“I’m available.” Eva turned the heat down under the pan she was using and reduced the sauce to a simmer. “I’m completely, totally available.”
“Good, because I want you to meet someone.”
“I want to meet someone, too.” She tried not to think about how it had felt to be held by Lucas. He
’d been comforting her, that was all.
“How are things going there? When will you be home?”
Eva glanced out of the window. “I’d planned on staying as short a time as possible, but the storm has changed that. Can I let you know? I’ve sent over some ideas for the proposal, and I’m working on the Addison-Pope engagement dinner.”
She ended the call and with everything in the kitchen under control, she turned her attention to decorating the tree, trying not to think of the Christmas two years before when she had done the same thing with her grandmother.
It was early evening and Eva was on her way back to her room to shower and change when the door to Lucas’s office opened.
He stared at her, unfocused, as if he was in another world.
Maybe she should have knocked on his door earlier. It wasn’t healthy to work so long without a break, was it?
“How did it go? Did you make a grilled cheese sandwich?”
“I made another banquet.” His voice was hoarse and then he smiled. “You’re a genius.”
“Me? I’m just a cook who talks too much.” Her heart bumped against her chest. How could she ever have thought he wasn’t her type? It had been easier to dismiss him when she’d thought he was just an insanely handsome face, but now she knew he was kind, too. And he wasn’t one of those men who were uncomfortable with emotions.
“Your talking is the reason I’m writing.”
Her tummy did a little flip. “That’s good to know, and thank you for not yelling at me about the tree. It is a little bigger than I thought it would be. I’ve taken photos and sent them to your grandmother. I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t mention you, but I wanted her to know I’m doing my job.”
“Right now you could give me a partridge in a pear tree and I wouldn’t give a damn.” He raked his fingers through his dark hair and Eva wondered how doing that made him even more handsome. If she ran her fingers through her hair she looked as if she’d made contact with an electric fence.
“Why is everyone so obsessed with poultry this week? I don’t think they’re the best indoor pets.” Her nerves were strung taut and she knew it was because of that hug. She needed to pull herself together. “If you give me half an hour, I’ll make us dinner. Unless you want to work more?”
“I need a break. I’ll work later. I’m going to take a shower, too, and then I’ll choose us a bottle of wine. We should celebrate.”
Celebrate.
It sounded intimate. Personal.
She had to remind herself that this wasn’t a date, it was her job.
* * *
Lucas stood under the scalding spray of the shower, feeling better than he had in months. He was still a million miles behind the place he should be this close to his deadline, but at least it was a start.
And Eva was the reason.
He pulled on dark jeans and a fresh shirt and paused as he moved to the stairs and heard singing from the kitchen. The singing stopped momentarily and he heard the whirr of a food processor. Then it started again.
Looking down, he saw she was wearing headphones again, but this time she wasn’t dancing.
As soon as she saw him, she stopped. “Sorry. Was I too loud?”
Her comment made him think about sex, and he wondered what it was about her that triggered those thoughts in him. He wished he hadn’t hugged her, because now he didn’t just know how she looked, he knew how she felt.
“I have a love for Ella Fitzgerald. As long as you’re not singing Christmas carols, I have no problem with your soundtrack.” But he had problems with other things, like the way holding her had made him feel. As if he was missing something that up until this moment he hadn’t even realized he wanted.
“What have you got against Christmas carols?”