really did.” He popped a green grape in her mouth. She bit down and the sweet juice exploded onto her tongue. Lately food seemed to taste so much better than before. In fact, everything about her life felt pretty darn good.
If only she could let go and just trust it. Trust him.
“Can you cook anything else?” she asked him.
“Anything you want, as long as I have the ingredients. And a recipe.”
“Did you take classes?”
“I dated a chef. We saw each other on and off for about six months, I guess. She would cook for me and I would watch. Then I started experimenting on my own. I realized I was pretty good at it, and I found it incredibly relaxing. And I’m not gonna lie, the chicks dig it.”
“Hit me again,” she said, nodding to the grapes.
“For someone so trim you sure can put the food away.” He fed her another grape, the pad of his thumb grazing her lower lip.
“I’ve lost almost twenty pounds since December.”
He looked genuinely surprised. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Did you not notice that I was a bit on the chubby side?”
He shrugged. “You looked good to me. Besides, chubby is okay.”
Was this guy for real? “Aside from your weird fascination with me, I was under the impression that you were more attracted to the Barbie-doll type.”
“So was I.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was he deliberately trying to confuse her?
“So what changed?” she asked him.
“I saw you.”
If it was a lie, it was the sweetest lie anyone had ever told her. And the idea that it might be true scared her half to death. “Haul out the boots and shovels,” she said. “The BS is getting deep.”
He laughed. “Why is it so unbelievable?”
“Because everyone knows the kind of man you are. You’re a womanizer and a serial dater. That sort of guy doesn’t settle down. He conquers. And when he gets bored he moves on. And even if he does eventually settle, it never lasts.”
“Yep, that pretty much sounds like me.”
She blinked, taken aback by his honesty. He sure wasn’t helping his case. “So I’m right?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“What are you saying?”
“People change. Priorities change. I’m not the man I used to be.”
In her experience, people could change, but not that much. “So you’re telling me that you’re ready to settle down?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. There was a time when I never would have considered a wife and kids. Now it doesn’t seem so far-fetched.”
He would make an excellent husband and father, and she envied the woman who snagged him. And she wished that it could be her. Even though she knew it was impossible.
“As much as you love kids, I’m surprised you don’t have any,” he told her. “Just haven’t found the right man?”
She hadn’t even been looking. “My patients are my children,” she said. “Besides, I’m only thirty-three. I still have a few good childbearing years ahead of me. Or maybe I’ll follow in my aunt Kay’s footsteps and never have any. God knows there are enough of us already. Another baby in the family would be like white noise. Especially a child of mine.”
“Why is that?” Parker asked Clare.
“Forget it,” she said with a shake of her head, as if she were clearing away an unpleasant memory. “It’s a long story.”
Something told him not to push the issue of her family, but eventually they were going to talk about it, and he was going to get to the root of the problem. Even if he had to take drastic measures. The key to her heart was in there somewhere under all the baggage, and he was going to find it.
But for now he would let it slide.
“By the way, I noticed last night that the toilet in your bathroom was running like crazy,” he said.
“I know. I have to call a plumber.”
“You want me to take a look at it?”
“You know how to fix a toilet?”
“Yup.”
“What kind of millionaire are you?”
He laughed. “Not a very good one, I guess.”
“You sure don’t act like a rich guy.”
“Are you forgetting? I drive a luxury import.”
“That you put a Santa hat and antlers on for Christmas.”
He grinned. “I like Christmas.”
“And you are the least pretentious person I know. There’s a rumor going around that you give a lot of your money to charity.”
“My dad’s money,” he said. “And my reasons are not as philanthropic as you might think. I give his money away to charity because I know that’s the last thing he would want me to do with it.”
“Not the charitable type?”
“For him it was all about making more money. It was never enough. He died a very wealthy man, but his money never did anyone much good. Not even him.”
“And now it does.”
“Exactly. I may have to live with the millionaire label, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“So, when did you learn to fix a toilet?”
“My father believed I should know everything about running his business, from the ground up. Including building maintenance. So instead of letting me volunteer for Greenpeace during summer break—which is what I really wanted to do—I was forced to follow George the maintenance guy around for three months. I thought it was all a total waste of time. As a doctor I wouldn’t need to know how to fix a toilet or unclog a drain.”
“Unless your home toilet breaks and the plumber can’t make it over for a week.”
“Exactly. Looking back, I’m thankful for everything I learned. I really
