“If you experiment, you’ll find things you like.”
“I might like it, but my ulcer wouldn’t.”
“Ulcer? You have an ulcer?”
“I did two years ago.” It was the most miserable experience of his entire life. “Don’t worry, it’s better now. But I try not to tempt fate by eating weird stuff.”
“Hmm. I’ll bet your ulcer had a lot more to do with your work than your diet.”
His doctor had shared that opinion, but he’d refused to believe it. “Not likely. I love my work.”
“You eat, drink and sleep your work,” she countered. “You always have your cell phone glued to your ear, or your nose against the screen of your laptop. You check your watch constantly.”
He shrugged. “Unfortunately, my department doesn’t run itself.”
Sara’s observations weren’t new to him. He knew he spent more time and energy on his work than was strictly healthy.
He’d thought everything was under control in his department when he’d left almost a month ago for what was supposed to be a two-week leave of absence.
But the job had escalated when ownership of the business came into dispute, and the eventual resolution involved a complex merger of interests among the Remington cousins and Cooper’s soon-to-be wife, Allie Bateman.
Problems had also cropped up at his regular job, problems only he could solve.
“Did I say something wrong?” Sara said. “You suddenly got this look on your face like you swallowed a bug.”
He shook off his dismal thoughts. Tonight, at least, he ought to be able to forget about his job. He forced a smile. “No, you didn’t say anything wrong. You’re right, I do work too hard. But that’s the nature of the beast.”
When their dinners arrived, Reece was pleasantly surprised. His shepherd’s pie was delicious, flavored with a delicate blend of seasonings that weren’t at all hot as he’d anticipated. He did pick out a few suspiciously unidentifiable purple things, but other than that it was fine.
He declined dessert, but Sara ordered a gooey pastry, and he thoroughly enjoyed watching her eat it. She did so with gusto, relishing every bite with her eyes closed.
After watching her lush lips close around the fork a few times, however, he started thinking about things he shouldn’t, and he had to force himself to look away.
“Let me pay it,” Sara said when the check arrived. “I’m the one who ate a lot.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He snatched the bill from her hand. “Dinner was my idea.” And he knew she didn’t have a lot of disposable income. Although her room and board were taken care of, her various temporary and part-time jobs couldn’t net all that much extra cash.
“Let me at least leave the tip.” She reached into her big straw bag and pulled out what could only be described as a money ball. She peeled a few ones from it and set them on the table, then dropped the rest back into her bag.
“You don’t have to—”
“It’s done.”
He didn’t want to argue with her, but it seemed less like a date if he let her pay even a small amount. Maybe that was her true purpose. Maybe she wanted to subtly let him know that just because they’d shared dinner, he shouldn’t have any expectations.
Of course he didn’t. Sara was as friendly as a puppy, but that didn’t mean she had any designs on—or interest in—his person.
When they returned to the B and B, they went immediately to the kitchen, where Reece got a taste of just how much work a gourmet breakfast required. Sara had made it look easy—almost effortless—in the past as she’d delivered plate after plate to the dining room. But Reece had never ventured into the kitchen during the preparations.
First Sara made up the dough for two loaves of bread.
“It’s quick bread,” she explained, “so it doesn’t require a lot of rising time.” She popped it into the oven, then went to work making up the batter for blueberry and cranberry muffins.
He remembered when he was a kid his mom had occasionally made muffins from a box, but this was altogether more complex, with lots of chopping and folding.
Sara let Reece chop nuts—for a few minutes, anyway.
“Good Lord, you’re going to lop off a finger using a knife that way!” She took the knife away from him. “Here, why don’t you whip some eggs for the frittata.”
“The fri-what?”
It turned out “frittata” was just a fancy name for eggs and fresh vegetables, bacon, cheese and spices. When the eggs were whipped, Sara put Reece to work grating cheese, a job he couldn’t mess up too badly except when he grated his knuckles.
She sliced fresh strawberries and added sugar. By now she was out of jobs he could do, so he just watched. Her hands were small, quick and clever. The knife moved so fast it was a blur. Most interesting was her face. As she worked, she wore an expression of such contentment and serenity he thought she looked like an angel.
A mischievous angel, maybe, with that halo of brown curls around her face and the smudge of flour on her cheek.
“The fruit is in case anyone wants cereal or oatmeal, which they usually don’t.”
“Oatmeal?”
She laughed. “Oh, now surely you can make oatmeal. You eat it every morning.”
He shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t cook. Nothing.”
She sighed. “Don’t offer oatmeal, then.”
When they were finally finished, it was close to midnight. They tidied up the kitchen and turned out the light.
The bulb popped just as Sara switched it off, and they were plunged into darkness.
“Oh, hang it, that lightbulb burns out all the time,” Sara said, her voice coming to him soft and velvety in the dark, sending a pleasurable chill up his spine.
“I’ll change it tomorrow morning,” Reece said. “Let’s not worry about it now.”
“Yeah, but what happened to the lamp in the living room? It’s on a timer, and it always comes on at night.”
“I’ll check it tomorrow, too.” But for now he would enjoy the darkness. It seemed so…sexy.
“But I can’t see.”
“Hold on to me. I can see well enough.” As his eyes adjusted, he could make out the outlines of furniture and pictures on the wall.
She grabbed on to his arm. “What are you, a bat? It’s pitch-dark in here.”
“Men have better night vision than women. On average,” he added as they made their way slowly through the dining room to the living room. After hours of feeling like an idiot in the kitchen, Reece was pleased to be in charge of something, even if it was only navigating them through a dark house.
“Is that true?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“I read it somewhere. It must be true.”
Halfway up the stairs, light from the upstairs landing illuminated the steps. But Sara didn’t let go of his arm. They’d created a bond, caring for Miss Greer, sharing the adventurous dinner, then working together in the kitchen. He felt close to her in a way he hadn’t felt close to a woman in a long time, and it was nice.
Very, very nice.
They paused in front of Reece’s bedroom door, and she still didn’t let him go. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
“Sara, I just want you to know that I admire the way you took