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Grace checked the chicken chasseur simmering in the oven. The savory aroma of the white wine combined with the mushrooms, chicken, and fresh thyme gave the French dish an enticing redolence.
Sam would be here any minute. When she’d invited him for dinner tonight, he’d accepted right away which would normally have pleased her – except for the reappearance of Lana in his life.
All afternoon she’d worried about the older woman. Grace had curves – some in the wrong places. Lana was slim – in fact, she looked like she belonged on a catwalk.
Despite Sam saying it was over between him and Lana, Grace knew she wouldn’t be completely reassured until he showed her. By making a move on her. A passionate move.
Hence, the romantic dinner tonight. Except Sam didn’t know it was to be a romantic dinner, or that Grace had seduction in mind.
She smoothed down the black wrap dress that showed off a little cleavage. Underneath, she wore a lacy black bra and matching panties – just in case her plan worked – and a pair of kitten heels. She just hoped she didn’t wobble in them when she served the meal.
There was a knock at the door. Taking in a deep breath, Grace hurried down the hall, only slowing down for the last three steps, not wanting Sam to know she’d rushed to answer the door.
She opened the door, and just stared at him.
He looked amazing in dark gray slacks, matching blazer, and a mid-blue long-sleeved shirt.
“Thanks,” she said breathlessly as he handed her a bottle of red wine, his fingers grazing hers. A thrill of excitement shot up her arm at the brief contact.
“You look amazing,” Sam said huskily, his heated gaze sweeping over her.
Her cheeks burned and she shifted on her kitten heels, unable to say anything for a minute.
“Thanks,” she murmured, before realizing she hadn’t invited him inside.
He followed her to the kitchen, so close that she could practically feel his warm, clean breath on the back of her neck.
The oven timer buzzed as she put down the wine on the counter and gestured to the table, which she’d covered in a white cloth, with their best cutlery on display.
“I’ll just see if it’s ready.” Grace opened the oven door, and peeked at the casserole bubbling away. Carefully taking it out of the oven, she placed it on the table, along with a dish of green beans and wild rice.
“That smells incredible,” Sam said as she sat down opposite him.
“Thanks.” Pleasure flowed through her. So far it was all going according to plan. She gestured to the wine bottle, now on the table. “Would you like to pour?”
He filled their wine glasses, then raised his glass to her. “To you, Grace.”
A rush of awareness ran down her spine at the sensual gleam in his eyes. Was it finally going to happen tonight? Would Sam show her exactly how he felt about her?
“To you, Sam,” she echoed his toast, her fingers trembling slightly as she took a sip of the Merlot, the plum notes lingering on her taste buds.
She watched Sam eat the meal with evident enjoyment. Grace found herself picking at her food for once. The casserole was delicious, but her nerves were jangled; like someone playing the tambourine inside her body.
They talked about how the butterfly bookmarks she’d ordered were selling well, and some of her customers’ interesting requests for books, including one person who wanted to buy a book on building a yurt.
For dessert, Grace served strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar with whipped cream. She hadn’t made it before and hoped it was as tasty as the recipe had promised.
Thankfully, it was. She breathed a sigh of relief as the sweet, slightly tangy strawberries seduced her taste buds. She only hoped they had the same effect on Sam.
Her stomach tightened as she spooned the last strawberry into her mouth. Now the real seduction would start.
She cleared her throat. “I thought we could go into the living room.”
“Sure,” he agreed, picking up their wine glasses and following her into the next room.
If she’d really been a seductress, then she would have suggested her bedroom. Although she wanted to take them to that level tonight, she wasn’t sure if she was quite brave enough. It all depended on Sam, and how much he wanted her.
But the living room was a good start. They’d gotten snuggly on the sofa before, although that was all it had been, just his arm around her shoulders and a teeny bit of kissing, but nothing major.
Tonight she wanted to change that. But would he want to? Would her curves turn him off – or turn him on?
Grace crossed to the stereo. She’d already dropped a CD in, and now she pressed Play. Perhaps CDs were old-fashioned these days, but this one had seemed perfect – classic romantic music.
“I thought we could talk.” She sat down on the sofa beside Sam.
“Sure,” he said agreeably, placing an arm around her shoulder.
Her plan was working perfectly – so far.
“You still haven’t told me what you’re going to do with that empty store,” she said softly, still curious about it.
“Haven’t I?” A smile played around the edges of his mouth.
“No, you haven’t.” She maneuvered under his arm so she could see his face properly.
“I’m thinking of opening an art gallery,” he finally confessed.
“You are?” she sat up straight, accidentally dislodging his arm.
“It would only be a very small one.” He shrugged. “It mightn’t make much of a profit. But I could also use the space as my office. So far, it’s been pretty easy communicating with my assistant in Seattle.” He smiled ruefully. “As long as the signal on my cell phone doesn’t drop out.”
She nodded in understanding, excitement starting to bubble inside her. Did this mean he was thinking of living here – permanently?
“I’ll have to get a landline installed,” he continued. “I’d need one for the gallery anyway.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” she asked softly.
He shrugged. “I wanted to be sure it was going to work before I said anything.” He hesitated. “I didn’t want to disappoint you if it didn’t pan out.”
“But you think it will?” She held her breath for his answer.
“Yes.” He nodded, reaching for her. “I think it will.”
His lips met hers in a soft kiss. Too chaste, Grace thought, nestling against him and stealing her arms around his neck, pressing her body to his.
He needed no further encouragement to deepen the kiss. She kissed him back, her fingers stroking the nape of his neck. Before she could register exactly how it happened, she was lying on the sofa, Sam on top of her, kissing her passionately, his hand stroking her breast.
Yes!
She drifted in a haze of desire, her hands roving over his back, delving underneath his jacket and stroking the smooth cotton fabric of his shirt.
“Grace,” he whispered thickly against her neck, his breath deliciously tickling her skin.
“Sam.” She arched her back, wanting him, wanting to make love with him, now that he had shown her that he did see her in a romantic light.
She was dimly aware of a bang, thinking it must be Harriet slamming the barn door after checking on the goats. She pushed the intrusive sound from her mind, and concentrated on Sam’s sensual lips capturing hers.
“Grace! Did you know that Sam was engaged? To be married?” Harriet’s outraged voice startled both of them.
Grace blinked, slowly coming back to reality. Sam jerked upright, raking his fingers through his disheveled hair – had she done that? Although Sam had moved off her, his body still shielded her from her sister’s gaze.
She looked down at her wrap dress, part of the bodice now pulled down, and hastily tugged it back into place.
“Oh!” Harriet looked embarrassed as she stood in the doorway. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize he was here.”
“My car is parked outside,” Sam pointed out gruffly, sitting upright.
“But it was parked outside your cabin. How was I supposed to know you were inside with Grace?”
Grace sat up, hoping her hair didn’t look as disheveled as Sam’s.
“I didn’t think I had to tie a sock on the front door to let you know I had company,” she told Harriet.
“Yes, but—” Guilt flickered over Harriet’s face as she seemed to remember her promise not to interfere. “This is big news! Sam was engaged to a woman called Lana.”
“I know.”
“She knows.”
Grace and Sam spoke at the same time.
“Oh.” Harriet looked like the wind had been taken out of her sails. “I just thought you should know, Grace, that was all. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Grace tightened her lips. She couldn’t even seduce the man of her dreams without her sister interfering!
“How do you know, anyway?” Grace asked.
“Lana came into the coffee shop this morning. She was a bit stand-offish at first, but once she tasted my coffee, she said she was Sam’s ex-fiancée and asked if I knew where he was. I told her he’s been hanging out at the empty store that used to be the boutique.”
When Grace and Sam didn’t say anything, Harriet continued a little defensively, “Just about everyone knows that’s where you go during the day, Sam. I didn’t think it was a big secret.”
“It’s not,” Sam replied.
Harriet took a step back, toward the hall.
“I can see you two were in the middle of something.” She didn’t giggle at the unintended double-entendre so Grace knew she was contrite about bursting in on them. “So I’ll just leave and stay with Coop tonight.” She nodded. “Yep, that’s what I’ll do. You’ll have the whole house to yourself. No interruptions.”
Harriet hurried out of the house, the front door banging after her.
“I’m sorry.” Had Parker ever burst in on Sam when he was trying to seduce someone? Don’t go there. She did not want to think about Sam kissing – or doing anything else – to anyone else.
“It’s okay.” He leaned back against the sofa, a rueful grin on his lips.
Although her yearning had been dampened by her sister’s interruption, desire still flickered inside her. Could she salvage tonight? Or was it too late?
There was a silence for a minute or so, then she saw the gleam of passion returning to Sam’s eyes. She slowly leaned toward him, hoping she’d read the signal correctly, a silent smile stealing over her as his lips descended. As soon as they touched hers, a loud Brring Brring interrupted them.
“Damn.” He moved away from her and reached into his pocket for his cell. “I thought I turned it off.”
She sighed in frustration as she watched him take the call. At this point, she didn’t think tonight was salvageable. Two interruptions were just too much. She didn’t think she could take a third.
Sam frowned, then rose from the sofa, walking into the hall.
“I’ve already spoken to Dad,” he said.
She didn’t want to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help it. Was Sam talking to his brother Parker?
“Don’t worry about it.” Sam sighed. “I’ll handle it.”
She watched Sam listen to the person on the other end of the line, a resigned expression on his face.
“Yes, okay. And don’t worry about Lana, either. I told her no – and then she said she’d never step foot in our gallery again.” Sam ended the call and entered the living room.
“I’m sorry, Grace.” Frustration creased his face. “I’m going to have to leave. I need to call Dad and make sure he’s okay. Apparently he called Parker and wanted to talk about Mom.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say.
“It is what it is.” He grimaced. “But I don’t want you to have to listen to my phone conversation with him. So I better go.” He looked regretful.
“Okay.” She rose from the sofa. “I’ll walk you out.”
In other circumstances the whole evening might have been considered humorous, but all Grace could think of as she headed toward the front door, Sam by her side, was how disastrously it had turned out. And tonight had started so well!
It was obvious she wasn’t meant to be a seductress.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He cupped her face and kissed her once they were out on the porch.
“Okay.” She smiled softly at him, her stomach fluttering at the soft caress. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
“Yes.” His brown eyes darkened and she wondered if he was suddenly thinking what she was: how different breakfast might have been if they’d made love tonight, and he stayed over until the morning.
But it wasn’t to be. She watched him stride back to his cabin, turning once to wave at her. Grace lifted her arm to wave back, but wondered if instead she was actually fare welling him.
Their lives were so different. Could Sam fall in love with her? Or would today make him realize that he belonged back in Seattle, with his family, and sophisticated women like his ex?
