to go. Can I drop you somewhere?”
Reality check, she thought. She’d almost let herself believe he was different, understanding her passion instead of dismissing it. “I drove here, I’m sure I’ll remember the way back.”
His gaze softened. “Good, I wouldn’t want you to forget. Take your time finishing your drink. Then Joanna will show you around the kitchen. I’ll drop by your office next Tuesday after work. That should give you time to put together a menu to knock my socks off. We both know you want to.”
Without giving her the chance to contradict him, he bounded down the steps and headed toward the house, taking for granted that she’d do exactly what he wanted.
In spite of her annoyance, the challenge primed her senses like an explosive charge. How had he known? she wondered as she finished the pomegranate tea. He’d zeroed in on the one thing that guaranteed her cooperation, the chance to show that she was as first-rate in her world as the rest of her family was in theirs. Her feelings had nothing to do with the way Nate’s touch affected her, or how tempted she was to kiss him again. This was purely professional. Or so she tried to assure herself.
AS NATE DROVE TO THE HOSPITAL, his mind grappled with the complications his team had reported about one of their patients. Normally, he’d have options mapped out by the time he got there, but his thoughts were distracted by his meeting with the lovely Emma.
She didn’t want anything to do with him, so why was he determined to have her mastermind his celebration dinner? Was he so used to his team jumping when he snapped his fingers that he’d forgotten how to handle rejection? He hated to think so, and yet…he felt an attraction for Emma Jarrett that he couldn’t pin down, like the first taste of a weird and wonderful food. He craved more of her while suspecting she wouldn’t be good for him. She didn’t like him. She didn’t like doctors, he corrected. Hardly surprising given the way her family regarded her choice of career. When Cherie had heard Nate’s assistant joshing him about his upcoming birthday and asking what he was doing about a party, she’d recommended Emma, but had made far more of her daughter’s single status than her catering skills.
Cherie was wasting her time matchmaking. Nate hadn’t missed the way Emma frowned every time he took a call this morning, or the flicker of frustration when he announced he had to go to the hospital. He’d been through it all before in his own family.
When his mother could no longer stand the round-the-clock demands of his father’s country medical practice, she’d carted twelve-year-old Nate back to Sydney, eventually moving them in with her lawyer. She and Josh were still a couple. His father, coming up to retirement age, was the country town’s only doctor and worked much longer hours than he preferred. He had never remarried.
Three years ago, Nate had been practically engaged to Pamela Coyne, a stunningly beautiful journalist who’d turned his mates green with envy. Hot in every way a woman could be hot, she’d run cold after finding herself attending too many functions alone because he’d been called away by an emergency. The final showdown had been ugly, but short of abandoning his life’s work, Nate couldn’t see anything changing. A doctor’s life was what it was. Eventually Pam had told him what he could do with his medical degree, and was now living with a stockbroker.
After so many years as an only child, Nate had been surprised when his mother presented him with a half brother, Luke, now fifteen. The gulf between their ages meant Nate felt more like an uncle to Luke, and they didn’t have much in common. Luke was into skateboarding, fast cars and music Nate thought barely qualified for the name. The teenager stayed away from school when he felt like it, and hung out with a group that worried his parents. Nate had tried talking to Luke man-to-man, but the gap was too wide. Nate had always envied large families and hoped to have one of his own. But the mother of his kids would have to come from the medical world and understand its pressures. With his thirty-fifth birthday fast approaching, the prospects weren’t looking good.
He hadn’t exactly been a lone wolf. He’d had his share of romances, parting without too many regrets on either side when the relationship ran its course. Now that he thought about it, he was shocked to realize that there’d been no romance in his life for nearly three months. No wonder he’d reacted so strongly to having Emma come on to him at that Christmas party.
Abstinence was his problem, not Emma, he decided, muttering as a white SUV cut in front of him. Who was he kidding? Only after meeting her had the craving for a lasting relationship really set in. It wasn’t only sex he needed. He wanted a sense of home and family, the stuff hardest to come by. Kids might be too busy to meet dad at the door any more, and wives kept equally long hours as their partners did, but they could still be a team. The SUV stopped for a red light. A yellow tag in the rear window read Family on Board. How would it feel to have a sign like that in his car?
He drummed his palms against the steering wheel in frustration. Turning thirty-five was getting to him. He should go out with Emma, take her to bed and enjoy the experience until one of them moved on. The fear that he might not want to stopped him. She was definitely the wrong candidate. He’d seen too many danger signals already. Hands off was the only safe policy, even though the idea clashed with his instincts like a misdiagnosis.
CHAPTER THREE
SOPHIE STUCK HER HEAD around Emma’s office door on Tuesday morning. “Are you in for phone calls yet? I’ve had six inquiries so far and two new clients wanting to book events. One of them’s a wedding a year from now.”
“The Nathan Hale effect?”
“Yup. Word’s getting around.” Sophie carried in Emma’s Garfield mug. “Chailatte. I thought you’d appreciate it.”
“Thanks.” Emma cleared a small space to let Sophie put the cup down among the recipe books, cards and handwritten notes swamping her computer. “You’d think my mother would wait until we’ve done the job before telling everyone she knows.”
Another mug in hand, Sophie sat down. “No pressure.”
Emma sipped her tea. “It doesn’t help that Nate’s closest friends have either cooked or eaten some of the best meals in the world. I looked up his gourmet group online and two Michelin-starred chefs are members. How do you think they’d like white truffle donuts and basil-infused snails?”
“About as much as I would.” Sophie linked her hands on the desk. “I prefer the food my Chinese grandmother makes, simple but delicious. A few fresh ingredients, mostly from her garden, although she draws the line at snails. To her the main thing is all of us sharing the meal. Although that’s probably nostalgia speaking.”
With Garfield halfway to her mouth, Emma froze, staring at Sophie. “Nostalgia—that’s the answer! Soph, you’re a genius.”
Sophie gave her a measured look. “O-kay. I mean, you’re right about the genius part, but what did I say this time?”
Ignoring the recipe cards and papers showering the floor as she moved, Emma leaned forward. “Remember I told you about seeing Nate’s kitchen after our meeting last Friday?” Not waiting for Sophie’s nod, she plunged on. “It’s the kind I dream of putting in here—acres of stainless steel work surfaces, the latest Italian appliances, refrigerators big enough to live in. You could run a restaurant from his kitchen. And you know what?”
“No, what?”
“He hardly sets foot in the place.”
“Doesn’t he employ a cook?”
Emma
