pie.”
“It all sounds heavenly,” she said, watching him fill her plate. “I have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer that would be fantastic with the pie.”
They both fell silent for several minutes as they enjoyed the delicious food. But the longer Daniel watched Lily eat, the more fascinated he became. They’d shared many meals, but he didn’t think he had ever seen her quite so hungry. She was eating like a longshoreman after a full day’s work at the docks of Port Charleston.
“When was the last time you ate?” he asked, watching her put another corn fritter on her plate, then reach for the carton of green beans.
She nibbled on her lower lip a moment as if trying to decide what to say. “I couldn’t stand the thought of breakfast this morning,” she said tentatively. “I only had a few crackers and a cup of tea. Then I slept through lunch and only woke up about an hour before you arrived with dinner.”
He could understand her inability to eat earlier in the day. Knowing that she was going to come face-to-face with her father’s second family for the reading of his will was enough to cause anyone to lose their appetite. And as exhausted as she had been, Daniel wasn’t at all surprised that she had missed lunch. But it appeared she was making up for it now.
“Don’t forget to leave room for the pie and ice cream,” he said, smiling as he watched her enjoy another bite of roast beef.
“I know that the amount of butter Miss Pauline uses when she cooks is probably not the most healthy. But she has the best food in South Carolina.” He watched Lily smile blissfully as a forkful of the buttery mashed potatoes disappeared into her mouth.
“I don’t think it does any harm to eat like this occasionally,” he said, amazed that she still had room for another bite of corn bread. “It’s having food like this every day that isn’t good for you. It clogs arteries and can add several pounds.”
As soon as he said it, Daniel wished he could call the words back. If he had learned nothing else in his disastrous marriage, it was definitely not to mention gaining weight to a woman.
Lily slowly laid her fork on the edge of her plate and gave him a penetrating look. “Do I look as if I’ve gained weight?”
Damn, Addison! Way to stick your foot in your mouth. How are you going to talk your way out of this one? Mentioning weight gain to a woman was the best way in the world to have her hand a man his head on a silver platter.
“I didn’t say you looked like you had gained weight,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “Just that if a person ate this way all the time, they would.”
Instead of tearing into him for mentioning weight at all, as he thought she would, to his surprise Lily smiled as she shrugged one shoulder. “I suppose gaining a little weight isn’t the end of the world.”
It was all Daniel could do to keep his mouth from dropping open. If he had made the same blunder with Charisma, his ex-wife would have made his life a living hell for at least a month and it would have cost him an expensive piece of jewelry or a whole new wardrobe of designer clothes to pay for his sins. Then, every time they had any kind of disagreement, she would have dragged his comment on gaining weight into the fray. But Lily seemed to take it in stride and didn’t act at all concerned about it. Amazing!
Deciding there was no sense in pushing his luck any further, he stood up to carry their plates into the kitchen. “I’ll get the pie and ice cream.”
“I’ll help,” she said, starting to rise from her chair.
Smiling, he shook his head. “Just sit there and relax. You’ve had a rough day and although I’m lost about most things in a kitchen, I’m pretty sure I can handle dipping a scoop of ice cream onto a piece of pie.”
When he returned a couple of minutes later and placed the dessert in front of her, Lily smiled as she picked up her spoon. “For a man who doesn’t know his way around a kitchen, you did pretty well. It looks delicious.”
He chuckled. “I’m afraid this is as far as my culinary skills go. Why do you think I took you out to eat all those times?”
“I really hadn’t thought much about it,” she said, closing her eyes as she savored the combined flavors of vanilla, cinnamon and apple.
As Daniel watched, her expression changed to one of pure pleasure and he couldn’t help but remember the times he had seen a similar look come over her as he made love to her. A spark ignited in his lower belly at the thought of how responsive she had been, how passionate.
He swallowed hard and tried to think of something innocuous. He might have succeeded had it not been for Lily slowly licking a drop of melted ice cream from her lips. The action reminded him of other talents she had with that perfect little tongue and had him shifting to relieve the mounting pressure of his suddenly too-tight trousers.
When had the simple act of eating a piece of pie become so damn erotic?
“Don’t you want yours?” she asked, unaware of his wayward thoughts.
Daniel stared down at the dessert in front of him. Oh, he wanted, all right, but it wasn’t pie that he was craving. It was the memory of her delicious body pressed to his that fueled his hunger and caused his mouth to feel as if it had been stuffed with cotton.
Taking a gulp of his wine, he forced his body to relax. He had no doubt that at any other time, he would find Miss Pauline’s pie quite tasty. At the moment, it might as well have been a piece of rubber on his plate.
“Are you okay?” Lily asked, reaching over to steal a spoonful of his ice cream.
Nodding, he did his best to focus on Lily and her seemingly insatiable appetite. She had finished her pie and ice cream and now it appeared she was starting on his.
“I’m not all that hungry, why don’t we share?” he said, picking up his spoon. He dipped it into the melting ice cream, then held it to her lips.
Her eyes met his as she opened her mouth and he immediately knew he had made a huge error in judgment. In all of his thirty-eight years, he didn’t think he had experienced anything more provocative than having her gaze locked with his as her lips slowly closed around the bite of ice cream. His libido kicked into overdrive, reminding him that it had been the better part of three weeks since they had made love.
“I really hate to cut the evening short,” he said suddenly, making a show of glancing at his watch. “But I just remembered I have to make an overseas call as soon as the Japanese markets open.”
Lily had been on an emotional roller coaster for the past several days, and taking advantage of a woman’s vulnerability to seduce her had never been his style. But if he didn’t get out of there and damn quick, that was exactly what was going to happen.
“Thank you for bringing supper,” she said, placing her napkin on the table beside her plate. “It really was delicious.”
“It looked as if you might have been happy with my choices,” he said dryly.
Confident that he had his body back under control, Daniel rose to his feet, quickly helped Lily clear the table, then walked into the living room to find his coat. “I’ll come by tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”
Lily
