Page 40 of Sensuous

I try to act casually as I take a look at my own legs. Definitely not going on for miles. Maybe inches or a couple feet at most. They’re nice legs, though. Toned from all the walking I do at work. But definitely not long like that woman’s.

Finally, she disappears into one of the apartments at the other end of the hall just before Alex’s door opens to reveal him standing in front of me dressed in jeans and a blue button-down shirt. I’d half expected to see him in shorts, which wouldn’t have been a bad thing because he has a great body.

“Hey, you’re wearing clothes,” I blurt out, instantly starting off this evening with a little self-imposed humiliation. “I just meant that the last time you only had shorts on.”

He gives me a big smile that lights up his dark brown eyes and makes him even more gorgeous than usual. “I thought tonight called for some real clothes. You look beautiful, Kat. Come in. Dinner’s almost ready.”

The moment I step into his apartment, I smell bourbon. As I follow him to the kitchen, I excitedly ask, “Did you make the bourbon pecan chicken I couldn’t make today?”

Alex looks back at me and grins. “I had to have it once it got into my head. Bourbon pecan chicken with garlic mashed potatoes, but to start, I have a Greek broccoli salad. Have you ever had it?”

I shake my head as I walk through the doorway into the kitchen. “No, but it sounds delicious. The whole meal sounds incredible. I can’t wait to try it! My mouth is watering already.”

“Wine or beer? I’ve got both. Or bourbon. There’s still enough left for a drink,” he says while I sit down at the table already set for the two of us.

“I’m not much of a drinker,” I confess. “Last night I had a piña colada, and I think that was one of the main reasons I ended up standing outside in your hallway.”

Alex turns his head to look at me, and in his eyes I see something wicked and sexy I haven’t seen before. “I don’t have any rum, but I could get some delivered. You know, since it had such a wonderful effect on you last night. I’d like to see what it does for you tonight.”

“I’ll just take some wine. I should be able to handle that without doing something wild and unpredictable.”

When he sets the glass of white wine down in front of me on the table, he looks deep into my eyes and says, “You act like wild and unpredictable would be bad things.”

My stomach does a flip that makes it feel like butterflies are scurrying around in my midsection. No wonder people love this guy. He’s hot, sexy, and with just a few words, I swear he’s close to seducing me already.

I quickly lift the glass to my lips since I don’t know what to say. God, I don’t want to ruin the mood, but I honestly never have anything clever to say when it comes to men.

Not surprisingly, I’m single.

“Everything okay?”

Remaining quiet and sipping on this pinot grigio would be my best course of action, but it’s almost like I can’t stop myself from saying something stupid. “I’m trying not to screw this up. I feel like I have a lot to make up for since I’ve been a royal bitch to you, although I think I’d like to stick with shrew, to be honest. It has a more noble sound to it.”

Even that doesn’t change his good mood. With a smile, he says, “Shrew always reminds me of Shakespeare. Thinking you want to be tamed?”

A twinge of insecurity bites at me when he says something very close to what Sadie said when I mentioned the word shrew. She should be the one sitting here with him getting ready to eat what will no doubt be a fantastic meal, not me. She’s sexy and funny. I’m a shrew.

Or worse, depending on who’s doing the describing.

I quickly change the subject before I make a mess of this entire evening. “Everything smells wonderful, Alex. I bet it’s going to taste incredible.”

Sitting down across the table from me, he gives me a sexy smile. “I hope so. I’m trying to impress you here. I’d hate it if it turned out to be a complete failure.”

“I’m sure it won’t, and you don’t have to work to impress me. I already know how talented you are as a chef.”

“You told me you knew you wanted to be a chef when your father took you to his work when you were a little girl. I’ve been thinking about that and how similar it is to what happened to me. The only difference is my father and uncle owned the restaurant. I guess that gave me a leg up, but when I was a boy, I didn’t think about that. I just knew I loved how shiny everything in the CK kitchen was and how delicious everything smelled every time my father would take me to work with him.”

As I watch, Alex seems to take on a glow as he talks about being a chef. Clearly, it’s a passion for him. He looks so happy when he talks about cooking. I wonder if I look like that when I talk about my job. I hope I do because it’s beautiful to see.

When I don’t say anything to keep the conversation going because I’m so entranced by how genuinely thrilled he is about being a chef and how much he always wanted to be one, he stops talking and leans forward to take my hand in his. It’s strong and powerful, just like a man in his position’s should be.

“I’m probably boring you with all this talk about how much I wanted to be a chef since I was a little boy.”

Upset he’s taken my silence as disapproval, I smile and shake my head. “No, that’s not true at all. I love hearing how people who’ve found exactly what they want to be in this world and got to achieve it. I’ve never met anyone else like me who fell in love with food and cooking as a child. Normally when I mention it, I get strange looks, like they can’t believe a little girl could ever think of being a chef like I did.”

That makes him chuckle, and I’m sure I’ve never encountered anyone in the world who looks so utterly happy and so sublimely beautiful talking about their job. Now that my jealousy regarding Alex is gone, I can see why people gravitate toward him. His smile lights up his perfectly chiseled face and makes his dark eyes sparkle.

“Enough talk about me. Tell me who you are when you aren’t working as a chef, Kat Truesdale.”

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