going to take tonight.
'Tell me about the cake,' he prompted, curious to know what it was, and what to expect.
'This is a coconut lemon cake,' she told him as she stirred cream into her coffee. 'The inside is an extra-moist blend of coconut-flavored cake enhanced with fresh lemon juice and grated peel. The outside is topped with a halo of delicate coconut flakes on a lemon glaze.'
He took a few bites to really savor the taste, and like every dessert that had come before, he liked it. The moist cake dissolved in his mouth, and the coconut and lemon flavor was a combination that worked well together and left a pleasant taste in his mouth afterward.
Kayla ignored her own slice of cake and watched him eat his dessert. After a few silent moments had passed, she asked anxiously, 'Well?'
He wiped his mouth with his napkin and grinned. 'It's great. I'll take it.'
She visibly relaxed in her chair. 'You're easy to please, you know that?'
'You make it easy on me.' He took a drink of his coffee, and forked off another bite of the cake. 'You've given me three very unique and diverse desserts, and I think each one will be a hit.'
Finally, she started in on her own piece of cake. 'I was thinking, maybe you'd like to add a cheesecake to the menu?'
He considered the suggestion, and agreed that cheesecake was a popular item. 'What did you have in mind?'
'I came up with a few flavors I'd like to run by you, actually.' She licked a smear of lemon glaze off her bottom lip, her expressive green eyes lighting up with exuberance. 'There's a Dutch Apple Streusel Cheesecake, Kahlua Coffee Cheesecake, a Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake, or Chocolate Pecan Turtle.'
He chuckled and shook his head. 'And you expect me to choose just one?'
'Eventually.' She smiled, drawing his gaze back to her sexy mouth and reminding him of the immense pleasure she'd given him with those lips of hers. 'How about I make a small example of each flavor, and you can pick the one you like the best? I can have them ready for you to taste by Wednesday afternoon.'
'That would be perfect.' As she was. Every single curvaceous inch of her.
And that easily, that quickly, his body reacted, growing heavy with a need that made him question his personal promise about not making love to her tonight.
After dessert, the drive back to Kayla's house was made in a companionable silence, which gave her too much time to think about how the night might end. She knew how she
If she'd brought them along as planned, there wouldn't be any doubt in her mind that they'd end the night in a hot, passionate encounter. Just like every time before that he'd eaten her aphrodisiac candies.
Refusing to let insecurities or those too-distracting voices in her head ruin what had been a great evening, she let her mind drift to more pleasant thoughts… like how at ease and comfortable she felt around Jack. She couldn't ever remember feeling this way with another man before.
Not even Doug.
Especially not Doug.
With Doug there had always been too many expectations on his part that left her constantly worrying about whether or not she measured up. Did she look all right? Had she said or done the wrong thing? And no matter how hard she tried to please him, he'd always find something to criticize.
But with Jack… she was beginning to relax and feel comfortable in her own skin, which was a first. But as much as that realization increased her inner confidence, she was all too aware that she was gradually opening herself up to Jack emotionally, which hadn't been part of her plan. When this affair of theirs ended, she wanted to walk away with her heart intact, and she'd do well to remember that.
He pulled into her driveway, then walked her to her front door. A sudden burst of nervous energy took hold, and butterflies swarmed in her stomach.
'I had a wonderful time tonight,' she said as she dug around in her purse for her keys. Finding them, she then glanced back up at Jack's face. The porch light illuminated his strong features and fathomless blue eyes. 'Thanks for taking me to your restaurant.'
'It was my pleasure.' He plucked the keys from her fingers, then unlocked and opened the door for her.
He was being so polite, so chivalrous, and she knew that any advance tonight was going to be up to her.
'Would you like to come in?' she asked before her small allotment of courage fled. 'I still have those candies you haven't tried yet.' Good God, she hoped she didn't look as desperate as she suddenly felt.
'I'm tempted to take you up on that offer, but I'm going to pass tonight.' He feathered his warm fingers along her jaw, the touch more soothing than sexual. 'It's late and you look tired.'
She gave a jerky nod of understanding, even as a huge swell of disappointment settled over her. She'd known from the moment she'd forgotten her Caramel Caresses at home that they wouldn't make love, but that knowledge, combined with Jack's subtle rejection of her invitation to come inside, didn't make her heart ache any less.
Her all-consuming need for Jack was having less and less to do with her experiment, and everything to do with a deeper yearning she couldn't ignore.
She inhaled a deep, startled breath as her mind tried to grasp the ramifications of those thoughts. Oh, Lord, she was falling for Jack Tremaine, despite her best intentions to keep her emotions out of their relationship. And that realization scared the heck out of her.
Still, she was determined to enjoy their affair, and her short time with Jack. And that meant being daring enough to invite him to join her for a night out, without her desserts as a lure.
'I meant to mention this earlier,' she said with a tremulous smile. 'I'm catering an art show next Friday for the Seaside Gallery, and I was invited as a guest. Would you be interested in coming with me?'
He smiled that sexy smile of his, which made her feel a bit better. 'Are you asking
A date. She liked the sound of that. 'Yes, I guess I am.'
'Then I accept.' He brushed a tender kiss on her temple. 'Good night, Kayla.'
'Good night,' she whispered, hating the longing in her voice that she knew he had to have heard.
She went inside the house, stripped out of her clothes, and put on a silky chemise, still disappointed about how the evening had ended, but feeling hopeful about their date next Friday. After washing the makeup from her face and brushing her teeth, she crawled into her big lonely bed with only Pumpkin for company. The feline loved to cuddle, but she was a poor substitute for the warm male body Kayla had been hoping for.
Chapter 8
'I think it's going to be a tie between the Dutch Apple Streusel Cheesecake, and the Chocolate Pecan Turtle,' Jack announced after sampling the variety of cheesecakes Kayla had set out on the stainless steel table for him to try.
Kayla smiled, the first genuine one in days-ever since Jack had dropped her off at her house and she'd spent an endlessly long night tossing and turning in her bed.
'What do you know, those are my two favorites as well,' she said. 'How are we going to narrow this down to just one?'
Jack rubbed a finger along his jaw as he contemplated her question. Finally, he met her gaze, his eyes such a brilliant shade of blue her stomach fluttered in keen awareness. The desire she'd been fighting since the moment he'd walked into Pure Indulgence nearly an hour ago expanded, making her ache all over for his touch.
His kiss.
Any kind of physical contact at all. So far, since he'd arrived he'd been all business, and she was frustrated and
