Australia: In Bed with a Bachelor: The Costarella Conquest / The Hot-Blooded Groom / Inherited: One Nanny

‘I can’t afford it.’

‘My treat. You gave me a great meal last Sunday.’

True. He owed her. ‘Okay. I’d like that very much,’ she said recklessly. A Neil Perry dinner was worth one evening with the man, regardless of what inner turmoil he caused. And maybe that would stop on further acquaintance. ‘I’ll meet you there,’ she quickly added, not wanting her father to know she was seeing Jake Freedman again. ‘What time?’

‘Will seven o’clock suit?’

‘Yes.’

‘You know the address?’

‘I’ll look it up.’

‘It’s a basement restaurant. Go straight downstairs. I’ll wait for you inside.’

‘I won’t be late. Thanks for the invitation.’

She ended the call, quite pleased with herself for handling it with a fair amount of control. This meeting could be contained at the restaurant…if she wanted it to be. Eddie would let her stay over at his apartment in Paddington on Saturday night so being taken home by Jake could be avoided, too.

Excitement buzzed through her…wicked, wanton excitement.

A sexy man, a sexy meal…impossible not to look forward to experiencing both.

Jake steeled himself for the Friday afternoon wrap-up meeting in Alex Costarella’s office, suspecting there was only one issue of real interest on the agenda. He was right. After a half-hour chat about the week’s work, Costarella leaned back in his executive chair, a smug little man-to-man smile on his face as he asked, ‘Will you be seeing Laura this weekend?’

‘Yes. We’re having dinner together tomorrow night,’ he answered, hating this matchmaking farce, but knowing that going along with it was to his advantage, keeping his position in the company ripple-free until he was ready to strike.

‘Good! Good!’

Jake smiled back, playing the game to the hilt. ‘Thank you for introducing me to her.’

‘Pleasure. Laura needs a man to take her in hand and I hope you’re the man to do it, Jake.’

The only way he was going to take her in hand was in bed, if she agreed to it. ‘She’s certainly very attractive.’

It was a noncommittal statement but Costarella found it encouraging enough to let the matter pass. ‘Enjoy your weekend,’ he said, and Jake was free to leave.

He’d thought a lot about Laura Costarella since last Sunday. She was hostile to her father, hostile to his wishes, and he’d anticipated her saying no to the dinner invitation. Since he very much wanted her to say yes, he’d deliberately used the Neil Perry draw-card, knowing that her interest in cooking had to make her something of a foodie.

Temptation…

The stronger it was, the harder it was to resist.

She wanted him, too. No doubt about that. If she was up for a wild fling with him, Jake would be only too happy to oblige. He’d been itching to oblige all week. Satisfying the lust she’d triggered in him was fast becoming a must-do, though he did feel ambivalent about taking on Costarella’s daughter. He hadn’t counted on liking her and he certainly didn’t want to begin caring about her.

Spicy company, spicy food, spicy sex.

That had to be the limit of his involvement with the daughter of his enemy because a line would be driven between them when he brought charges against her father, ensuring that the corrupt insolvency practitioner could never again bury another struggling business to secure his obscene liquidator’s fee.

Lust always burned out after a while, he assured himself.

In the meantime, the fire had been lit for tomorrow night and he looked forward to some very spicy heat.

Laura stood in front of the billowing turquoise hologram that gave an exotic curtain illusion to the doorway leading to the Spice Temple. It should have added pleasure to her dressing up for this dinner date. She was wearing her sexiest dress—a short turquoise silk bubble skirt attached to a tightly fitting black silk bodice—and the gorgeous black-and-turquoise high heels her mother had bought her for Christmas. Nothing, however, could dispel the anger festering in her mind and churning through her stomach.

Jake Freedman deserved to be stood up. Only the lure of Neil Perry’s food had brought her here and she was owed a dinner. As for her outfit, she hoped it made Jake Freedman want her all the more because he could eat his heart out for sex tonight. No way was he going to get as much as a piece of her.

‘Have a nice night with Jake!’

Her teeth gnashed over those words—accompanied by her father’s beaming smile of approval. He’d been told about this date. Maybe the two men had plotted it together. Whatever… Tonight was no longer a private and personal meeting. It reeked of other agendas in the wind and she hated the thought of playing a part in either man’s scheming.

Determined on focusing on the food and giving Jake Freedman a very cold shoulder, she stepped past the doorway and made her way downstairs. Red dominated the decor of the basement restaurant. The scent of joss-sticks wafted through it. Definitely the hot, in place to be, Laura thought, noting that most of the tables were already occupied, even at this relatively early hour.

Jake had a table for two. He rose from his chair as he saw her being led to it, his gaze swiftly raking over the high points of her femininity, before shooting her a look of sizzling appreciation. Laura sizzled, too, not only with the acute, physical awareness he sparked off, but also with resentment at the sheer animal magnetism that clutched at her heart and turned her insides to jelly.

His clothes were completely nondescript—white shirt, grey slacks. They were irrelevant to the stunning impact of the man, as though it was his natural right to hold centre stage anywhere, in any company without any effort whatsoever. He waited for her with easy confidence and Laura wished she could knock him down and sweep him out of her life as though his existence was of no account.

Somehow she had to make it of no account.

‘You look spectacular,’ he said in greeting, grinning wickedly as he added, ‘Great shoes!’

‘They’re good man-stomping shoes,’ she replied, doing her best to appear cool and collected.

One black eyebrow quirked upwards. ‘About to do some stomping?’

She returned a glowering look. ‘I’ll eat first.’

‘Good idea! Work up some energy.’

He was amused.

Laura seethed over his amusement as she sat down. They were handed menus by a waitress who offered to help them make choices if they wanted anything explained.

‘Not yet,’ Laura said firmly. ‘I want to salivate over every dish before I start choosing.’

‘We’ll call you when we’re ready,’ Jake put in, smiling his charming smile, which, of course, would bring the dazzled waitress running the moment he caught her attention.

Laura fixed her attention on the menu. She read the Spice Temple philosophy first. It described what the restaurant aimed for—unique and special dishes, seasoned by an unmistakable Chinese flavour and driven by a long-fostered passion for Asian cuisine, all designed to delight the senses with their contrasting tastes and textures. She hoped they would dominate her senses and block Jake Freedman out.

‘Why do you want to stomp on me?’

She set the menu down and glared at the curiosity in his eyes. ‘How many brownie points did you get for telling my father we were meeting for dinner tonight?’

‘Ah!’ He made a rueful grimace. ‘I didn’t offer the information, Laura. He asked me directly if I was seeing you again. Did you want me to lie about it?’

She was unappeased. ‘I bet you knew he would ask. That’s why you called me when you did. Before you left work yesterday.’

He cocked his head on one side, the dark brown eyes challenging her stance on this issue. ‘I thought you were determined on not having your father rule your life.’