Taste of Desire

Salina and Riquet exited the bedroom, the two holding hands. This was working out better than he had expected. Here he had worried that Riquet would not take well to Maria’s replacement, but he needn’t have been concerned.

Salina met his gaze, her lips parted in a smile, and Jake was instantly struck by her beauty. She had big, bright eyes, a slender and shapely frame, and full lips that made him think of kissing. Indeed, he felt a pull of attraction so strong for her in that moment it stunned him. He opened his mouth to speak, but found he had to swallow first.

“Um,” he said, but no other words came to his lips.

“Riquet’s bedroom is gorgeous,” Salina announced. “And all those pictures of hers on the wall … My goodness, she’s a talented little artist.”

“Yes.” Jake cleared his throat. “Yes, she is.”

“Are you sleeping over?” Riquet asked.

“Not tonight, sweetie,” Salina said.

Riquet looked up at Salina with doe eyes. “Please?”

“I can’t. I don’t have anything I need with me.”

“Awww.” Riquet crossed her arms over her chest.

Jake bent down in front of his daughter. “Don’t worry. Salina will be back in the morning before you wake up. She’s going to be your nanny while Maria is away, so you’ll be seeing her every day. Okay?”

Riquet nodded, accepting Jake’s words.

“I’d better go,” Salina said. “I’ve got to head back to Brooklyn, then get back here bright and early.”

Jake stood to face her, and once again her lips were parted in a slight smile. Goodness, those lips were sexy, and he couldn’t help thinking that they looked utterly kissable.

Jake’s chest tightened. What was wrong with him? It wasn’t like him to feel this kind of attraction to a pretty face.

He averted his gaze, hoping to break whatever temporary spell he was under.

“Bye, Riquet. See you tomorrow. See you in the morning, Jake.”

“Yes, see you in the morning,” Jake replied. “Oh—wait.”

He hurried to his bedroom and retrieved the extra key. Returning to the foyer a moment later, he passed it to Salina, his fingers brushing against hers as he did.

Damn if he didn’t feel an electrical charge.

“I’ll let the staff downstairs know your status as my new nanny, so you won’t have any problem coming and going. And with this key you can let yourself in to the apartment when you arrive in the morning.”

“Thanks.”

Jake nodded, still making sure to avoid direct eye contact with Salina.

Once she was out the door, he released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

He would take a cold shower, and hopefully that would rid his system of whatever had him in its temporary grip.

By the morning he would be back to normal.

He was sure of it.

Chapter 4

“So how did it go?” Emma asked when Salina returned to the apartment, her eyes bright with expectation. “How did you like him?”

“It was great,” Salina responded. “Jake seems like a lovely man who really adored his wife. The apartment is still filled with her pictures, memories of the two of them together, and of course of them with their daughter. Riquet is just precious. It broke my heart as she was telling me how her father told her that her mother is in heaven, and that she’s one of the most beautiful angels up there.” Salina sighed. “I can’t imagine that kind of heartbreaking loss. Especially after they couldn’t have been married all that long. It’s one thing to lose someone after years and years of marriage, but to be left with a small child to raise—”

Salina stopped speaking and inhaled a deep breath. She could already see herself getting attached to Riquet, and she needed to do her best to keep a bit of an emotional distance. She would only be in the girl’s life temporarily.

“I assume you’ll be starting in the morning,” Emma said.

“Yes. I was worried that Riquet might take a while to get used to me, but she really took to me. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s just her friendly nature. She’s really adorable, and I’m excited about this opportunity.”

“Good,” Emma said. “I’m glad.”

“You said he hasn’t dated since his wife’s death?” Salina found herself asking.

“No,” Emma replied, shaking her head. “Janine was his world. In fact, what I’ve seen him do more than anything else is throw himself into work even more than he did before.”

“Workaholic, hmm?” Salina said. “Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black?” Maybe people who worked in the legal field had to be workaholics. The devotion to the kind of work they did—which at times could be mind-numbingly boring going through all those case files, as far as Salina was concerned—had to require that a person be totally committed to their vocation.

“I know I’m bad,” Emma began, “but Jake’s even more of a workaholic than I am. At least I take the weekends off. Zachary would have a fit if I didn’t make time for him. He already complains that I don’t spend enough time with him as it is. Jake, however, has been known to head into the office on Saturday and work all day. It’s obvious to me and everyone else at the firm that that is his way of dealing with the pain.”

“He works on Saturdays?”

“Oh, yeah. Quite a bit.” Emma paused. “He didn’t talk to you about his schedule?”

“Well … not really. I guess I just figured it’d be a Monday-to-Friday gig. That said, he’s offering me a very generous salary, so I’m not going to complain.”

“This’ll be great for you,” Emma said.

“And speaking of my new job,” Salina began, “I’d better get to bed. I have to be there bright and early in the morning.” She went to her sister and gave her a hug. “Thanks again, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The early morning commute to Manhattan was awful. Not only did the world seem a colder, more miserable place, Salina couldn’t help thinking that she could be snug in bed for another hour, instead of up at an ungodly time to head to work. She was glad she’d decided to pack a small suitcase—just in case—because she had a feeling she would end up staying at Jake’s place tonight.

When she arrived at Jake’s residence, she found that she had no problem gaining entrance to the building, as he’d told her she wouldn’t. She made her way up to the fifty-sixth floor, her stomach tickling on the insanely fast ride up the elevator.

She felt a little awkward letting herself into the apartment—as though she should knock first—but it was early, only a little after six, and she didn’t want to wake Jake if he wasn’t already up.

She opened the door and crept into the apartment. As she stepped into the living room, she was surprised to see Jake sitting at the nearby dining room table.

“Oh,” she said, startled. She put down the travel bag she’d brought with her. “I didn’t think you’d be up.”

He was wearing a T-shirt and black silk pajama bottoms, and looked like he was ready to pose for a high-end photo shoot. How was it that he looked just as good so early in the morning as he had the night before?

“Morning,” Jake said, rising. “I wanted to make sure you had all the information you needed for the day.” He lifted a black book from the table. “This is Riquet’s schedule, with all the pertinent phone numbers you’ll need, the address for her preschool and the addresses where she needs to go for her various extracurricular activities.”

Salina approached Jake and he handed her the book. The gold-embossed letters engraved into the leather read: “RIQUET’S CALENDAR.”

“It should all be self-explanatory,” Jake went on as Salina opened the book and found the appropriate date in January.

Salina continued to flip the pages forward. She could see that Riquet’s calendar had been scheduled all the way to March. Even play dates.

“There’s a lot in there, but what you’ll notice is that the schedule is the same for every week. Today is Wednesday, so after preschool Riquet has a play date from one-thirty to two-thirty with Sarah, and then ballet lessons.”

“The play dates are always the same every week? With the same kids?”

“Yes,” Jake replied. “Maria believes—and I concur—that having a regular routine for Riquet is the best thing. This way, she’ll know what to expect every day and won’t feel any anxiety.”

Salina nodded, but she didn’t totally agree. Routines were necessary, yes. But so was spontaneity. A child needed to learn that there could be a break from routine and that the world wouldn’t fall apart. Life didn’t always follow the pattern people planned for.

Jake’s wife’s premature death proved that.

Salina flipped back to today’s date on the calendar, and noted that in the lunch column even a meal had been marked in. Macaroni and cheese. Certainly the girl’s routine wasn’t so rigid that there couldn’t be spontaneity when it came to meals?

“Everything should be in there that you need, and if you find you’re confused about anything, please don’t hesitate to call.”

“Got it,” Salina said. As she closed the book and looked at Jake, offering him a smile, she noticed that he averted his gaze.

“I’m going to get dressed, get ready for work. Riquet usually wakes up by seven, and on Wednesdays Maria makes her pancakes for breakfast. Her preschool is about a twenty-minute car ride—Ed, my driver, will be downstairs at eight to pick you up.”

“We have a driver?”

“Once he gets me to the office by seven-thirty, he heads right back here so he can take Riquet to school. Once she’s in her class, he can bring you back to the apartment or out to do shopping, run the necessary errands you need to.”

“Okay.” Salina nodded. Being a nanny in New York City entailed a lot more than she’d anticipated. Riquet’s schedule was busier than she’d known any child’s to be back in Buffalo.

“I’m going to shower now,” Jake said, still not directly looking her in the eye.

Once Jake headed off in the direction of his bedroom, Salina went to the kitchen. It was large, with a wraparound counter that ended in a breakfast bar. The cupboards were maple, a contrast to the pale beige backsplash and beige-tiled floor.

Coffee was already brewed in an elaborate-looking coffeemaker. Salina would have to ask Jake how to use it.

Though she had time, she went into the cupboard and looked for the items besides eggs she would need to make pancakes. She found flour and sugar, but no vanilla, and sadly no cinnamon. She would make sure that she picked those items up today once Riquet was in school.

Salina spent the next few minutes familiarizing herself with the kitchen. It was a chef’s dream. Double ovens, a gas stovetop, large counter space for working … She would enjoy making many a meal here.

She glanced toward the dining room and saw that the only thing on the table was Jake’s large coffee mug. There were no plates in the sink. Jake hadn’t eaten.

He hadn’t said that she should make breakfast for him, and Salina wondered if he planned to pick something up on the way to work. Perhaps a bagel. Something he could eat quickly and go.

Well, that wouldn’t do. Jake was already up with files before him, doing work. He needed food for energy and sustenance.

Salina brought her small suitcase to Maria’s room and set it on the bed. Then she went back to the kitchen and measured the ingredients to make pancakes. She was finishing the first batch when Jake entered the kitchen.

Freshly showered, the man looked sexy as hell. Salina swallowed. She needed to keep things in perspective. She had to remain professional, and not go all tongue-tied when she saw him. So what if he was a gorgeous man, with his white dress shirt partially unbuttoned and revealing a hint of golden brown skin on his chest, and the scent of his aftershave smelling so incredibly appealing? None of that would affect her performance as nanny.

Salina placed two medium-size pancakes on a plate for Jake, then extended it to him. She already had butter and syrup on the table for him. “You didn’t say if I should make breakfast for you, but I took the liberty.”

Jake finished buttoning his shirt, then took the plate from Salina. “Normally I eat on the run,” he began, “but this is good. Thank you.”

Salina glanced at the clock on the microwave’s display.

It was almost six forty-five. She took the skillet off the stove and placed it on a back burner, then turned to head toward Riquet’s bedroom to check on her. But before she got out of the kitchen, Jake spoke.

“These are delicious,” he said.

“You like them?”

“I’ve never had pancakes this tasty before. And these are fluffy and light … amazing.”

Salina beamed. “And I didn’t even get to make them the way I normally do—with all the ingredients I typically use.”

“They taste better than this?” he asked, his tone saying that was hard to believe.

“Oh, yeah.” Salina walked toward him. “When I have all the right ingredients, they’re even better.”

“Then I might just ask that you make these again tomorrow morning,” Jake told her.

Salina noticed that he was looking at her directly in the eye, not avoiding her gaze as he had been earlier.

“Anything you’d like to eat for breakfast, I can make it for you. I make a really great western omelet with turkey instead of ham. Home fries, the whole bit.”

“You’re a budding chef, are you?”

Salina guessed that Jake was just making an offhanded comment, but she said, “Actually, I am.”

“You are?” Jake asked between swallows.

Salina took the liberty of sitting at the table beside him. “Yes. I guess my sister didn’t tell you. But that’s how I came to be in New York. I thought I would pursue my passion for cooking. Right now I’m trying to save money for culinary school.”

“Ahhh. No, Emma didn’t tell me. How long have you been cooking?”

Salina shrugged. “As long as I can remember. It’s always been a passion of mine. I hope you don’t mind if I change some of Riquet’s lunch dishes—with her permission, of course.”

“Sure. If she doesn’t mind, I’m sure she might even enjoy a change of pace.”

Salina heard the sound just as Jake looked beyond her. She turned, following the direction of where he was looking. Riquet, holding a stuffed horse, had just walked into the adjacent living room.

Salina rose from her chair and went to greet the little girl. “Good morning, Riquet.”

Riquet beamed at her. “Good morning.” Then she went to her father and threw her little arms around his chest. “Morning, Daddy.”

“Morning, sweetheart,” Jake said. “You’ve got to get ready for preschool now. You be a good girl for Salina, okay?”

“I will.”

Salina took Riquet’s hand and then walked with her to her bedroom, ready to start her official duties as nanny.

The day with Riquet passed without incident. After Riquet went to her preschool, Salina had Ed, the driver, take her to a market where she could pick up a number of fresh vegetables and fruit. She’d noticed that Jake’s place didn’t have much fruit, perhaps because Maria hadn’t been around to do the shopping.

Salina stuck with the macaroni and cheese for lunch, simply because she didn’t have time to prepare anything more elaborate by the time she’d run around doing the shopping. She had added extra cheese shavings to the top and baked the macaroni for five minutes so it would melt, and Riquet really enjoyed it that way.

Salina picked up beef, mushrooms and noodles and prepared a beef noodle dish for dinner. Quick, easy and tasty. She prepared a plate for Jake and kept it in the microwave, but when seven-twenty rolled around and he hadn’t shown up yet, Salina put the dinner in the fridge.

She went back to Riquet, who was coloring in the living room, and sat beside her, watching her work on her latest masterpieces.

She’d had a good first day with the little girl. They had shared a lot of laughs as Ed had driven them from one activity to the other, Riquet regaling Salina with stories about some of the kids in her preschool. For such a young girl, she was quite perceptive.

Riquet had a bubbly and vivacious personality. She truly was a darling, and a joy to work with.

Having worked with some kids who had been spoiled and selfish, this was a welcome change. While Salina loved children in general, she hadn’t liked the way some at the day care where she’d worked had had an appetite for all the latest gadgets at such a young age. Hand-held gaming devices were her biggest pet peeve. Riquet seemed to relish the joy of being a normal little girl. That meant that she enjoyed coloring, drawing, singing, watching television and using her hands and her imagination to entertain herself.

There was no Wii in the apartment, no Xbox 360 and the girl didn’t even have a Nintendo DS. Salina was relieved. She saw some parents introduce these electronic gaming devices into their children’s lives at too young an age, and she felt it was totally inappropriate. Clearly, Jake was a conscientious father, and Salina admired that about him.

At seven-thirty, Salina said, “Time for your bath, Riquet.” The girl was to have her bath, and by eight o’clock be dressed and ready for bed.

“Does your father come home late every night?” Salina couldn’t help asking Riquet as she bathed her a short while later.

Riquet nodded. “Mmm-hmm. He works all the time,” she added sadly.

Twenty minutes later, Salina had Riquet out of the bath, dressed in her pajamas and lying in her canopy bed that was filled with stuffed animals. She read the story Riquet requested, after which she gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned out the lights.

Still no Jake.

Emma hadn’t been kidding when she said the man was a workaholic. Salina could totally see now why he preferred a nanny to be of the live-in variety. If he got home too late, all Salina would be able to do was head to her sister’s apartment, climb into bed and get up the next morning to start the day over again.

She was glad she’d brought her suitcase with her.

Waiting until nine o’clock was all she could handle, because it had been a tiring day. Salina left a note for Jake, letting him know that his dinner was in the fridge and simply needed to be warmed up.

And then she retired to her own bedroom, got undressed and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

She was back in the bedroom, naked as the day she was born, when the door suddenly opened.

Chapter 5

Salina had no time to react. She should have said something—screamed or called out—but by the time the thought came to her, it was too late. Jake was standing in the bedroom.

Staring at her totally naked body.

She saw his eyes widen and his expression morph from surprised into mortification. That’s when she sprang into action, grabbing the towel she had tossed onto the bed, in a futile attempt to cover her body. What was the point now? He had already seen her in the buff.

“Oh, God!” Jake exclaimed, quickly backing up. “I’m so sorry. I knocked—you didn’t answer—God, I feel like an idiot.”

Salina said nothing, just scrambled backward into the bathroom. There she sank onto the bathtub’s edge and let out an angst-filled breath. Oh, Dear Lord, the man had just seen her without her clothes on!

Salina sat in the bathroom, not moving for a good five minutes. She was embarrassed. Never had a man she hadn’t intended to, seen her without any clothes on.

And the last person she wanted to see her like this was her employer.

It’s okay, it’s okay, she repeated to herself. It’s not the end of the world. It was an accident, no big deal. Jake’s probably seen plenty of women naked in his lifetime.

But despite the words she told herself, Salina still felt awkward. How could she face him again, after such a humiliating moment?

She allowed herself a few more minutes of wallowing in embarrassment before she got up, got dressed in her pajamas, slipped a robe on top of that and then went out to see Jake.

He was sitting on the sofa, his head hanging low. When he saw her, he looked up and said, “Salina, I couldn’t be more sorry. I knocked, and when you didn’t answer, I thought maybe you were lying down. I just wanted to check on you, see how your day went. I am the world’s biggest idiot, and I hope you don’t think poorly of me. I behaved inappropriately, infringing on your privacy. I’m truly, truly sorry for that.”

Hearing Jake apologize so profusely, Salina realized that she wasn’t the only one who was humiliated. In fact, judging by his expression, he might feel even worse than she did.

She offered him a small smile and joined him on the sofa. “Don’t beat yourself up,” she began. “It was an accident. I’m not the first naked woman you’ve seen,” she added good-naturedly, hoping to put his mind at ease, when in fact, humiliation was still flowing through her veins. It was a weird thing to have someone see you naked when you weren’t planning on it.

Jake groaned, the sound telling her that he would probably feel guilty about this for a long while. He didn’t meet her eyes.

“Hey,” Salina said softly. “Look at me.”

Slowly, Jake met her gaze. Salina held his eyes, silently letting him know that it was okay. It had been embarrassing, yes, but certainly she would survive. And someday she would be able to laugh about the moment.

And as she stared into Jake’s eyes, something happened. She felt a frisson of heat. She had felt it before—indeed, she had felt a spark of attraction for Jake the very first time she had met him. And seeing him yesterday, too, she had been reminded of just how gorgeous he was. Something about him spoke to her on a level she didn’t understand, but she had been prepared to ignore the feelings.

But now …

Now, she suddenly felt different. Because, looking into Jake’s eyes, she felt heat warming her body from her center, and rolling out to every other part of her. There was something smoldering in Jake’s eyes, something beyond the guilt that he had been feeling moments ago.

Jake was the one to look away. He stood abruptly and walked toward the dining room. “I see you left me some dinner. Thank you. But I’m sorry you went to the trouble. You didn’t need to.”

“Did you already eat?”

“Yes,” Jake admitted. “I ordered in at the office. I should’ve told you. It wasn’t on the schedule that you needed to prepare something for me, so …” His voice trailed off.

So he lived and died by his schedule, did he?

“Maria already knows that about me. But of course, she’s worked for me for two years. I should have been more explicit in my instructions to you.”

“It’s okay,” Salina said. “I just figured—I was making dinner anyway, why not make some for you? I’m happy to do that for you, if you like. As I told you earlier today, I really love cooking. If you call and tell me the time you’ll be getting home, then I can better judge—”

“You don’t need to go to all that trouble,” Jake told her.

“It’s no trouble.”

“All the same, I don’t want to bother you.”

He was back to not looking at her. Clearly, he still felt bad about what had happened.

Or was it something else?

“I suppose you’ve had a long day and simply want to unwind,” Salina said quickly. “I’ll get out of your hair.”

Feeling slightly discomfited, she spun around and hustled back to her bedroom.

Only when Jake was certain that Salina was out of sight did he sink into the plush leather chair at his dining room table. He buried his face in his hands.

He felt like a complete idiot. How could he have just opened the door and entered her room when he hadn’t heard a response from her? He should have figured that maybe she’d been showering. It was just that Maria had always showered in the morning.

Maria, Maria … Oh, man. It was becoming more evident with each passing moment that Salina was not Maria.

The sight of her naked … Dear God. In that first moment as he’d seen her, before common sense had kicked in and told him that what was happening was wrong, he had seen a vision more lovely than he could have ever imagined.