The Perfect Ingredient (Dare Valley) (7 page)

“Oh how romantic,” Natalie breathed out.

Elizabeth had to fight against rolling her eyes. It would be romantic if she wasn’t so upset at Terrance. Who knew he had a nostalgic side? Okay, that wasn’t fair. Hadn’t he served her favorite white wine?

“I made them mini meat-lovers calzones,” he said. “Easier to munch on than pizza slices at a party.”

“But much harder to make,” Natalie said, snaking out a hand like she wanted to snag one off the plate. “Wow! I love this idea. I might have to steal it.”

“Steal away,” Terrance said, and even Elizabeth could hear the smile in his voice. His profession always lit him up inside. Like her, he was one of the rare people who loved what he did. “Enjoy.”

She was so sensitive to Terrance’s presence, she knew the moment he left the room. Funny how when she’d agreed to do this, she hadn’t considered how hard it would be to eat. Terrance had a way of filling her belly with girly butterflies.

Rhett and Natalie made up for her lack of enjoyment by moaning their way through the appetizers all the way to the desserts. By the time everyone had finished writing down their scores and comments, Terrance was standing behind her again, crowding her personal space and all her senses.

She forcibly pushed back from the table, hoping to run over his toes or smack him in the shins. But he’d always been light on his feet, and he easily ducked out of her way, a knowing look in his eyes.

Rhett stood and pounded him on the back. Terrance didn’t move a muscle—a feat few men could muster.

“Man, I can’t wait until the party. I’m going to gobble like a hog, eating those babies all over again.”

Natalie patted her stomach. “I’m not going to be able to eat any of my mom’s dinner tonight, but it was worth it. Chef T, everything was incredible. Thank you.”

He held her hand a fraction too long, just to piss Elizabeth off, she suspected.

“My pleasure, Natalie. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Then it came time for her to say something. Her mind fumbled for a minute. “I’m sure Jane and Matt will be happy with your final selections.” It was the most gracious she could be at the moment.

He must have known because his smile turned secretive, his bottle green eyes filled with a challenge. “I’ll see you soon, Elizabeth.”

As they left the restaurant, she linked her arm through Rhett’s and said, “How about we play some poker?”

Now that Jane had outted them, she had the freedom to play in public, and while it wasn’t something she usually did, she felt the urge to battle the hand of fate and see how she could play the cards she was dealt.

Anything to get her mind off Terrance.

Chapter 7

Election day spirits were high, and early exit polling indicated Matt was winning in a landslide. Even his election consultant from Denver, a brooding, serious man, was smiling when Elizabeth arrived at the restaurant for the party.

She’d purposely arrived late since Jane had texted her to say she and Matt were having a celebratory dinner alone. If that wasn’t code for election-win sex, Elizabeth didn’t know what was.

Her one-shoulder gold Armani dress had been purposefully selected to tantalize Terrance, who would undoubtedly be making the rounds. He had been in charge of the food at all of Rhett’s formal parties at The Peacock, and he’d always come out to mingle midway through the evening, once everything was under control in the kitchen. He would share a bourbon with Rhett and Mac before angling his way through the crowd—being stopped by woman after woman and his buddies—until he reached her. Then he would sweep his eyes down from the top of her dress to the tips of her high heels and pretty much lick his chops, knowing he was going to peel her out of that dress in short order.

Tonight the only peeling he was going to do was for the potatoes in the leek potato patties he was serving oozing with goat cheese. But he was going to look. And she was going to torture him.

As much as she tried to tell herself to ignore him and play it safe, she couldn’t. He was here, and she had to push back at him like he was pushing at her.

Even though she had no idea where that would lead.

Okay, that was a lie. The greedy, lust-filled goddess inside her wanted him in her bed. The scared woman who’d run from him wanted to give him another chance to show her that he could be her non-violent Prince Charming.

Maybe the two sides could compromise, and she and Terrance could have a sex-only agreement while he was in town?

When she caught sight of him already mingling with the crowd at the party, her heart leaped into her throat, and she knew it was impossible. No man had ever opened her up to so much emotion, good and bad. He’d taught her the difference between sex and making love without even meaning to. The intimacy between them had been there from the start, like it had been ordained.

No, there would never be anything no-strings with Terrance.

Darn it all.

His head turned then, as if sensing her, and those bottle-green eyes seemed to glow like sea glass on a moonlit beach as they made that seductive trek down her body. But instead of excusing himself from talking to Jill and her husband, Brian, and coming to her, he returned his attention to their conversation.

“Girl, you need a drink,” Natalie said, snagging her arm. “If you don’t stop staring at Terrance, I’m afraid he might haul you over his shoulder and carry you upstairs to a hotel room.”

Her belly fluttered at the thought.

“I’m not after him, by the way,” Natalie added, shoving a glass of white wine into her hand from a nearby waiter’s tray. “He’s gorgeous and interesting and tantalizing, but I’m done with chest-beating alphas.”

Now that got Elizabeth’s attention. “Why?”

“Carpet burns. On my butt and my heart.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Jane said I would like you, and she was right. I’m sorry I acted like a bitch the other day.”

Natalie led the way to High Stakes’ curvy bar past the fire wall, which always dazzled her senses, and signaled the bartender for a Manhattan. “Please. You were acting like a bitch to
him.
I was just in the way. I told him to stop trying to make you jealous when we went into the kitchen.”

Her wine went down the wrong pipe, and Natalie had to pound her back. “Really?” she finally choked out.

“Really. Come on. The guests of honor might not be here yet, but my sisters are, and we’ll protect you from doing something stupid.”

Soon they were standing with Moira and Caroline Hale, drinking wine and moaning over the food.

“I’m going to have to eat salads for the rest of the week,” Caroline said.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, you’re a size six. What in the world are you worried about?” Jill said, slinging her arm around her cousin as she joined the group. “I’m up to a size eight after the twins, and you don’t see me complaining.”

“It’s because your boobs are like milk jugs now,” Natalie told her.

Elizabeth almost spewed out her white wine. This was the second time Natalie’s directness had thrown her for a loop.

Moira peered at Jill’s awesome breasts. “You don’t need a padded bra right now, that’s for sure.”

“Like I ever did.” Jill socked her. “Stop staring at my chest, Mo.”

“I’m just jealous. How can we even be related?” She pointed to her own flat chest.

Terrance had to have special male hearing, the kind able to signal that women were talking about breasts, because he made a beeline for their group.

Natalie grabbed her hand. “Let’s go talk to my Uncle Arthur for a while.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, letting Natalie drag her over to Arthur Hale, who sat at the head of a table with Natalie’s mom and the women Matt had dubbed his Easter Brigade, three sweet elderly ladies who dressed only in pastels and were the first volunteers on his campaign.

Arthur leaned back in his chair. “Well, if it’s not the other Harvard Smarty Pants.”

She leaned down and kissed his weathered cheek. It was his nickname for Jane, chosen to send a message to everyone in town that he approved of his future great niece-in-law. Elizabeth was grateful he’d extended the honor to her. Even though he was in his late seventies, the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist still ran his legendary newspaper,
The Western Independent
, with help from his granddaughter, Meredith, and her husband, Tanner.

“Hello, Arthur,” she said and nodded to everyone else with a soft smile.

“Young Matthew had better show up soon, or I’ll be dozing off through his acceptance speech. We old people have earlier bed times, right, Joanie?” Arthur asked the woman sitting beside him, who was dressed in a lovely pale pink.

“Speak for yourself, old man,” she told him.

“Amen,” the other women chimed in.

“Matt had a special surprise for Jane,” April told them. “He knows her dad’s old election parties were hard on her. He didn’t want her to get caught up in bad memories, so he took her and the dogs for a walk at their park at sunset, and since the day was nice and warm, he brought a picnic for them to enjoy.”

“Is my brother the best man in the world or what?” Natalie asked, and Elizabeth had to agree.

At that moment, the guests started to clap and whistle, and Elizabeth saw Jane and Matt jog in together through the crowd, holding hands and grinning like the world lay at their feet.

She joined in the revelry as the couple climbed the raised dais at the back of the restaurant. Matt kissed Jane sweetly and looked into her eyes a moment before he picked up the mike.

“I just heard the news from my campaign manager,” Matt told the audience. “It’s official. We won the primary! Get ready for November, folks!”

Everyone broke into applause, and this time, people shouted their happiness from the crowd, including Natalie, who now had her arms wrapped around her mom.

“This primary wasn’t what anyone in Dare Valley was expecting. Heck, even I didn’t know how it would go when I decided to run for mayor. Then I met my beautiful, talented, and awe-inspiring fiancé, Jane Wilcox. We weathered a pretty serious storm together, and I’m so proud she stood beside me. I’m even prouder that we never once lowered ourselves to the opposition’s negative campaign tactics.”

The cheers were so loud, Elizabeth’s eardrums shook.

Then he flashed that all-American smile that made him so likable. “Well, except for my mother, who confessed she took down some nasty campaign signs on Main Street.”

People around her chuckled, but Elizabeth did not. The signs had targeted Jane, showing pictures of her as Raven.

“The Hales have deep roots in this town, but never once have we
ever
held the honorable seat of mayor. Right, Uncle Arthur?”

Elizabeth looked over to see Arthur raise a hand in the air in response.

“My campaign manager tells me I will likely run unopposed for mayor. The other party doesn’t think anyone can beat me, but we’ll see if that holds true. November is a long time away. I’ve told you what I stand for, and I’m not planning to talk your ear off tonight. We’re going to have fun and party and enjoy this moment. I want to thank everyone who believed in me and voted for me, but I especially want to thank my campaign volunteers and election consultant, Rob, who made this happen. Have fun and thank you again!”

Matt and Jane left the stage and were immediately surrounded by well wishers.

Then the hairs on the back of her neck rose, and Elizabeth knew Terrance was staring at her. Her eyes swept across the crowd until she found him, looking so damn sexy in that denim chef jacket he’d worn at the tasting.

Her eyes met his, and in them, she could see the same confusion and lust she felt.

Her whole body tingled in response.

They both wanted,
needed
this longing to end.

But it wasn’t that simple.

What in the world were they going to do?

Chapter 8

Terrance had never cared for politics, since the system had failed him before he was old enough to vote. Still, Matt Hale seemed to be one of those rare candidates with integrity and a solid vision.

Not that politics could distract him from covertly watching Vixen. Correction. Elizabeth.

Not even coming across the perfect ingredient, something he’d traveled the world to find, could prevent him from staring at her. And that was significant. In Istanbul’s famous Spice Market, he’d once spent ten days going from vendor to vendor in search of it.

He’d set aside his pursuit for the perfect ingredient only once—for the summer he and Vixen had spent together—and he had a sinking feeling she was going to distract him again.

Even though he could purchase saffron at two thousand dollars a pound, nothing satisfied the hollowness at his core, the emptiness that stretched back to his early childhood, spent with a resentful mother and the specter of an absent father. Cooking was more than food to Terrance. It had filled a void in his bones, saving him from God knows what kind of life on the streets, but it hadn’t completed him. The perfect ingredient would do that. He only had to find it.

When Elizabeth left him, he’d redoubled his efforts, traveling to the world’s most illustrious food markets. In Brazil at Kauppatori Market, he’d sampled smoked reindeer. In India at Khari Baoli, he’d bought the most delicate cardamom in existence. And still he’d ventured to China to the Kreta Ayer Wet Market to taste the most innovative curry blend to ever cross his palate.

But none were the perfect ingredient.

Looking at Elizabeth, even without all the sequins and makeup, created an odd warmth in his belly, like the comforting simmer of a fragrant stew on a winter’s day. Her slender right arm was bare in the slinky gold number she’d chosen. All he wanted to do was kiss his way up the inside of her wrist. And then there were her legs… The dress ended a few inches shy of her knees, and well, he wanted to kiss his way up her smooth thighs too. She was a sexy siren tonight, and no woman could compete with her. Not that any ever had in his mind.

His heart warned him to be careful. The Dear John letter she’d given him had left a permanent dagger in that mysterious organ. But he could not stop himself from trying to corner her again. She’d successfully eluded him all night.