding. She couldn’t take her eyes off his fisted hand pumping slowly up and down his shaft. When a glistening drop oozed from the slit, she’d gotten so turned on that she’d started spasming even before he left the room, and long after he’d dropped her off at home, her legs were still shaking.

The sight of Michael pleasuring himself had been added to a growing collection of graphic images that were permanently seared into her brain.

“So what happened at the audition?” Raina asked eagerly. “Obviously you guys must’ve 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’d 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 lasciviously 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 stunned. “I don’t even know where to start. I can’t believe how much has happened, and you’ve barely been there a week!”

“I know.” Reese sighed.

“Girl, if you were the practical joker type, I wouldn’t have believed a word you just said. It’s so freaking insane!”

“Trust me, 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?”

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