She nodded. “Orzo con verdure estive arrosto.”
“In English?”
“Orzo with roasted summer vegetables.” She placed a small hill of the orzo pasta with chunks of summer squash, zucchini, artichoke hearts, asparagus, tomatoes, and mushrooms onto each plate before offering a spoonful to him. “Care to try?”
“As long as there’s no shrimp in it.”
“Mom mentioned that some of you weren’t big fans of shrimp. Don’t worry—this is completely vegetarian.”
A harmony of flavors sang on his tongue when he sampled it. Bright basil, rich parmesan, zesty lemon, and smooth olive oil all balanced each other out and left him wanting to grab the spoon and scrape the pan clean. She watched him expectantly, her assured smile tempting him to sample more than just her cooking. He stepped back before he lost control of himself. “It’s very good.”
“I know.” She placed the pan in the sink and drizzled some olive oil over each plate of orzo. “It’s one of my most popular dishes.”
He watched the way she wiped the edges of each plate clean before adorning the pasta with a few shavings of parmesan and a sprig of basil. “Did you have any special culinary training?”
“I spent three years in Italy, learning from my aunts first before finally getting enough courage to enroll in more formal classes there.”
“And is this what you’ve always wanted to do?”
“Not always, but once I discovered my passion, I’ve never been able to let go.” She looked up from her work, her smile widening. “Have you ever felt that way about something, been caught totally by surprise and never realized how deep you were into it until it totally consumed you?”
Before today he might have said his work consumed him, but it didn’t capture his attention and make his breath catch like Lia did. His pulse raced, not from stress but from excitement and anticipation, as she spoke of her passion. If he could only have a tenth of that passion....
He narrowed the space between them as though they were two opposite poles of a magnet, the force too strong for him to resist. “I think I might have an idea of what you’re talking about.”
She licked her lips, a seductive move he’d seen dozens of women practice in his presence, but with Lia it seemed to be unconscious. “Oh?”
God help me, does she have any idea what she’s doing? He was close enough now to catch the faint scent of peaches that rose from her skin. His cock throbbed. He hadn’t been this worked up about a girl since high school. He dug his fingers into his palms to keep from acting like a complete Neanderthal and kissing her right there.
A loud burst of laughter came from the dining as though his brothers could see his predicament through the wooden door. His desire doused, he took a step back, painfully aware of the confused set of her mouth as she watched him. “Let me help you carry the next course out.”
She blinked several times before she murmured a choked “Thank you,” and grabbed three of the plates.
He took the other two and followed her into the dining room, setting one in front of his mother before putting the other in front of his chair. His mind felt fuzzy, like he’d had too much to drink even though he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol. Sweat pricked the back of his neck. As long as Lia was in the kitchen, he needed to stay out.
“You okay, Adam?” Dan asked from across the table, one brow raised.
“Yeah,” he replied, flicking out his napkin and placing it on his lap. “Just peachy.”
Chapter Two
Lia pressed her palms to her cheeks to cool them. What the hell had just happened? One minute Adam seemed to be coming on to her, and then—BAM!—he was backing off like he’d just learned she carried the plague.
She pulled the chicken breasts she’d prepped out of the fridge and pounded them with a mallet. It didn’t matter that she’d already flattened them out to the half-inch thickness she needed for the recipe—it just felt good to hit something.
Even more frustrating was her reaction to him. Normally she would’ve considered a guy getting that close to her an invasion of her personal space. Instead, she had to fight the urge to wrap her arms around his neck and reel his lips toward hers.
“It’s just because he’s a good-looking man and I’ve been celibate for longer than I care to admit,” she whispered as she coated the chicken breasts in breadcrumbs and laid them in the sizzling pan. “I don’t have time to get mixed up with anyone, much less him.”
Of course, if he scratched her itch and got it out of her system…
Don’t even go there. Adam Kelly fell into the damn sexy category with those piercing blue eyes and dark hair, but experience had taught her men like him were incapable of staying true to one woman, and she had no desire to be the other woman. She was better off focusing on dinner and not allowing herself to be distracted by him.
Fifteen minutes later, she’d plated the next course and was ready to deliver it to the Kellys. Once that was done, she only had to prepare the dolce and pack her things up. Over. Done. Far away from Adam Kelly and back home where she could dream up tomorrow’s special for La Arietta.
Her resolve crumbled the moment she felt his eyes on her. He followed her every movement as she placed the secondo in front of his brothers and removed their prima plates. When she finally got to him, her stomach was tied in knots.
“This looks delicious,” he said, but he wasn’t looking at the food.
Her skin burned. “It is,” she managed to say before her hands started shaking.
“I’ll take that.” He reached up and took the plate from her, his hands brushing against hers and doubling the intensity of the throbbing heat in her lower stomach.
She bit back her yelp, releasing the plate as though she’d been zapped by a jolt of electricity.
“Don’t let Adam scare you,” Caleb said from across the table. “He always gets what he wants and isn’t afraid to grab it.”
Always got what he wanted, huh? Would he follow her into the kitchen again and grab her? He continued to watch her, perhaps hoping to catch some sort of invitation from her. If she gave it to him....
Nope, not going there. Not even going to indulge in the fantasy of it. She would be professional and treat this as though the Kelly family were guests in her restaurant.
She wiped her hands on her apron as though she could remove the memory of his touch. “I hope you enjoy it. Be sure to leave room for dessert, though.”
“I definitely will.”
Oh, dear Lord, the way he said the words almost had her wanting to offer herself for dessert. Would he continue to have that low rumble in his voice as he tasted her skin?
She couldn’t escape to the kitchen quickly enough.
Guilt tightened Adam’s chest as Lia bolted for the kitchen. He hadn’t meant to scare her away. Perhaps he’d read her wrong earlier. Maybe she was some sort of reclusive spinster who freaked out when a man touched her. The idea still barely tempered the strong pull she had on him every time she entered the room.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into Lia tonight,” her mother was saying. “She’s normally so friendly, always ready to join a conversation.”
“It probably didn’t help that Adam yanked his dinner out of her hands,” Caleb replied. “Nice manners, bro.”
“I was only trying to help. It looked like her hands were full.” And she was about to spill everything on me.
“Perhaps you should apologize to her.” His mother said the words with a sweet smile, but the tone was the same one she used when she would suggest he go to his room and think about whatever naughty thing he’d done as a child.