Turn Me On

“Wait,” Faye said, breaking away from Gregor and trying hard to catch her breath. “I can’t get involved with my subject. It’s unethical.”

“Is that really what you’re concerned about?” Gregor said, pushing Faye’s curtain of long blond hair behind her ear and looking directly in her eyes. Faye could see that this had been true all of his life. He was used to getting whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. But not this time.

“I never get involved with my subjects. It’s my personal policy,” Faye said, steeling herself. Every inch of her body was pulling toward this man’s touch, but her mind held her back. Just as she was about to turn and head back to her room, his voice called her back.

“Wait,” he said. “What if it’s just about me showing you one of my skills? For your article.”

Faye couldn’t help but be intrigued. “And what skill is that?”

As an answer, Gregor pushed all of the utensils and ingredients off the countertop and easily lifted Faye onto it so that she was seated directly in front of him. She could feel the cool sensation of the marble against the parts of her buttocks that were exposed by her shorts. She breathed in deeply and kept eye contact with Gregor as he moved in close enough to kiss her, but then knelt down, looping his fingers into the elastic waistband and lifting her up slightly as he removed her shorts. Once he had undressed her, he simply stood there, admiring the beauty of her femininity.

Faye wasn’t used to being so exposed. Any previous action she’d ever partaken in with other partners was pretty much relegated to under the covers. But in that moment, having it all out there made her feel powerful and sexy. It also didn’t hurt that Gregor was looking at her with the most intense, lustful stare she’d ever witnessed.

As he began kissing the insides of her thighs, she grasped the edge of the counter to steady herself. What was this man doing to her—and why was he so good at it? she wondered. She admitted to herself that as soon as she heard she was interviewing Gregor, she had hoped there would be a spark between them. But if anyone had told her he would be pleasuring her on his kitchen counter, she definitely would not have believed it.

It was the same place he had probably prepared countless meals for dignitaries and celebrity friends, and now he was making a meal of her, hungrily biting at the soft flesh of her thighs, his fingers only lightly grazing across her most intimate area. It was this withholding that made her want his touch even more.

Faye groaned—it was an animalistic noise, begging for Gregor to put her out of her misery and give her the warm, tingly feeling she had gone without for too long. Gregor responded by pressing his mouth over her honeypot and flicking his tongue persistently over her clitoris. Faye threw back her head, her long hair trailing down her back as she closed her eyes and gave in to the feeling Gregor was bestowing upon her.

Coming in front of your interview subject seemed like the wrong thing to do, but Faye couldn’t stop herself. As Faye felt herself begin to tremble, she raked her fingers through Gregor’s hair, which she’d been wanting to touch ever since they had met and cried out, making a sound that came from somewhere deep in her belly. Pulling him toward her, she reached her climax and then teetered there for a few moments, her body quivering against his mouth. When she finally came down, he looked up at her with a satisfied smile.

Faye wasn’t sure what she expected to happen next—was he going to fuck her right there on the kitchen counter? Or maybe bring her back to his bedroom and make love to her for the rest of the night? She had no idea.

But instead of taking off his own pants, which Faye would have been highly curious to see, Gregor simply reached up and planted a sweet kiss on her forehead.

“Sleep well,” he said before turning and retreating to his own bedroom.

CHAPTER THREE (#uf3463212-fa55-56ad-8242-7bb0c330b04e)

GREGOR WAS AWAKE earlier than usual the next morning. Over the past year, he had allowed himself to sleep in, ignoring the flurry of business emails and texts to be answered. After a while of not responding to them, the offers for appearances had started to die down—and he was okay with that. Ever since Emily had run off with his supposed best friend, Erik, all of the fame and money suddenly seemed less important. He had been on TV so long, he wasn’t even sure he could remember the reason he had wanted to cook and travel in the first place.

This morning was different. Something about this beautiful young reporter had stirred something in him. He had the overwhelming need to please her. She was smart, sharp as a knife and gorgeous—it was true. But he had been with plenty of smart, good-looking women before. Staring out his bedroom window at the perfectly manicured lawn, he decided that it was Faye’s sincerity that was having this profound effect on him. She just seemed so genuine.

Suddenly he had a strange flash of him and Faye with two kids, pushing a pram in Hyde Park. Gregor shivered. He had always been adamant about not wanting kids. It was one of the things that made him so attracted to Emily. She was always ready for the next party, never wanting to settle down. He had a strange feeling that something was shifting inside him. It was damn near disconcerting.

Feeling the pangs of hunger pinch at his stomach, he threw on some jeans and a T-shirt and made his way into the kitchen. The house was still quiet, so he assumed his guest was still asleep. Had it been a mistake to bring her here? he wondered. Not because he didn’t trust her—he had trusted her fully from the first moment they had locked eyes—but because he wasn’t sure if he wanted the world to know what had been going on with him.

Surveying the state of the kitchen—it was fully cleaned and spotless—Gregor shook his head and smiled, realizing Faye must have done it. How could she have had the presence of mind to clean a kitchen after what had transpired? He remembered how Faye had looked after he had given her an orgasm to end all orgasms—maybe his best work yet.

It had taken everything in him to not unleash his raging hard-on that he had been harboring since the airport and plunge it deep into that inviting opening of hers. Of course, his cock had been aching for her, particularly when she leaned on him in her sleep during the flight. Their scene in the kitchen was a total feat of restraint, as far as Gregor was concerned. He had gone back to his room and given himself release thinking about her gorgeous naked body, that was true. To Gregor, it was more important that she knew he was attentive to her than for him to get what he needed. It was a lesson he had learned firsthand long ago.

Her name was Marina and she was the chef in the restaurant where he had been a busboy at age eighteen. She was older—probably late thirties—and they’d spent many late nights together in the restaurant long after the dining room had closed. Marina was more than his lover, she was his mentor, teaching him everything she knew about sex and cooking. The two were not that dissimilar, really. They both required a heightened use of their senses, attention to detail, precision and the unwavering confidence to be bold in their choices and execution. He had gone from being a child that thought pleasuring a woman was something you had to do to get your own bits off, to an act to be savored in its own right, like prying open a luscious oyster and reveling in the sweet and tangy flesh as it slid down your throat.

He hadn’t thought that way about food—or a woman—in a long time. In fact, everything in his life felt a bit stagnant. At first it had felt good to turn down shows and speaking engagements—it was freeing, really. But then he stopped answering when friends called, and even stopped cooking altogether. It was just him anyway, so what was the point?

As he scanned the kitchen area, he looked for the tools he needed. He reached for the pan on the rack above the range and opened the subzero fridge, pulling out herbs, spices, anything he could get his hands on that would go together. He had the sudden urge to cook for this woman—to create something special and watch her consume it. He needed to see that look of happiness on her face and this was the one thing he knew he could do well.

After laboring over the stove for forty-five minutes, cooking an exquisite breakfast of eggs, vegetable and fruit, and brewing French-press coffee, he had hoped the aroma would have stirred Faye, but the house was just as quiet as when he had gotten up. Walking quietly down the hall toward the guest bedroom, he listened at the door for a moment for any signs of activity before cracking it open just the slightest bit and peeking his head inside.

The outline of Faye’s body was visible in the bed, and all but a few strands of her blond hair were covered by the comforter. Gregor thought about waking her up, but instead decided to let her be. Opening the window, he reached out and plucked a peony from his garden and placed it on the pillow next to her before quietly taking leave of her room.

Faye tossed and turned and finally opened her eyes, feeling a little disoriented. For an instant, she had no idea where she was, but then the memories came flooding back. Of course. This was Gregor’s house. And she was on assignment. But clearly that wasn’t the only thing she was on. Faye blushed, remembering the spontaneous encounter between the two of them in the kitchen last night. Then a jolt of reality hit her. Would things be awkward? Would he want her to leave? Would she have to return to New York and face Bev without a story in hand?

Reaching over to the nightstand for her phone, Faye noticed a red flower resting on the pillow beside her. It was answer enough—so he was still thinking about her! She couldn’t help but smile to herself. Gregor Wright, she thought to herself, laughing at the improbability of it all. The man she knew from TV was roughish, witty and adventurous. Gregor in real life was all of those things, too, but he was also kind and intelligent and very, very attentive. She wondered why he had ended their encounter so quickly.

Swinging her feet over the side of the bed, she quickly showered in the en suite bathroom and threw on a cream-colored, belted linen shirtdress, pulling her long hair into a simple chignon. As she opened the door to her bedroom, she noticed a wonderful aroma emanating from the kitchen. Having forgotten all about checking her phone, she realized she didn’t even know what time it was.

“Good morning,” Gregor said when she walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the counter reading the newspaper and drinking coffee, and he had on a pair of reading glasses that somehow made him look even sexier. Glancing at the counter, she couldn’t help but flash back on their very erotic encounter from the previous night.

“Sleep well?” Gregor asked.

“Very,” she answered, sitting down beside him.

“Here, let me get you some breakfast,” he offered, jumping up.

“Oh, please don’t bother, I’m not much of a breakfast person.” Faye saw Gregor’s face drop and quickly realized that he had prepared this entire meal on her behalf. “I mean, yes, please.”

Gregor smiled and poured coffee, eventually setting a beautifully plated breakfast in front of her.

“Do you cook like this for all your guests?” she asked, digging into the perfectly cooked omelet.

Gregor looked thoughtful. “I don’t have many guests these days. But I do enjoy cooking for people I care about.”

Faye returned Gregor’s smile and took a sip of coffee—it was the richest, most luxurious roast she had ever tasted. Clearly, this man knew his way around the kitchen—and other things!

“Why is that? Why have you been so out of the public eye lately?”

Gregor chuckled to himself. “I see, so are we in interview mode now?”

“That is what I came here for,” Faye replied, meeting his gaze.

“Very well,” Gregor said. “I’ve been taking some time to figure out what I really want to do next.”

“That’s valid,” said Faye, wishing she had brought out her recorder or at least a notebook.

“But off the record?” Gregor raised his eyebrows and looked at Faye. She nodded. “It’s really lame, but I had my heart broken.”

Faye was speechless for a moment, surprised by how open he was being. “Me, too,” she offered.

“There is something I want to show you,” Gregor said, his tone a little more positive. “Are you up for a drive?”

Moments later, the two of them were back in Gregor’s car, driving down a twisty country road. In the daylight Faye could see just how beautiful the English countryside really was, and she felt thankful that Gregor had given her the chance to see beyond the city streets of London. As they passed emerald green hills and fields populated by horses and cows, Faye felt herself relax. There was so much beauty here, and she had a world-class tour guide to show it to her.

Shortly into their drive, they turned into a small village and Gregor parked the car in front of a simple redbrick building.