Sizzling (3 page)

* * *

REID WAITED until close to ten to drive to his houseboat. He'd
borrowed Walker's SUV so he could load up his stuff and transport it
to Gloria's house. Despite the late hour, there were two
photographers waiting on the dock. They snapped pictures of him going
into the houseboat and he heard one of them making a call, saying
he'd been found. He also caught a suggestion about him taking an
Internet class on how to please women.
Twenty minutes later,
he'd packed two suitcases and was backing out of his parking space.
The tow truck he'd hired pulled behind the photographers' cars in the
guest parking section of the lot, preventing Reid from being
followed. The guy would stay there a few more minutes, then leave.
All Reid wanted was a clean getaway.
When he reached Gloria's
place, Walker was waiting there to help him unload. They traded car
keys and Walker left with the SUV. Reid's Corvette was already hidden
in the garage.
"Hell of a way to live," he muttered
as he walked inside.
He started up the stairs only to stop
when he saw a somewhat familiar, tall blonde heading down. She
smiled.
"Hey, Reid. How's it going?"
"Good,"
he lied, as he tried to remember where he knew the woman from. Then
he focused on the scrub shirt and realized she was one of Gloria's
nurses.
"Sandy," the woman said when they were on
the same step. "Sandy Larson. You interviewed me for the
job."
Right. And her beaming smile said the interview had
gone well. He remembered now— Sandy had been eager to sleep
with her favorite player. They'd had a hell of a time on his big desk
at the Downtown Sports Bar.
"I heard you're moving in
here," Sandy said.
"Temporarily."
"Sure.
Makes sense." She touched his arm.
"Listen— I
had a great afternoon with you, but I wanted to let you know I'm with
someone now. It's exclusive. So I'm not going to be interested in a
repeat performance. Please don't take it personally, okay?"
"Of
course not," he said, careful to keep his expression politely
interested.
He couldn't care less about sleeping with Sandy
again, but that wasn't the point. She should be all over him, because
hey, he was Reid Buchanan.
But given how his day had gone, why
was he even surprised?

* * *

LORI ARRIVED a few minutes early for her shift. She put her
jacket and purse in the hall closet and found yet another tall,
well-built beauty in the kitchen.
She hated that she instantly
felt short and curveless. Even worse was the cause. She refused to
let a womanizing, brainless twit of a man ruin her day.
"Hi,"
she said cheerfully. "I'm Lori Johnston."
"Kristie
Ellsworth," the stunning brunette said with a smile. "Gloria
slept most of the night and woke up asking for you. I guess you made
an impression."
"Hopefully a good one."
"I
was going to take in her breakfast," Kristie said.
"I
can do that if you want to head out."
"That would be
great."
Five minutes later Lori walked in with Gloria's
breakfast.
"You're back," the older woman said. "How
unfortunate."
"I heard you were asking about me, so
don't pretend you're not happy to see me."
"I'm not
happy. I was asking in the hopes that you'd quit."
"No
such luck." She set the tray on the table. "We're going to
have to get you a hobby. Something other than being crabby. Maybe
knitting. Everyone's doing it."
Gloria ignored that and
poked at her pancakes. "I don't eat breakfast. I'll have some
coffee and nothing else."
Lori leaned close and lowered
her voice. "I have just two words for you, young lady.
Feeding
tube.
Don't make me get ugly. Eat and be happy."
"You're
a most annoying person."
"I've heard that. It's kind
of a point of pride with me."
Gloria stared at her for
several seconds, then passed over a section of the newspaper. "Did
you read this yesterday?"
"I don't read the
paper."
"You should. Women should be aware of what's
going on in the world. Which is not the point. Reid has moved in
temporarily. Obviously he's taking advantage of my weakened
condition. You'd think he was old enough to clean up his own mess,
but apparently not. Now he's dragged the family name through the mud.
He's a constant disappointment and embarrassment."
Lori
glanced at the headline and blinked. "
Good in bed…not
so much?
That's kind of cold."
"Apparently he
didn't please the reporter and she decided to tell the world. It's
disgusting. She's nothing but a slut, but heaven forbid we should say
that.
" She tapped the paper. "Read it. Learn from
it. My grandson has a way with women. Don't be one of the idiots who
falls for him and then gets her heart broken. I have no patience for
stupid women."
"You're warning me off," Lori
said, suddenly getting it. She grinned. "You're worried about
me."
"Go away."
For once, Lori did as
she asked, mostly because she wanted to read the article.
She
settled at the kitchen table and spread out the paper, then scanned
the first couple of paragraphs and winced. No guy wants to be told
he's not good in bed, especially in public and in print. That had to
hurt.
She almost felt sorry for Reid. While she had no sense
of his sexual skill, he had to have learned something with all his
experience. Didn't he?
The object of her speculation walked
into the kitchen, looking rumpled and exhausted. He'd pulled on jeans
and nothing else, his hair was mussed and he needed a shave.
He
was fifteen kinds of gorgeous.
Lori watched him as he crossed
the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. His impressive
muscles flexed and rippled with each movement. He looked warm and
sexy and deep inside her stomach she felt the beginnings of a
quiver.
He glanced up and saw her.
"Morning,"
he mumbled, then left.
She didn't exist to him. Never had,
never would. Being attracted to him put her so far in the idiot camp
that she would never find her way out.
She was an
embarrassment to intelligent women everywhere. Worse, there wasn't a
damn thing she could do about it.

CHAPTER
THREE

LORI PULLED INTO her driveway a little after five. Her
neighborhood was light-years away from Gloria's street of gated
mansions, but Lori didn't mind. She loved everything about her
house.
Its two-bedroom, two-bath size suited her perfectly.
She loved the details of the Craftsman style, the built-ins, the
moldings. She loved that she'd painted every wall herself and had
done most of the remodeling without help. She loved the colors, the
garden, the porch, the way the house looked solid…and made her
feel safe.
She walked inside and breathed in the scent of
garlic. "You're cooking," she yelled by way of greeting.
"You're not supposed to be cooking."
Madeline
stepped out of the kitchen and grinned. "I don't believe that
was in the contract I signed, but I'll have to go check. Besides, I'm
having a good day. On good days I want to cook."
Lori
studied her sister's face, searching for lines of fatigue or paleness
in her coloring. Neither was there. Instead Madeline looked serenely
beautiful, as she always had.
In Lori's mind, the family gene
pool had a killer sense of humor. Lori was average height, Madeline a
few inches taller. Lori had inherited awful orange curls that had
thankfully faded to a more muted reddish-gold. Madeline had auburn
waves. She woke up looking like a 1940s movie star. With a little
effort and some mascara, she looked like a goddess. It had taken Lori
most of her life, but she'd finally learned not to be bitter.
"How
was day two?" Madeline asked. "Gloria still a
challenge?"
"She defines the term. This morning she
nearly hinted that she liked having me around and then spent the rest
of the day insulting me. I have to say there's nothing wrong with her
brain. She's really good at the one-line put-down."
Madeline
folded her arms across her University of Washington sweatshirt. "You
still like her?"
"I do. I know I shouldn't. There's
a power struggle in our future and I'm going to win, but still,
there's something about her. She's trying too hard to be a bitch and
I can't figure out why. Is it a defense mechanism? A way of coping?
Did she have to be a bitch to get ahead all those years ago and
forget to turn it off? One of her grandsons called. This guy named
Cal. He wanted to come by and check on her. Gloria wouldn't take the
call and told me to tell him that she would be dead soon and then he
could be happy."
Madeline shook her head. "You
didn't tell him that, did you?"
"No, but it made me
wonder."
"Not every sick person is a saint. Aren't
most of them exactly like they were in their regular life?"
"Yes,
in theory. But I just don't want that to be true in Gloria's case. I
keep thinking something's there. Maybe it's because Reid was so
insistent that she was awful. When I interviewed for the job, he made
her sound like the devil."
Madeline grinned. "Oh, so
we're back to talking about Reid. You do have him on the
brain."
Lori willed herself not to blush. "I have no
idea what you're talking about." She sniffed. "I smell
garlic but nothing else. What's for dinner?"
"Don't
try to change the subject. Admit it. You have a thing for Reid
Buchanan. My practical sister has totally fallen for a sports
hero."
"Not exactly fallen," Lori muttered. "I
have a stupid crush on him, okay? It's chemical, which means it's not
my fault. I react to him. But it doesn't mean anything. I'll get over
it. I'm smarter than him."
"Being smart doesn't have
anything to do with it."
"So my hormones keep
telling me."
"Maybe you should go out with him,"
Madeline told her. "Maybe he's better than you think."
Madeline
was possibly one of the nicest people on the planet. She saw good in
everyone and believed in miracles. But Lori had never been a
believer, and most people got on her nerves.
In Madeline's
fairy-tale universe, men like Reid Buchanan would absolutely date
women like Lori. They would probably find them fascinating.
Unfortunately, Lori didn't live in that universe.
She pushed
up her glasses. "I don't think I'm his type. I get on his
nerves. I'm not deferential enough." All excuses for the real
thing— Reid would never see her as a sexual being. She was his
grandmother's nurse. Sort of a living appliance. No matter how much
she wanted that to be different, it wasn't.
"You're funny
and pretty and smart. Of course you're his type."
Lori
avoided mirrors whenever possible, but she couldn't escape them.
Pretty? Not so much. She was average. Nothing more, nothing
less.
"You're an optimist," she said. "Sometimes
that's annoying."
Madeline laughed. "You can't be
mad at me. I made spaghetti with garlic bread."
Lori's
mouth watered. "A carb fest for dinner?"
"Absolutely.
I was in the mood." Her sister linked arms with her and led her
into the kitchen. "While we're eating, we can strategize about
Reid. What you can do to get his attention."
"I
don't want his attention. He's not anyone I would ever want to be
with."
It was an old pattern, but one that had always
served Lori well. She found it really helpful to put down that which
she couldn't ever have. It made the doing without so much easier.

* * *

"I'VE MISSED EVERYTHING about this kitchen," Penny
Buchanan said as she ran her hands across The Waterfronts
countertops, then lightly touched the control knobs on the stove.
"It's bigger than I remember. Is that possible?"
Dani
Buchanan grinned at her sister-in-law. "No. You're remembering
the kitchen filled with people and now it's empty."
"But
it will be full soon," Penny said dreamily. "We'll be
cooking delicious food and it will be like I was never gone."
She
leaned against the counter, then stared at Dani. "Oh, God. Am I
a horrible mother for being thrilled to be back at work? I am, aren't
I?"
Dani laughed. "Not at all."
Penny
shook her head. "No. It's not natural. I shouldn't have any
interests other than the baby. What if Allison knew I loved my work
more than her? She would be devastated."
Dani grabbed
Penny by the arm. "Hey, slow down. Take a breath. You're fine.
Loving your work is allowed, even encouraged. You need to be back in
the kitchen because being a chef is part of who you are. As for the
baby, Allison is incredibly spoiled and totally loved. Just be
grateful you love your job."
"You mean be rational,"
Penny said with a slight smile. "Hard to do these days, when I'm
living in a sea of hormones. But I'll try. You're right. I love Ally,
but cooking will always be my passion."
"See, I
think you have a much bigger problem with Cal than with the baby.
He's not going to appreciate knowing he comes second to a bunch of
pots and pans."
Penny's smile softened. "He knows I
love him."
Dani had liked Penny the first time Penny had
married Cal. The second time was even better.
"So you're
back, you're excited about being back," Dani said. "This is
a good thing."
Penny eyed her. "I think I can guess
why. You want to leave."
Dani glanced around at the
restaurant kitchen. Penny had given her a job when she'd desperately
needed to do something with her life, but this wasn't where she
wanted to be in five years, or even five weeks.
"Let's
just say the thrill of sticking it to Gloria has faded," Dani
admitted. "You were great to give me a chance here, but I have
to move on."
"I understand," Penny told her. "I
don't like it, but I understand. Do you have any idea what you're
going to do?"
"Try to make up for all the time I
wasted trying to please Gloria."
Penny touched her
shoulder. "Maybe if you think about it as a growth
experience…"
"So far, that's not working. As
mean as Gloria is, I still can't believe she let me work for her all
those years, let me believe I had a chance of moving up in the
company, when she was never going to let it happen."
Dani
closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. If she continued to let
Gloria upset her, then she continued to let the old bat win.
But
it was hard to let it all go— and impossible to forget Gloria's
bombshell. That the reason Dani would never make it in the Buchanan
empire was that she, Dani, wasn't a real Buchanan.
"Look
at the bright side," Penny said, affection obvious in her voice.
"You have a great résumé and fabulous letters of
recommendation from me and Edouard."
At the mention of
the cook who had been left in charge of the kitchen while Penny had
been out on maternity leave, Dani grinned. "Edouard said he
wasn't going to write me a letter of recommendation. He said I hadn't
been deferential enough while he was in charge. That I hadn't
supported his pain."
"Oh, really? Then perhaps I'll
tell Edouard I'm not feeling ready to come back. I can leave him in
charge a little longer."
As Edouard had spent the last
eight weeks whining about the extra work of covering for Penny, Dani
knew it was the perfect threat.
"I'll let you tell him,"
she said.
"I can't wait."