Page 65 of I Dream of Danger
Nick nudged her plate closer. “Eat,” he repeated.
She ate.
All it took was a bite or two for her eyes to open wide with astonishment. As a scientific experiment, she took a bite from everything on her plate and confirmed her first hypothesis.
“This is the best food I’ve ever eaten,” she blurted. They’d been watching to see her reaction to the food. Catherine sat back and looked at her husband and Jon with a smile. Both men nodded. Nick didn’t meet their eyes because his were fixed on hers in an unblinking stare.
Everyone but Nick was transferring food to their plates. Nick’s plate remained empty as he continued watching her. It didn’t intimidate her, though. She’d suffered worse things than having someone watch her eat. Not to mention the fact that eating this amazing food was no hardship.
Huge ricotta raviolis with a wild mushroom and cream sauce, the most succulent tagliata in the history of the world, dusted with arugula and parmesan flakes. The lightest possible fried artichoke slices. Sautéed escarole with plump raisins. Frisèe salad with hot bacon. Steamed broccoli with garlic and a balsamic vinegar reduction. A freshly-baked ciabatta to soak everything up.
Simple fare, done absolutely perfectly.
Nobody talked. Nobody should. The food was a religious experience and required proper worship. Elle had eaten a couple of times at Chez Panisse before Alice Waters retired, and this food was arguably better.
There was tiramisu—what looked like the platonic ideal of tiramisu, frothy and creamy and chocolatey—in a big glass bowl in the corner. Just for encouragement.
When she was stuffed, Elle sat back. “Is this a secret five-star restaurant? The kind that never advertises and you have to be a foodie and pass a test to find? Though—” This with a slanted glance at Jon, “hooding clients is taking it a bit far.”
“Good old Stella.” Jon had eaten with unswerving fervor and wasn’t finished. He heaped a third helping of everything onto his plate. “I love her experiments but when she does the basics…man. No one does it better.”
“Stella?” This Stella person was obviously the chef.
Jon grinned. “Yeah, you wouldn’t believe who the cook is. She’s?—”
“Jon!” Mac’s deep voice was like a whip lash. Jon’s blond eyebrows shot up.
“We might want to discuss this, and other things, tomorrow.” Catherine placed a hand on her husband’s huge one and gave Elle a smile.
There was another painful silence.
Secrets. Deep secrets that weren’t going to be shared with her.
O-kay.
Nick had spooned some of the tiramisu onto a dessert plate and put it in front of her. “Eat.”
Elle set her teeth. “Is that all you can say? Eat?”
“Oh no.” Nick gave a smile that showed his own teeth, but wasn’t friendly. “I’ve got a lot of other things to say, but not right now. Later. When we’re alone.”
Curse her fair skin. Heat rose from her chest and she knew she was turning pink. Because it was very clear what he meant.
And curse her obsession, because instead of making her angry that he was assuming she’d just sweep aside ten years of abandonment to go to bed with him, her body reacted to his words and to the images his words conjured up with enthusiasm, completely out of her control.
Right now, with Nick so close to her, his shoulder rubbing hers, his body heat like a force field around him, his fierce eyes locked on hers—her body remembered what it had been like to make love to him.
She’d spent the entire night with him in a state of arousal, just like now. A flush of heat prickled through her body as if she’d suddenly stepped out into the blazing sun. Her breath grew shallow, her breasts felt heavy, swollen.
Her sex…wept with pleasure. Incredibly, it suddenly felt as if Nick’s penis were in her and her sex clenched around it, stomach and groin muscles pulling hard. Her heart was knocking against her ribs so hard she was sure someone could hear it.
Certainly Nick could. Or he could hear something because his gaze narrowed and tightened, his nostrils flared, and two white lines of stress appeared around his mouth. His eyes were focused on her face, then abruptly dropped to her chest. It would be pointless to cover her breasts with her arms, he’d seen her hard nipples.
Oh God, this was so humiliating. It was like being stripped bare of all defenses, rendered down to bedrock, open and vulnerable, when she’d worked so very hard all these years to make herself strong and protected.
All it took was Nick’s presence and she morphed back to that helpless, grieving girl who’d been full of hopes and dreams for one night.
What a triumph it must be for Nick. That he could disappear for ten years and she’d still be so love-sick his mere physical presence turned her on more than any number of courters ever could.
