"You know the woman I mentioned who is updating our dessert menu?" Jack asked, reminding Rich of his plans. "I'm meeting with her tonight at her shop."
"And you get to sample her desserts?" he asked slyly. "Sounds like a fun way to spend the evening."
Jack grinned. "I'm not complaining."
Rich's sandy-blond eyebrows rose in surprise. "Do I detect some interest there?"
"Yeah, you do," Jack admitted.
His good friend let out a long, low whistle. "It's been a long time since you've been interested in a woman, instead of the other way around."
Jack understood exactly what Rich was getting at, along with the significance of his interest in a woman. He'd almost given up hope in finding a woman who didn't have a hidden agenda where he was concerned, until Kayla, who wasn't at all impressed by who he was, or by his success.
He felt on equal footing with her-personally and professionally-and it was a novel sensation he liked a whole lot.
"She's not like all the other women I've dated." Kayla was intelligent, quick-witted and amusing, with an underlying sensuality that intrigued him from the first moment he'd met her, and continually drew him in deeper with each meeting. But there was no telling how things would progress between them, or if she'd act on the attraction that burned hot and bright whenever they were near one another.
Jack most definitely intended to find out.
"Right now I'm seeing her for business purposes," he told Rich, trying to be pragmatic about the situation. "But we'll see what happens."
The orders into the kitchen picked up, and Jack left the restaurant before he was late for his meeting with Kayla. He made it to her shop with five minutes to spare and knocked on the front glass door, which was locked against any last-minute Sunday-evening shoppers.
She came out of the back room and made her way around the counter to the door. Today she was wearing a pale blue T-shirt that looked a size too big, but didn't do much to hide her generous breasts, if that was her intent. The long hem ended at her thighs, covering a good portion of her body, and from there stonewashed denim took over. Despite the less-than-figure-flattering outfit, her hips swayed sensually as she walked-a direct contrast to her sensible and discreet choice of clothing.
She opened the door, her friendly but shy smile telling Jack she was glad to see him.
"Hi," she said huskily, her warm green gaze filled with a slow, simmering awareness he felt thrum through his blood, as well.
"Hi, yourself," he murmured in reply, and wondered how in the hell he was going to keep his hands off her tonight. He wanted to kiss her in the worst way, wanted to release that clip holding her blond hair on top of her head and sift his fingers through the silky-looking strands. He ached to feel exactly how she fit against him-from her soft breasts, her belly, to her thighs-and everywhere else in between.
Before he followed through on those fantasies dancing in his head, he stepped past her, into the fragrant bakery, and she locked the door behind him.
"Come on back to the kitchen," she said, immediately all business. Then she said over her shoulder as she led the way, "I just perfected your new recipe this morning, and I hope you're happy with the end results."
She was nervous about that, he could tell, and he attempted to set her at ease. "I'm sure you did a great job on the dessert."
"There's always a certain flavor or taste that someone doesn't like, such as coconut, or a citrusy tang, or nuts. For me it's the taste of gingerbread," she said, and wrinkled her nose. "Of course I still make gingerbread for my customers and it sells very well. Anyway, I know you and I are in agreement over chocolate, but it's the other ingredients I might toss into the recipe that you, personally, might not care for."
He was a realist, and didn't expect to love everything she made. "Which means regardless of whether or not I like a certain dessert you make, there's no way to appeal to every single one of my customers."
She nodded in agreement. "Very true."
"That's why we're going for variety, and I'm coming into this taste test with a very open mind."
Her smile chased away most of the concern etching her features. "Good. That said, this is my first offering. A Chocolate Mint Truffle Cake." She gestured to the elegant-looking cake on the stainless-steel prep table, edged in a pretty scalloped design and garnished with pale-green mint shavings. "It's rich in texture, but not overly sweet. And the hint of spearmint will appeal to those who like a fresh, cool taste after eating dinner."
He breathed deeply of the fragrant, chocolate-mint scent. "It looks and smells fantastic."
"Well, the real test is in the taste." She moved away to retrieve a knife, plate and fork.
"So, who samples all your new recipes before you offer them to the buying public?" he asked curiously.
"Mostly, whoever is working during the day will taste whatever I'm making and offer their opinion. And then, of course, there is my sister, who is always happy to sample a new dessert." She laughed softly. "But for the most part I have to rely on my own judgment, since it's my name behind the dessert." She set the utensils on the prep table and used the knife to cut a slice of the cake. "Being surrounded by so many sweets and having to sample most of the recipes is what I've come to consider a hazard of the job."
Uncertain exactly what she was getting at, or what she found so dangerous about her occupation, he asked, "How's that?"
She cast him a quick, incredulous glance, as if she couldn't quite believe he'd missed the gist of her comment. "Sampling all these sweets plays hell on a woman's figure. Or at least mine, as you can see."
Her tone might have held a joking lilt, but the defensive light in the depth of her eyes told another story altogether. She obviously had issues with her shape, though for the life of him he couldn't imagine why. Then he remembered Gretta's well-aimed barbs that had undoubtedly made Kayla think he preferred reed-thin women.
He couldn't change what had happened at the Commerce dinner, but he could let her know right up front his opinion of her figure. "What I see," he said meaningfully as he let his gaze drift leisurely down the length of her body, visually touching her in intimate places, "is a woman with real curves in all the right places."
"Thank you," she said, still skeptical, though considering the way her nipples were pressing against her T-shirt, she must have enjoyed his lazy perusal. "You're kind to say so."
She still didn't believe him. Or was it that she didn't believe in herself when it came to her own appeal to the opposite sex? It didn't matter, since Jack planned to prove how attracted he was to her, just as soon as the right moment presented itself.
Kayla glanced away from Jack's observant gaze, unsure what to make of what had just transpired between them, or why she'd allowed her insecurities about her weight to come into play. She was a successful businesswoman, but it was painfully obvious that some defense mechanisms were easier to subdue than others.
She hadn't been fishing for compliments, just stating the truth about how her desserts affected her figure, yet the way he'd looked at her, his gaze all hot and hungry… she shivered as she realized the prime opportunity that had presented itself.
She'd already decided that Jack was exactly what she was looking for in order to evaluate the effects of her aphrodisiac candies. And witnessing that glimmer of interest in his eyes gave her the boost of fortitude she needed to follow through on her plan to seduce him, in any way she could.
Even if that meant feeding Jack her enhanced confections in order to spur his lust for her.
Undoubtedly, this was the man she wanted to satisfy her sensual yearnings, to give her body the kind of pleasure it craved and to leave her with a whole lot of sexy memories to recall once they went their separate ways. She wanted Jack Tremaine, and she had no illusions that a physical relationship between them would be anything more than a very satisfying fling.