Snowbound Seduction (4 page)

Chapter Four

Elaine dropped the spatula for a third time. She drew in a deep breath and tried her best to get her worry under control. It wasn’t easy. Terror tickled the back of her throat. Trev kept tossing her worried looks as she cleared her throat again. It was the only way she could keep from losing it. No matter how many times she swallowed, the tickle remained. It took every bit of her control to suppress the scream that threatened to escape. She could not have that, especially in front of Trevor.

It went against her belief that showing the enemy your weaknesses made you an easy target. That was something she learned early in life thanks to one particular fellow foster kid. He’d been a nightmare and had used her fears against her. He had taken particular joy in terrorizing them all.

She shook away that thought and the memories that came with it as she plated the French toast. She picked up the dishes and, with a glance out the window, she walked to the table. The storm had her freaking out. Well, not completely freaking out, but pretty damned close. Every time the window rattled she had to fight the urge to run up the stairs and hide under her covers.

Elaine drew in a deep breath. Until she looked up, she didn’t realize that Trevor was so close to her. Dammit, she wouldn’t back up and let him know exactly how much his closeness bothered her. Worse, she saw sympathy in his gaze.

“Don’t worry. The weather will clear up, and we’ll be fine.”

It was close to pity, and it made her feel worse than the panic. She tried to play it light and offered him a smile. “Or Harold will kill us.”

For a second he stared at her with the strangest look on his face. The silence lengthened, the only sounds the pop and crackle of the fire and the wind hitting the windows. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore.

“What?” she asked, keeping her hands busy as she tried to ignore the attention he was giving her.

“I never knew you had such a strange sense of humor.”

She shrugged and set the plates down on the table. He followed her over and stood by the same seat he’d occupied for dinner the night before. He waited for her to sit down, then he did the same.

“Do you have nothing to say to that?”

She looked at him. “What? I guess a lot of people don’t know about my sense of humor. Maybe just Mick.”

Elaine thought she heard him mutter something beneath his breath, but she didn’t exactly catch it. Apparently he didn’t want to share it with her. Instead, he leaned down to his plate and drew in a deep breath. Without lifting his head, he looked up at her. The breath caught in the back of her throat when he smiled. She had seen him look at women like that before. It was always a prelude to a seduction. She had scoffed at it before, but now she felt the power of it.

“I cannot tell you how much I have been looking forward to this again.”

“Again?” she asked, embarrassed that she could hear the hint of arousal sliding through her tones. When did seeing a man sniff her food become a turn on? When Trevor was doing it, that’s when. When an attractive man looked at you like you were a goddess, it was hard not to get aroused.

He straightened and grabbed the maple syrup. “Remember that morning after we worked all night?”

Their opening night
. They had all been so high on success. All the months of work had paid off, and they’d been too wired to go home. They were all single, so they had no one waiting for them. Instead, they’d stayed all night celebrating, and she had made French toast some time around three in the morning. Trevor had devoured every bit. She had never seen a grown man who ate with such delight. It had warmed her heart. She cooked every day for strangers. Doing it for someone you knew, and yes, cared about, was different. It was more intimate.

When she realized he was staring at her, she reminded herself to keep it light. “Oh. I didn’t know if you remembered that.”

“Of course I remember that night. It was one of the greatest nights of my life.”

She studied him, trying to discern if he was lying. He looked sincere, but men like Trevor looked sincere when trying to sell ketchup popsicles to a woman in white gloves.

“What?”

She shrugged. “I was wondering if you were telling the truth.”

“Why wouldn’t I be telling the truth? It was.”

She smiled, trying to ignore the way her heart danced. He said it because they had successfully opened the restaurant. It had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been there. But she had known it was wonderful because they had been together. Only someone directly involved could understand what had gone into starting a business like that. For her, it had been extra special. She had never really shared anything like that with another person, especially another chef. But that didn’t mean she had to let him know about her feelings. It would be better if he never had an inkling how special that was to her.

“I would have never thought playboy Trevor MacMillian would think hanging out in a kitchen all night exciting. You know, considering what the tabloids say about you.”

He rolled his eyes and cut into his French toast. “A night in a kitchen with you was a dream.”

He said it as if it was no big deal, but it was to her. The last few months had been hard. They fought constantly, so she hadn’t been sure how much he hated her. She had to swallow the lump in her throat before she could speak again.

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

He shook his head. “I said your tiramisu was the best I have ever eaten.”

It was her turn to roll her eyes. She reached for the maple syrup. “I know my tiramisu is the best you’ve ever eaten. I made it.”

For a second he said nothing. Then he threw his head back and laughed.

“What?” she asked.

“I swear that sounds like something I would say.”

“Why would you say you could make tiramisu? According to Mick, your baking sucks.”

He didn’t take offense. “That is
very
true, although I should smack the wanker for saying that, considering he can’t boil water.”

A bubble of laughter escaped her before she could stop it. She even snorted. Their business partner was lucky that he could order out. There were only so many baked potatoes a man could eat before he got nasty. Mick’s limit was usually two a week. But it was seriously the only thing he could cook.

Trevor stopped eating and stared at her. “You should do that more often.”

“What?”

He didn’t answer right away. After a few seconds, her face started to heat up. Excitement and panic twisted through her. The way he kept looking at her made her want to run and hide…or jump into his arms.

“Trevor?”

He shook his head as if to clear it. “You have a really nice laugh.”

Now
that
was the nicest thing he had ever said to her, but she couldn’t admit it. It was giving her all kinds of funny warm feelings. “Still, you can’t make tiramisu.”

“I agree. You have to admit my béchamel sauce is a thing of beauty.”

She couldn’t argue with that. The man was a master of savory foods. She could cook them, but she often grew bored with the process of cooking. Baking had always been her forte.

A hard gust of wind slammed against the windows, and she glanced over. The storm seemed to be growing in intensity. She shivered, trying to brush away the anxiety that had taken up permanent residence in her gut. Elaine felt Trevor’s hand slide over hers. She glanced down at it and didn’t realize until that moment that she was holding on to her fork with a death grip.

“Hey, Lainey. Don’t worry.”

She looked at him. “You think everything will be okay? I’ve never dealt with a blizzard before.”

He gave her an understanding smile. “We’ll be fine. It always gets worse before it gets better. I have a feeling this is the worst of it. We can call down to that lodge Harold runs and check on everything.”

“I wish I could get online and check.”

He nodded. “I can understand that. It’s irritating that we aren’t connected to the world.”

“I think that’s a little melodramatic, although I’m not happy there’s no wifi. What was Mick thinking?” Another burst of wind hit the windows, and she shivered again. “At least we can call out.”

“True, and we do have a way out of here. If Harold comes back to kill us, I think we can take him and use his car to escape.”

She smiled, feeling better, although she couldn’t figure out why. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

…

After breakfast, Elaine escaped to her bedroom. She wanted to talk to Mick, but in private. Plus, she needed a break from Trevor. He’d been as nice as could be, but that made her nervous. On top of that, when he thought she wasn’t looking at him, he would watch her. It was unsettling. There was something in his gaze that had not been there before last night.

She clicked on Mick’s number. She was thankful when the call finally went through. His phone rang only once before he answered.

“Elaine, I’m really sorry, love.”

“Don’t you ‘love’ me, Mick. I can’t believe you did this to me.”

Even she could hear the slight edge in her voice. She hated this, hated knowing that she was close to losing it. Control was more important than breathing to Elaine. Losing it in front of Trev, that would not be good. She didn’t want him to pity or comfort her; both would probably break her.

He sighed. “I just saw the weather. One more day won’t kill you.”

There was a beat of silence. That was dangerous with Mick. The man was always thinking. Most of the time she ended up being pulled into one his insane ideas, like running a restaurant with a man that drove her bonkers.

“Are you going to tell me what’s really bothering you?”

One of the things she hated about being best friends with her business partner was that he knew her weaknesses. She had shared more with Mick than she had with any other person. He was the first person she had ever really trusted. But she couldn’t admit what was really bothering her.

“Trevor, he’s driving me crazy.”

“Elaine Masterson, don’t lie to me.”

She sighed as guilt pinged at her conscience. Trevor had been decent, so she really shouldn’t blame it on him, especially when she knew it wasn’t his fault.

“I don’t like the idea of being trapped here. There’s no way out.”

He sighed, and Elaine heard the regret when he spoke. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t my plan. I thought you might both work out your differences.”

“Or kill each other.”

“And that way I’d inherit everything.”

She snorted. “You’re an ass.”

“But you love me.”

“Not really. I just say that every now and then to make you feel better about yourself.”

He chuckled. “Why does no one else think you have a sense of humor?”

“I waste it all entertaining you.”

“Totally worth it.” A beat of silence. “Are you going to be okay?”

She shrugged and looked out at the snow. It was now at least ten inches and it had only been falling a couple of hours. Mick knew some of her hidden secrets, and being trapped was a fear that could undo her, although she felt comfortable enough with Trevor. She knew he would never physically hurt her. He might be a bit of an ass, but Elaine knew he was a decent man.

“I think I can handle it for one night. I might even take a nap. Didn’t sleep well at all.”

“Gee, could it be because you’re alone with Trev?”

She frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Both of you expend a lot of energy hating each other, and there is a thin line between love and hate.”

Her head started to pound. It was a little too close to the truth for her comfort. She might tell Mick a lot of things, but her inner feelings about Trevor—that was off-limits. If she admitted how attracted she was to Trev, Mick would never shut up about it.

“Keep on thinking that, but it doesn’t have anything to do with us. I like things a certain way, and he doesn’t. And I did not sleep well because you know how I am in strange places. Now, though, my tummy is full of custard French toast, I think I might just take a nap.”

“Are you telling me you made that for Trevor?” His irritation made her smile. It was one of Mick’s favorite breakfast treats, too.

“Yes, and it was delicious. More than delicious.” She smacked her lips.

“You bitch.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

He laughed. “Why don’t you work on the cookbook?”

He was the only person she had told about the cookbook. She had been spending her free time working on it, even though she wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do with it.

“That might be a good idea. That was my plan before I was plopped down in this winter nightmare with Trev.”

“Trev? Since when do you call him Trev?”

She heard the interest in his voice.
Damn
. She didn’t need this. She was tired, irritated, and of course, aroused. All this time with Trevor wasn’t good. Each minute she spent with him was sheer agony. There had never been a man who bothered her on so many levels. Close quarters with him for much longer would definitely drive her insane.

“I’m tired.” There was a little bit of truth to that.

“If that’s what you say.” He didn’t sound convinced, and why should he be? She wasn’t sure what was causing more of a problem—the lack of sleep or the man who caused it. Either way, it was best to change the subject.

“You know you owe me big.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I know. Love you.”

“Well, I don’t like you.”

There was another beat of silence. “Are you sure you’ll be okay, love?”

Her heart melted a little bit, because Mick might be a tough as nails restaurant owner, but he had a soft center. It was a shame they both saw each other more as siblings than with romantic interest. They would be perfect for each other…although, Mick said they would bore each other in a week for that very reason.

“Yes. Just know I’m expecting the copper bowl I’ve been dreaming about for months. I don’t care if it costs five hundred dollars. You better have it when you pick me up from the airport.”

She hung up on Mick just as Trevor had the night before. Sometimes, that was all you could do with him. She might love him like the brother she never had, but she didn’t need him meddling in her business. If she was stuck in the cabin, she could take the time to work on her cookbook. She had been playing with an idea for a cookbook for a while now, and Mick finally bullied her into writing it. It had been hard to resist the idea of seeing her name in print. She grabbed her laptop and turned it on. She might as well get a little work done while she was stuck in the wilderness.