“It might be kind of fun,” she said. “Sneaking around looking for places we can be alone.”
He drew back and looked into her eyes. “Really? ’Cause I know a few spots.”
She reached down and smoothed her hand over his belly. “We wouldn’t have to stay in town. I think I should take a bit more time for myself. I work hard. I deserve a break every now and then.” She smiled. “So where should we go next?”
“You know where I’d love to take you? India. No, Turkey. And then Nepal. And China.”
“I was thinking about Estes Park,” Eve said. “But I’ve always wanted to see the Great Wall. And there’s a lot of vegetarian cooking in China. I do a lot of Asian-influenced cooking. I’d love to go to Thailand.”
“We’ll go there first,” Charlie said. “You’ll love it.”
“Hmm,” she said. It was a nice diversion to dream about such things. But Eve knew that the chances of them traveling to Thailand were slim at best. She had a restaurant to run, he had his work.
“I’m not just blowing smoke here,” Charlie said. “I’m serious. I think we should travel.”
“I thought we discussed this,” Eve said. “It really isn’t good to make promises we can’t keep.”
“I’m not making a promise. We get along well and I’m tired of traveling alone. I think you’d make a good companion.”
“I’d want to spend all my time in restaurants,” she said.
“I have to eat. And I’d want to spend my time seeing the countryside.”
“I need exercise,” she countered.
“See? We’d make the perfect pair.”
Eve closed her eyes and curled more deeply into his embrace. They did make a good pair. But as nice as that felt now, Eve knew this infatuation would fade over time. Sooner or later, they’d have to deal with the realities of their relationship. The impossibilities would overwhelm the potential.
She sighed, her breath clouding in the chilly air. There was no predicting when the end would come or how it would happen. But Eve already knew how she’d feel. He’d always be the one that got away, the one she could have loved.
5
“I JUST NEED A LITTLE ADVICE,” Charlie said. “I thought I’d start with the appliances.”
They stood in the kitchen of the Garden Gate, Charlie sitting on the edge of the prep table and Eve moving easily around the kitchen.
After their night in the wild, Charlie had noticed a subtle change in Eve. She was a bit more distant, more introverted. The sex was still incredible, but he felt as though she were pulling away.
He could guess what she was worried about. The more time they spent together, the more it became apparent that he and Eve belonged together. But convincing her to see the possibilities would be difficult. He had a lousy track record with women. And it wasn’t something he was proud of. But a guy could change…if he really wanted to.
“That’s not how you design a new kitchen,” Eve said. “First you figure out the layout and outline the work areas. Then you pick out cabinetry and countertops and flooring. And then, you decide on the appliances.”
Charlie flipped through the catalog. “This is why I need help.” In truth, it was important that Eve like his kitchen. He was renovating it for her. If things continued to go well between them, then she’d be spending all her time at his place. He wanted her to feel at home there.
“Maybe if you told me what you want out of your kitchen, I could give you better advice. Do you plan to do a lot of gourmet cooking or are you more of a thirty-minute meal kind of guy? Are you looking for something that looks fancy or do you want functional?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Yes to what?”
“All of it. I want to make it something a professional, like yourself, would enjoy working in. Why don’t you come home with me and we can discuss all of these points in greater detail?”
She regarded him suspiciously. “I know what you’re doing,” she said, waving a wire whisk at him. “This isn’t about your kitchen. This is about your…” She pointed to his crotch. “Utensil. I have work to do. I’m doing a cooking segment on a morning news show next week and I have to be ready.”
“You’re going to be on television?” he asked, grabbing a peeled carrot from a nearby bowl. He took a bite, then chewed slowly. “Cool. Are you going to wear that hat? ’Cause it doesn’t do you any favors.”
She snatched off the toque and tossed it aside. “In fact, I might have my own cooking show. I’ve had a couple of offers, one from PBS and another from the Food Channel.”
When he’d first met Eve, she’d been a hired chef at the Garden Gate. Now, she owned the place, had written a vegetarian cookbook and was considering television offers. She’d become a different person in five years, at least on the outside. She had people depending upon her and important things to do. And all he cared about was luring her back into bed.
“We can talk about this later,” he said, closing the appliance brochure and pushing it aside. “I’ll let you get back to work. I’ll see you when you get home.” He turned for the door, but she reached out to stop him.
“I was just going to walk down to the farmer’s market. Do you want to come with me?”
“You want me to come vegetable shopping with you?” Charlie asked. “Wow, I’ve had some thrills in my life, but I’m not sure I can handle something that intense. Are we just going to be buying green vegetables, or will there be other colors, too?”
Eve groaned, shaking her head. “They sell more than veggies there. There’s a really great Mexican food stand at the market and they make the best corn tamales. We could have lunch.” She paused. “And then, I suppose I might want to take a nap afterward.”
“I could use a nap.”
Though he needed to start going over his notes for the lectures he’d be giving tomorrow night, Charlie was more than happy to be distracted by her naked body in his bed.
Eve slipped out of her white chef’s jacket, then grabbed her sweater from the desk in the corner of the kitchen. “Grab those bags,” she said. “I’ve got the list.”
When they stepped out onto the street, the midmorning sun was warm and the breeze gentle. Springtime in Boulder was his favorite time of the year. And he was glad he’d chosen to spend it with Eve. He grabbed her hand and when she looked over at him, he smiled. “Do you have a problem with this?” he said.
“A public display of affection usually requires an explanation.”
“Do you really think we’ll need one?”
She shrugged. “I know a lot of people in this town. I haven’t been dating. Someone is surely going to be curious. What am I supposed to tell them?”
“Tell them I’m your boyfriend,” he said.
“Charlie, I-”
He turned and grabbed her face in his hands, then kissed her, lingering over her mouth for much longer than he should have, his tongue teasing at her lips provocatively. If she was worried about public displays of affection, she needn’t bother. He’d just given the crowd a public display of naked lust. “I’m your boyfriend, Eve. That’s all there is to it. We have a romantic relationship. I don’t know where the hell it’s going, but that doesn’t matter. Now, just say it.”
“Say what?” she asked breathlessly.
“Say, ‘Charlie, you are my boyfriend.’”
“Charlie, you are my boyfriend.”
“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
She shook her head. “I guess not.”
“So, now we can hold hands. We’re officially going together.”
“This sounds like high school,” Eve commented wryly.
“Maybe that’s where we should start.”
“I think we’ve gotten a little ahead ourselves. What we’ve been doing wasn’t even a possibility in high school. I was a very naive girl. I didn’t even know that tongues were involved in kissing until I was a junior in high school.” She paused. “But then, I suppose you were quite the Casanova.”
Charlie shook his head. “Actually, no. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was a sophomore in college. I didn’t spend a lot of time with girls in high school. I was too busy climbing rocks and kayaking down rivers. Girls really didn’t like to do that stuff, so until I had my first sexual experience, I didn’t have much use for them.”
“And then?”
“And then I realized how much fun they were,” Charlie said.
“And then you had a lot of sex,” she said.
“And then, I realized that a lot of sex wasn’t necessarily a good thing. When I came back to Boulder, I realized there’s a lot more to like about a woman than what you experience in the bedroom.”
“And what do you like about me?” Eve asked, turning to face him.
He slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “I like that you want me to eat better. And that you fold up my clothes when I throw them on the floor. I like how you look when you wear my T-shirt, and only my T-shirt, to make us breakfast. And I love the way you smell when you come out of the shower.”
She seemed taken aback by his rhapsodizing. A pretty blush stained her cheeks and she turned away to stare into a shop window. When she turned back to him, she smiled. “I’m hungry. Are you?”
Maybe he had been a bit too open about his feelings for her, but Charlie was sick of playing games. He liked Eve, a lot more than he’d ever liked any woman before. Hell, he might even love her, though he wasn’t sure he’d recognize the feeling if he did. There was absolutely nothing wrong with telling her what was on his mind.
“Eve!”
A man’s voice brought them both to a stop at the entrance to the farmer’s market. He heard Eve’s voice catch in her throat and she cursed softly.
“What?” Charlie said.
“It’s Dave,” she said. “My ex.”
“Matt,” Charlie corrected.
“Dave, Matt, it doesn’t make a difference what I call him. He’s coming over here right now. I really don’t want to talk to him.”
