Page 100 of Feel the Heat

Jack found Lili again, and his heart reeled at the sight of that upward tilt to her lips and those clever eyes watching the proceedings from beneath her dark veil of eyelashes. Tony was saying something about how pleased he was that people were here to celebrate the new DeLuca’s. Still, Jack could only see her. Vaguely, something registered about Lili’s art and Tony’s pride in his daughter’s accomplishments. She smiled, looking both teary and a whole lot happy. And Jack was truly happy for her.

The claps and roars faded into the painted sky above his head. He closed his eyes again, but she was still there, imprinted on the backs of his eyelids like a tattoo of his personal heaven and hell.

Forty-Two

Content to keep a low profile and let her father enjoy his moment, Lili held back against the arch that separated the two dining rooms and inhaled the nerves away. They had done it.

Okay, so they weren’t exactly out of the woods but there was sunlight streaming through the trees. She was under no illusions that a few cosmetic changes and a couple of arty photos would heal all their ills, but her father had listened to her for the first time in forever. And that felt immensely gratifying. Not quite enough to ease the Jack-shaped ache in her chest, but that would come.

Marco had wanted to invite him, of course. Squeeze every last drop out of the Kilroy-DeLuca connection, but thankfully, the family had vetoed that idea. They’d gotten their pound of flesh from Jack; there was no need to be tacky about it.

Tell that to the local news.

With the brief interview with her father complete, Lili found herself in the inquisition circle with Shona Love, Channel 5’s entertainment reporter. Before Lili could take a fortifying breath, the cameraman wearing a Canadian tuxedo and a mustache that Burt Reynolds, circa Smokey might want back, counted a silent three-two-one with his fingers.

Shona’s face transformed into show time. “We’re here at DeLuca’s Ristorante in Wicker Park, a twenty-two year veteran of the neighborhood that, tonight, was featured on über-chef, Jack Kilroy’s newest hit cooking show, Jack of All Trades. We just heard from Tony DeLuca, chef/owner, who won the cook-off against Jack. Now we’re talking with his daughter, Lili, who manages the restaurant.” She wheezed after the fast-talk introduction. “So Lili, you must be pleased with the outcome of the contest.”

“Well, it’s a testament to how great my dad is and how his food can rival that of any—” she almost said ‘idiot box’ chef but caught herself. “Any of the greats.”

“Of course, Jack Kilroy is one of the greats,” Shona said with a wink for Lili that would be missed by the camera. Amirite, sister? “It must have been tough for you to keep your composure with your father and your man going hammer and tongs in the kitchen. And some of those shots of you and Jack getting cozy were hot enough to get us all steamed up out here.” She added another provocative wink.

“Is there something wrong with your eye?” Lili asked, amazed at how calm she felt.

Shona’s perfect eyes widened, the epitome of coy. “What we all want to know, Lili, is the skinny on you and Jack.” On ‘skinny’, Shona’s sloe-eyed gaze dipped imperceptibly to take in Lili’s form-fitting dress, all drapes and dips and damn, didn’t she look fine in it. In fact, Lili would bet dollars to doughnuts the bony-assed bitch didn’t realize she did it.

“We’re so grateful to Jack and the Cooking Channel for giving us a chance to remind everyone that DeLuca’s in Wicker Park is the go-to place for Italian in Chicago.”

Shona wouldn’t be put off so easily. She smiled, but it was if she had to consciously rearrange her facial muscles in the appropriate pattern.

“And will Jack be eating Italian anytime soon?”

That just about ejected Lili’s hard-fought for equanimity. Was this the local news affiliate or Skinimax? She couldn’t be rude, though this woman deserved to be taken out into the alley and introduced to the side of the dumpster. Struggling for a response, Lili squeezed her eyes shut and held on. She just needed to get through this night…and the next night, and the next. Keep going until the Jack-shaped ache faded to dull, and the dull faded to numb, and the numb faded to nothing.

She was Tony DeLuca’s daughter. She could do this.

Her eyes blew open and she saw him. She blinked to make sure it wasn’t some desperate hallucination she’d conjured, but no, he was still there. Sitting about thirty feet out at the short side of the L-shaped bar. He looked so good, so Jack, that her heart flip-flopped like a dying fish and her hormones rioted in agreement.

“Jack is always welcome at DeLuca’s,” she said, her gaze zeroed in on his. He had seen her—he must have seen her first—and the ache in her chest turned blade-sharp as the drugging effects of the hormonal rave wore off. That it hurt even more now to look at him shouldn’t have surprised her. Beauty like that bruised, but it was his gentle handling of Jules last week that had crushed her soul. Avoiding TV, magazines, the Internet, and her sister for however long this took was going to be really freaking hard.

Still, she couldn’t tear her gaze away. It may have been her imagination, but every hellish minute of their time apart was as evident on his face as she was sure it was on hers. That’s when another realization assaulted her.

Small-screen Jack might be a god, but real-life Jack, the brand made flesh, was hers, pain and all.

“He has a special place in our family for all he’s done.” She hesitated, then looked into Shona’s face with her cheekbones so sharp they could cut tin cans. At the bar, Jack’s intensity ringed him like a force field, repelling everything in its vicinity or maybe it was an invisibility field because no one seemed to know he was here. There was something a little ironic about one of the most famous guys in the country, sitting anonymously at a restaurant bar while a media typhoon centered on him barreled through.

“Of course, when I first met him, I didn’t really see the appeal, to be honest.”

Shona did a cartoon double-take and looked at her microphone like it might offer an explanation for what she’d just heard. “You didn’t?”

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s gorgeous. Right, Shona?”

“Um, yes, he is.” Shona giggled nervously, both aghast and thrilled at the intimate tone the interview had taken.

Lili leaned forward, her round shoulder brushing the bony one of her new gal pal. “Anyone would be lucky to have him but you know, there was a time I didn’t even think he was all that?”

“You didn’t?”

“No, I thought he was just one of those guys who charms his way through life. Getting by on his looks. Not much going on upstairs. In fact, you’re not going to believe this. He’s not all that great…”

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