Trent leaned over and whispered, "Are you okay?"
She didn't meet his eyes as she said, "Perfect. I just learned a lesson, that's all."
He looked at her strangely but before he could ask what she meant, he heard his father ask Carolina how much spice was recommended for "vigor" and decided he hadn't had nearly enough alcohol to deal with this dinner.
"Does anyone want more wine?" he asked, looking down the table. "Or perhaps something stronger?"
* * * * *
OVER THE NEXT few weeks, things slowly approached some kind of normal. Matt and Penny had flown back home the day after their dinner. Mara's parents had stayed on a few more days and he had taken them on a tour of the city, showing them the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State building one day and then the next having a driver drop them off in the middle of Times Square. Carolina had been thrilled.
At one point Mara had leaned over and whispered, "I preferred your private tour,” and it had taken all his willpower not to rush them along so he could take her back home and get her under him.
Once her parents had returned home, they'd quickly settled into their new routines. Mara had finally agreed to resign from her job and was beginning to treat the penthouse like it was her home, too.
He spent time during the day checking on his investments and considering several new ventures while Mara perfected a few recipes she'd always wanted to work on. The phenomenal smells coming from the kitchen usually tempted him to quit work by late afternoon and then he'd spend the next few hours watching Mara make magic in his kitchen.
His place had never seemed more alive.
It was a Thursday afternoon and he was going through all the mail he’d been ignoring for weeks when he came across a heavy envelope stamped with his family crest. He ripped it open, reading the time and date on the front of the invitation inside.
"What is that?"
He looked up, surprised. Mara was on the other side of the kitchen counter stirring something that smelled like heaven. "Oh, it's nothing. Another one of my mom's charity things."
Mara paused, her hand on the big, wooden spoon. "What kind of charity thing?"
He read from the invitation. "It's a benefit for the hospital. All proceeds go to funding the Townsend Grant for asthma research."
She made a small sound. "Sounds like a great cause. Shouldn't we go? It would probably mean a lot to your mom to have the whole family there, right?"
"I usually just send a check. I don't think she's actually expecting me to show up."
Mara resumed stirring. Then she pulled out a cake pan and poured in the mixture. He watched her as she angled the pan to get the mixture to settle just so. It was oddly relaxing to watch.
"Is Avery going to be there?"
Trent paused, something about her tone of voice triggered his internal alarms. Then he dismissed the feeling. Mara had never been the jealous type.
"Probably. Why?"
She shrugged but the way she didn't look up when she did it made him think it mattered. A lot.
"Just that she seems to be at all the family events. She's there and I'm not. Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
"Whoa. Where is this coming from? You've never seemed bothered by Avery being around before?"
She pushed the pan back and forth and then dropped it on the counter several times. He thought she might have dropped it a little harder than was strictly necessary.
"Did you know before our dinner that your father doesn't like spicy food?"
Trent shrugged. "Not exactly but he's a conservative kind of guy. My father is pretty white bread as far as … well, everything."
"See, I figured you would say that. Because Avery told me that he liked spicy food. She made it a point to say that I was lucky I could cook interesting cuisine because that would really impress your father. So, like an idiot, I chose to listen because I wanted to make a good impression. Instead I almost ended up giving him another heart attack!"
Trent's fingers clenched around the envelope in his hand. "She said he liked spicy food? Did she say 'James likes spicy food' or did she specifically say my father? Maybe she meant my brother?"
Mara shook her head. "I knew you would do this. Come up with some way that I must have misinterpreted her. It has to be my fault, not hers, right? Why are you defending her?"