Harlequin Intrigue: May 2022 Box Set 2 of 2 by Barb Han

Author:Barb Han
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

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LANA WOKE AT five the next morning without prompting. She’d fallen asleep hours earlier than she’d thought possible, given her strange situation, then slept soundly, until her internal clock opened her eyes. Chef life sometimes kept her up late, but it always got her up early.

She lingered in her room until the first signs of dawn passed over her window. She didn’t want to wake Nash, but she also needed to clear her head, and that meant cooking. So she padded softly to the kitchen, eager to get started.

The meal she’d prepared the night before had been quick and simple. Seared veggie slices, ears of corn and chicken on the grill. There hadn’t been time for a proper marinade, but the results had still been spectacular. The colors and arrangement on the grates, then plates, were exactly the kind of aesthetic she’d use to advertise her café one day. Healthy eating was a lifestyle she wanted to amplify.

She prepped a pot of coffee to brew, sprinkling cinnamon in the grounds before pressing the power button. Then she turned to the fridge.

She had everything she needed for a quiche or frittata but wasn’t quite awake enough to tackle a decent crust. “Frittata it is,” she said, smiling at her remaining veggies.

Seconds later, she was lost in the work, chopping and dicing while tunes from her favorite playlist rose softly from her phone’s speaker. She hummed along, per her usual, sampling fresh ingredients and sashaying around the little kitchen as if it was her own.

The rear deck door slid open, and she gasped. Her heart pounded and her ears rang as Nash stepped inside, phone in one hand. His gaze fell to her bare thighs, on full display beneath her favorite cotton sleep shorts, and stayed there.

She ogled his very broad, very bare chest in return. “I didn’t realize you were up,” she said, kicking herself for not being more aware of her surroundings. Mac Bane could have just as easily entered the kitchen, and she’d have been equally unprepared.

Nash pulled the door shut behind him and dragged his gaze to meet hers. “The phone rang, and I took the call outside so I wouldn’t wake you,” he explained, brows pulled low. “Did I wake you?”

“No. I was up for a while before I came out here,” she said. “I didn’t hear your phone.”

“It was on Silent, buzzing around on my nightstand until I answered.” He removed the T-shirt, which he’d hung around his neck like a towel, and fanned it out before him.

“Anything important?” she asked, returning her attention to the frittata.

“Just another round of updates.” He pulled the T-shirt over his head, then slid past her in the small space to pour a cup of coffee. “It’s going to be another hot one today. Still threatening to rain, but too stubborn to do it.”

“Sounds like summer in Kentucky,” she said. Normally, she was a dance-in-the-rain kind of girl, but suddenly she worried about how the weather would affect their visibility.

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