Kitchen Heat by Kathleen McFall

Author:Kathleen McFall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: restaurant, steamy romance, single mother, offbeat humor, friends to lovers, slow burn, sexy waitress, romance 1990s
Publisher: Pumpjack Press

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

INT. KASSI’S APARTMENT – NIGHT

Date night! Is it finally happening? The stars appear aligned.

For their first date, Clay spent a lot of time agonizing over what to do, what Kassi would like and how to make it special. Finally, after much deliberation, he settled on a drive along the Columbia River to catch the sunset in the gorge, and then dinner at Multnomah Falls Lodge. He hoped she might enjoy seeing these famous Oregon sights. After that, they’d decide what to do next together.

He parked his truck, jumped out and then trotted to the door. Slow down, he thought. You are acting like a kid with a crush. Don’t embarrass yourself.

When she opened the door, she looked more beautiful than ever. Sam was perched on her hip, clutching a blanket and sucking her thumb, her head nestled onto Kassi’s shoulder. Sam brightened at the sight of Clay but remained silent and then snuggled in more tightly.

“Come on in, I’ll be just a few minutes,” Kassi said. “Just up from a nap.”

“You or Sam?”

Sam giggled.

“Just Sam, silly. Moms don’t sleep. Ever.”

He pulled out two sunflower stems from behind his back. “I brought you these.”

“Oh, that’s sweet, thank you. I love sunflowers, they’re my favorite, so joyful. Mind putting them in a vase while I get this little sweetie cleaned up?”

“Is Daddy coming?” Sam asked, her voice muffled into the side of Kassi’s neck.

“Yes, honey, he’ll be here soon, so let’s get you dressed and ready, okay?”

Mother and daughter slipped into the bedroom. As Clay looked around for a vase, he listened to them talking softly—Kassi cajoling Sam into her clothes, insisting she brush her teeth, then tickling her. The sound of Sam’s laughter was sweet and exhilarating, and Clay had a momentary feeling that nothing in the world could ever go wrong and at the same time that he had to make absolutely sure nothing could ever go wrong again.

Finding no vase, he pulled a spaghetti sauce jar from the trash, ripped off the label, rinsed it out, filled it with water, cut the stems down and then stuck the flowers inside.

Sam burst out from the bedroom, now fully awake, clean and wearing a dress with ruffles. She ran toward Clay like a rocket and threw her arms around his knees. “Hi, Cooker!”

He patted the top of her head. “You woke up! How do you like the flowers?”

“I love them! They’re my favorite too.”

Kassi followed, a hairbrush in her hand. “Come on, Sam, we need to get your hair finished.” Sam ran around the small apartment, hiding and ducking whenever her mother came near.

At first, Kassi played as if she couldn’t catch her, but Clay could see Kassi’s patience was wearing thin. A minute later, when Sam’s tiny sprints brought her in range, he reached down and caught her, then swung her up high. She squealed with delight, as he brought her down gently and placed her squarely in front of Kassi.

“Do it again, Cooker, do it again!” she pleaded, holding out her little arms.

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