Harlequin Special Edition March 2017, Box Set 1 of 2 by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488031403
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

“Dang.” Gilberto sagged as yet another marshmallow fell off his stick in a flaming ball of goo. “Willa’s come out way better than mine.”

“She does seem to have the Midas touch, doesn’t she?” Derek scowled at the black char on the end of his own skewer, adding another failure to their ever-growing discard pile.

Relaxed, happy and sated with food, Willa laughed at her two dinner companions. “Now are you willing to let me teach you how to make the perfect s’more?”

Together, they had cleared the dining table and settled onto a pile of pillows in front of the fireplace for dessert. Gilberto had lobbied to put s’mores on the night’s menu, eager to try them for the very first time. Derek had loaded a tray with graham crackers, chocolate bars and a mountain of jumbo marshmallows, but so far the results were sketchy.

“I can’t believe I need a lesson for this,” Derek grumbled as he attempted, mostly in vain, to clean his metal skewer.

“Humility is the first ingredient in any successful recipe.”

“You made that up.”

“Not at all.” Taking a sip of incredibly good coffee, Willa smiled. “In my former life, I taught at a culinary institute. The best chefs were invariably the ones who were the most teachable.”

Derek’s attention peaked. “Where was this culinary institute?”

“South Pasadena. I taught at Le Cordon Bleu,” she shared. “It’s not there anymore, unfortunately. I was also a pastry chef at a restaurant on Lake Boulevard.”

“Lake Boulevard?”

“It’s the South Pasadena equivalent of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, or—” she paused to think “—Northwest Twenty-Third Avenue in Portland.”

“Overly trendy and expensive?”

She laughed. “An epicurean’s delight,” she countered. “A hub for the most creative food in the city.”

Pleasure filled Derek’s face, and he nodded. “I like your confidence.”

It was true: when it came to career, she’d rarely faltered.

“Confidence is very…” S-e-x-y. He mouthed the word, even though Gilberto was too involved in biting burnt marshmallow off his skewer to listen.

“Oh, I agree.” Connection sizzled between them.

“So you had a great career,” he observed. “Why did you leave?”

Crud. She’d walked right into that, and the answer was guaranteed to open the floodgates of her past. It would happen eventually, she knew, but she wanted to control when, where and how much she revealed. Tonight had been light and fun with moments of unexpected bliss. It had been, so far, much more than she’d expected. Discussing her past would change all that.

She shook her head. “I didn’t leave. I’m still doing what I love, but now I’m doing it in Thunder Ridge. And I don’t have to tell you why living in Thunder Ridge is so attractive.”

She considered that an excellent save, but Derek’s eyes narrowed. He knew she was hedging.

Curved around his skewer, his hands looked tense. Taking a chance, she covered his knuckles with her palm. “I like where I’m at right now, working in Thunder Ridge. Being here, with you and Gilberto. I loved today. And tonight has been perfect.”

Let it stay that way, she implored silently, breathing a sigh of relief when his hand relaxed beneath hers.

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