Secret Attraction

Patrice sat back and held on—just in case.

Of course they arrived at Emeril’s New Orleans in record time. Patrice barely had enough time to get her story out about the latest scandal on Capitol Hill in D.C. before they were being escorted to their table.

“This is not a good time to be under an ethics investigation in the middle of an election year,” Patrice was saying as they sat down.

“No time is ever good. My biggest issue is that the Democratic Party, whenever they come into full power, winds up getting beat up on every issue by the Republicans. And instead of taking a stand, they collapse. They need to learn to fight below the belt, too.” Desiree fanned open her menu.

Patrice shook her head. “I have to agree. We need some backbone.”

“My two favorite guests.”

Desiree and Patrice looked up into the ruggedly handsome face of Paul, the general manager.

He leaned down and kissed each of their cheeks. “How are you ladies today? It’s been a while.”

“Just fine, Paul,” Desiree said. “I’ve been salivating thinking about the andouille and chicken jambalaya.”

“I will oversee it myself.” He turned his Mediterranean blue eyes on Patrice. “And what about you, Ms. Patrice?”

“I think I’ll have the Creole fried chicken.”

“Excellent choice. But, of course, whatever you choose at Emeril’s is excellent. I’ll put your orders in myself and send your waiter to get your drinks. Enjoy your meal.”

“Hmm, if he wasn’t gay, I would eat him up,” Patrice said under her breath as she watched him walk away.

Desiree snickered. “I know you would. But what else is new?”

“Oh, don’t go hating. Just because I have a lusty appetite for men …” She took a sip of her water, then took a lemon wedge from the china bowl on the table and squeezed it into the water.

Desiree looked at her from beneath her lashes and bit back a smile. Lusty was putting it mildly. Patrice had more men and more dates than she could keep up with. What she needed was a personal assistant to help her keep it all straight. There were times, though, that she envied Patrice and her cavalier attitude about men and sex, and her sister Dominique, as well. Certainly, she’d dated off and on, nothing really serious. Most of the men she met really wanted to get close to her sister Dominique or sought entrée into the political life dominated by her powerful father. So she tended to keep her love life, such as it was, to a minimum. But if she was truly honest with herself, the real reason was her attraction from afar to Spence Hampton. She’d spent too many nights wishing that it was her in the passenger seat of his car or that she was the recipient of his dimpled smile and hungry stares. They’d known each other since their late teens, when Dominique brought him to the house for one of the family’s massive Independence Day barbecues. She thought her heart would stop and she had to concentrate on not staring at him. But Spence was her sister’s friend, always had been, and that was a line that she didn’t cross.

“You haven’t heard a word I’ve said. What are you thinking about?”

Desiree blinked. How long had she been daydreaming? She gave a light toss of her head. “Sorry. Just the race.” She focused on Patrice. “So … what were you saying?”

Patrice pursed her lips, feigning annoyance. “I was telling you we should double-date next weekend.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to get out and I want to make sure that you do. Jay has a really cute friend.”

Desiree propped her elbow on the table and rested her head in her palm. “And who is Jay, may I ask?”

Patrice frowned. “Didn’t I tell you about Jay?”

“Uh, no.”

“Oh.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I met him at the Laundromat.”

“What? Why were you in the Laundromat? You have a washer and dryer in your town house.”

“And your point is?” Patrice picked up her glass of lemon-flavored water. “You can always tell who a man lives with by his laundry.”

“Oh, right. What was I thinking.” She shook her head as the waiter approached and placed their entrées in front of them.

“Can I get you ladies anything else?”

Patrice glanced up and ran her cinnamon-tinted eyes up and down his lean body, zeroed in on his name tag, then back up to his face. She ran the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip. “What would you suggest, Felix?” she asked, clearly not interested in anything on the menu.

Desiree had a mind to kick her under the table but watching Patrice in action was always fascinating.

A slow, lazy smile eased across his wide mouth. His lids lowered just a fraction over his dark eyes. “I’m sure I can find something that would interest you. A light wine or something a little stronger? And, of course, there is dessert,” he added with only the slightest hint of his South American accent.

Patrice drew in a breath. “Yes, I think I’d be interested in dessert.”

He turned to Desiree. “And you, ma’am?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

He gave a short nod to both women. “I’ll bring the dessert menu.”

Patrice returned her attention to her meal.

“How do you do that?”

Patrice glanced across the table. “Do what?”

“That! That thing you do with every man you meet.”

Patrice frowned slightly. “You mean, let them know that they are totally male and I notice it?”

“Is that what you call it?” Desiree took a forkful of food.

Patrice shrugged her right shoulder. “I like men. Plain and simple. All kinds of men. Testing my attraction to them is exciting. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just harmless flirting. You should try it. Let yourself go. It’s very liberating.”

Desiree swallowed slowly. “I don’t want to flirt and tease and play games.” She put down her fork. “I want something real and someone who is real with me. Is that so wrong?”

“Desi, you’re much too serious. I have to tell you, if I wasn’t your best friend and didn’t know that you were this crazy, secret race car driver, I would think that you were really an uptight, reserved, conservative chick. But I know that you’re not, sweetie. The thing is, it doesn’t matter what I think. You have to be who you are.” She raised her glass to her lips. “But you could always put a little more dip in those hips,” she added with a wink and a smile.

Desiree thought about their conversation, one that they’d had on several occasions in the past, as she prepared for work at the city council. She’d always tossed off Patrice’s commentaries about her lack of sustained or even intermittent relationships as Patrice’s way of validating her own lifestyle. But the more she considered it, the more she had to admit that Patrice was probably more right than wrong. Although she’d never told anyone about her thing for Spence, not even Patrice, maybe it was long past time to forget him once and for all. So that she could actually find someone that could light that same spark in her the way Spence did whenever she saw him.

Maybe.

Chapter 2

“Got a delivery, boss,” Jacques, the day manager, said, poking his head into the busy kitchen. All hands were busy preparing for the weekend rush.

Spence glanced over his left shoulder, not missing a beat while whisking his famed cream sauce to simply smooth perfection. “Have Michelle take a look. It should be the new glassware that I ordered.”