Beauty and the Feast (7 page)

Gabe listened to the night noises for a few minutes before he returned to the kitchen and his dinner. He finished the salad course and found the herb sorbet she’d left for him in the freezer. It was intended as a palate cleanser. Lemon balm. She’d used the lemon balm from his garden.

The main course, accompanied by a spicy Zinfandel, consisted of a miniature filet mignon, cooked to perfection, seared on the outside, juicy and bright pink on the inside. Eva had sliced it thin. The meat melted like butter in his mouth. He dipped one piece in the wasabi cream Eva had provided. The bite of the wasabi was nice, without the unpleasant searing sensation of true horseradish. She’d accompanied the steak by equally miniature new potatoes, oven-roasted in olive oil with fresh rosemary and thyme, and bright green asparagus spears, steamed until they were just tender-crisp. Gabe ate them with his fingers. He took a break before he tackled the cheese course. His interest in Eva Raines had once again grown in direct proportion to the size of his erection, the erection induced by the images tasting her food brought to mind.

Gabe shook his head. This was a first. Food meant a great deal to him because going hungry as a child had meant something. Listening to his little sister’s stomach growl on the bus to school because they’d had nothing to eat for breakfast that morning or supper the night before meant something. Watching his mother sacrifice so she could scrape together enough money to feed her two children meant something. Over the past ten years, Gabe had come to appreciate a fine meal as much as the next man, maybe more because he’d been deprived as a child, and because by necessity he’d taught himself how to pair his wines with food. But he’d never experienced this sort of physical reaction to anything he’d put in his mouth, aside from a woman, that is. Only a woman, the right woman, tasted this good.

Eva had scattered fresh fruit casually across the cheese tray. Cherries, raspberries, plump
California
blackberries. She’d poached fresh peaches in what tasted like a lemony, sugar syrup, peeled them, sliced them, and spread the slices neatly on the tray. The slices were gold as a harvest moon. Gabe ignored the utensils and used his fingers to eat his fill of the fruit, licking the sticky, sweet syrup from his fingertips. Finally he pushed the tray away, completely sated.

Gabe stretched his arms over his head and leaned back. He closed his eyes. That was the most sensuous meal he’d ever eaten. He’d heard his assistant comment that food could be as good as sex, but he’d never before believed it. Eva’s food was foreplay, pure and simple. It was a build up to orgasm. She’d intended sex to be the dessert. The sweets she’d left in his bedroom were for drizzling on someone… on Stephanie. The only person Gabe could imagine drizzling them on was Eva herself. He wanted to drip warm chocolate into the hollow of her throat. Between her breasts. He wanted to watch himself pour caramel over her nipples, swirl it around them with his fingertips and then suck it off. He wanted to slowly trickle both down her belly, all the way down, to her clit. He would pour the warm toppings over her and he would bury his face in her pussy and lick her until she begged him to stop.

Eyes still closed, Gabe brought a hand forward and ran his palm down the front of his jeans. Jesus Christ. If her food could make him this hard…

* * * *

Eva was fucking some man, some incredibly hot, hard, relentless, faceless man. He bit down on her erect nipple and she felt her mouth open on a scream of pure pleasure. She was about to come when a phone rang somewhere and the man disappeared. Eva reached for him desperately, but he had vanished. Eva opened her eyes as she bolted upright. She was in her own bed, alone, her damp tee shirt clinging to her, and her cell phone was ringing. It had been a dream.

Eva pushed the button on her phone to answer. She tried to slow her breathing. She cleared her throat.

“Hello?” She wondered how hoarse her voice sounded.

“Eva.”

“Gabe? What? What are you…?”

“I loved the dinner, Eva. Thank you.”

“Oh. You’re…you’re welcome. I’m glad.” Eva glanced at the clock. It read
one a.m.

“Thank you for the granola.”

“Of course,” she replied. “It’s part of my service.” Eva waited to see if there was anything else. She got the distinct feeling that Gabriel Abbott wanted to ask her something.

“What you left in the bedroom,” he said, his voice mellowing, “I liked the thought of it.”

Eva felt herself blush from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She realized she was wet, very wet, both from her dream and from the sound of him.
He liked the thought of it
?
Did that mean he hadn’t used it for its intended purpose?
She wanted to hear him repeat that.

Before Eva could stop herself, she blurted out, “Did you?”

“Yes,” she heard Gabe say. “Very much.”

“I’m glad… I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

She heard him laugh softly. “I didn’t say I enjoyed it. I said I liked the thought of it.”

Oh my God
, Eva panicked.
I messed up. Maybe this was a business dinner and I totally fucked up. I completely misread the situation. Shit
.

“Mr. Abbott—”

“Gabe.”

“Gabe, I’m totally sorry if I overstepped. I’m so sorry. I assumed… I made an assumption…maybe I shouldn’t have…”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Eva. The dinner was perfect. That’s all I wanted to say.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely certain. I’d like to use you again, if you don’t mind. How about next weekend? Are you free?”

Eva felt her heart skip a beat.

“I would need to run it by Tom and Marcus, but as far as I know they haven’t added anything to my schedule.”

“Then plan on next Sunday,” he said. “I’ll call you this week with the details.”

“All right.”

“And Eva…”

“Yes?”

“I’ll try not to wake you up next time.”

Eva laughed into the phone. “Goodnight, Gabe. I’m glad your dinner went well.”

“Goodnight, Eva. Sleep tight.”

Eva clicked off and leaned back onto the pillows.
What just happened? What on earth just happened?
Did Gabriel Abbott call at one in the morning to thank me for helping him seduce someone? Or was this dinner something else entirely?
Eva didn’t know what to think. The only thing she knew was that the arousal she felt from her dream still lingered. She closed her eyes and tried to recapture the feel of the faceless man moving inside her. She gave him Gabriel Abbott’s voice. As her hand slid beneath the loose boxers she slept in, and her fingers found her aching clit, Eva fantasized that it was Gabe’s hand touching her. She came in seconds.

* * * *

Eva woke to bright sunshine. It was a perfect day for a bike ride. She made herself a quick bowl of oatmeal, washed her face and applied sunscreen, then she brushed her long hair and pulled the auburn locks back into a ponytail. She donned bike shorts, a sports bra, and a green, black and red bike jersey. Eva filled up a water bottle and she rolled her bike out of the garage. She snapped her helmet into place and headed Up Valley, crossing Highway 29 at

Eva needed a distraction. Her late-night conversation with Gabriel Abbott kept replaying itself in her mind. She had been so certain that he’d planned a seduction dinner. She wondered what had happened. Did his guest bail on him? Did he change his mind? Was she simply so clueless that she’d misunderstood? Or had she become so horny over the past year that she had sex on the brain and she’d stupidly generalized and assumed he did too? God, she felt like an idiot. But his words when he mentioned the dessert she’d left in his bedroom—
I liked the thought of it
—made her tingle all over. His voice alone practically made her… Eva felt her hands unconsciously loosen their grip on the handlebars and she inhaled sharply, reminding herself to pay attention or she’d end up smashed on the side of the highway. She pumped her legs faster, eager to outrace her thoughts. It wasn’t safe to lose focus on the Silverado Trail. Especially on a weekend in late spring with all the half-drunk crazy tourist drivers on the road.

* * * *

Gabe decided he needed a distraction. After his conversation with Eva, he’d tossed and turned all night. He’d used his fist, twice, but it didn’t do him any good. He didn’t want his fist, he wanted her, or at least, he wanted the idea of her. The morning was bright and he decided to take out his Harley. He’d prefer to ride his mountain bike but he’d left it in the city. It was a perfect day to enjoy the winding highway past Calistoga. Maybe he’d spend a little time in the redwood forest there. Get in a short hike. He thought he’d return the long way, via
Napa
, past the offices of ATAP. He’d found their address online. Gabe was hoping maybe she’d be there. Checking in or something. Working on Sunday. He could sneak an anonymous look at her. Yeah, dream on, he told himself. He wondered why he hadn’t just asked Eva to stop by his cottage today. It would have been so easy.

Jesus, I’m pathetic, Gabe thought as he headed up Highway 29. Beating off because of a woman’s food. Because of the sound of her voice. For all I know, she’s sixty years old and a grandmother who happens to like biking. He snorted. I’m perverted, that’s what I am. Lusting after someone who’s probably married and has kids and a dog and a house with a white picket fence. The bike skidded on some gravel and Gabe corrected. Pay attention, he admonished himself, or you’ll end up with a nasty road rash. Too damn many tourists in
St. Helena
. Gabe reminded himself that tourists paid his bills and made his charity work possible. He made an effort to regain his composure and just enjoy the day. The weather was great and the fresh air would clear his head. Then he remembered the feel of that salmon tartar on his tongue and he was right back where he started.
Fuck
. At least the farther north he rode, the fewer cars he saw.

“Goddamn mother-fucking cock-sucking piece of shit asshole!”

Gabe burst into laughter at the string of expletives coming from a few parking spaces over. He’d just turned off his bike and removed his helmet. The voice was female and vaguely familiar, although the woman, whoever she was, had quite a mouth on her. Not since college had he run into anyone who felt so free to express such a colorful vocabulary. Suddenly a bike helmet was hurled across the Domaine Chandon lot. Quite a few heads turned in his direction, seeking the source of the temper tantrum.

Wearing a grin, Gabe retrieved the bike helmet and strolled toward the sound of muttering. He was hoping this was exactly the kind of distraction he’d been seeking. A long motorcycle ride and a hike hadn’t done the trick. Gabe wandered around the far side of a Mercedes coupe and spotted a woman wearing bike shorts and a quick-dry biking shirt. She knelt on the asphalt, bent over to look at a bicycle tire she’d apparently removed. Her sweetly curved behind tilted up in Gabe’s direction and he was glad he’d kept his jacket on. From what he could see, the woman’s legs were long and lean and her arms nicely muscled in a very feminine sort of way. Her bike shirt was soaked with sweat and it clung to her narrow waist, defining her slender back and broad shoulders. Her long, curling, auburn ponytail whipped sideways as she stood up and tossed a small wrench onto the ground.

“Fuck me,” she said quietly.

Gabe froze. He knew that voice. He’d know it anywhere. It was his little chef. His little chef could cuss like a truck driver. Who’d have thought?
Fuck me, indeed
. He shot a quick glance at the back of her left hand. No ring. Gabe’s grin widened. Now all she had to do was turn around.

“Can I help you, miss?”

For an instant, the woman appeared to have been struck by lightning. Then she whirled around to face him, her brown eyes wide, questioning. She recognized his voice, all right. Gabe stared right back. Eva Raines was everything he’d imagined her to be and more. His immediate impression was that she was quite possibly the most fuckable woman he’d ever seen, but before Gabe could utter another word, he found his eyes focused on a goose-egg sized black and blue bump above her right eye. Confused, he shook himself and took a good look at her. Blood ran down the front of both legs from knees that looked like raw meat and her palms were scraped and bleeding. Eva began to speak, then she quickly closed her mouth, but not before he’d caught a glimpse of straight, white teeth and a sweet pink tongue. He saw her eyes fill with tears as she tilted her determined chin up, daring him to say one word about her injuries. Gabe dropped the helmet on the ground and reached for her.

He gripped her firmly by both shoulders. “What happened to you?”