Sweet Inspiration (3 page)

Reluctantly, Lucy had to admit to herself that she was envious of Kandy. Ray could not keep his hands off her quirky assistant. They were madly in love, and Lucy was jealous of their passionate affair. For once in her life, she would like to experience true passion with a man who adored her.
For
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Sweet Inspiration

by Penny Watson

God's sake, Luce, quit feeling sorry for yourself and get to
work. You have a long night ahead of you.

"Miss Brewster, it can't be that bad, can it?" Lucy just about jumped out of her skin as Mr. Klaus looked down at her with a gentle smile. His smile was not judgmental, nor pitying, nor was it mean-spirited in any way. The giant baker man looked...surprisingly kind.

"Not really. Just another all-nighter in the kitchen. I've done it before. And I'm sure I'll do it again."

"As have I. All great chefs lose track of time when their creative juices are flowing. Once I was on a mission to recreate a superb souffle I tasted in Lucerne, and twenty-four hours later I finally got it. I was looking a bit bedraggled at that point, but I was thrilled with the results."

Lucy sniffled. "What kind of souffle?"

"Ah, well, it was a delicious and subtle mixture of cheeses.

I had a hell of a time trying to ascertain the ingredients. But I finally figured out it was chevre with a touch of Parmesan.

Lightly seasoned with nutmeg. A fascinating combination."

"Umm, that sounds great. You could go sweet or savory with that one. Add chives for a breakfast souffle, or dried cranberries for a sweeter dessert."

"Not a bad idea, Miss Brewster." Mr. Klaus pulled a mini notebook out of his front shirt pocket, placed it on the counter, and began to scribble furiously. One hand was absentmindedly stroking his beard, while the other was writing.

Lucy watched, mesmerized. His beard was thick and dark and neatly trimmed. What would it feel like? Coarse and 24

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rough, or silky smooth? Without thinking, she reached out to touch his face. Slowly she brushed the backs of her fingers down the side of his jaw.
Silky, I knew it!

Mr. Klaus froze, and Lucy snatched her hand back. "Oh my goodness, I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. Please forgive me..."

"Do it again." His voice was hoarse as he reached for her hand and brought it back up to his face. "Please."

Lucy's hand was shaking as she stroked his beard. "I just wanted to know...what it felt like," she whispered in a small voice. "It's soft." She dropped her hand abruptly and touched her own flaming cheeks. "I'm not usually this unprofessional.

I don't normally go around...um, well, touching my customers. Like that. Please forgive me."

"I liked it." Mr. Klaus' voice was thick and low. Lucy shivered again, hugging her arms across her chest.

"And what will you feel like, I wonder?"

Lucy gazed in shock as Nicholas dragged his callused fingers along the side of her face to her chin. She closed her eyes in surrender at the delicious feel of his rough skin against her cheek. With one finger, he tilted her face toward his own. "Open your eyes, Lucy."

She opened her eyes, stunned to find him just inches away.

"My God, you are a delectable treat. I want to eat you up."

Mr. Klaus was breathing hard as his fingers swept across her lips. Back and forth, again and again. "I'm going to kiss you now, Miss Brewster, if that's all right with you."

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Lucy nodded, fixated on his mouth. As Nicholas began to brush his lips softly against her own, she thought
Just like in
my dreams. Only better. Much better.

He tasted like Christmas. Brandy, cloves and dark molasses. His tongue was doing slippery, sexy things to her mouth that were simply unbearable. She was momentarily worried that he would notice her lack of kissing expertise.

Being the sole owner of a cafe did not leave a lot of time for socializing, and her sum experience with men was utterly unimpressive.

"So damned good..." Nicholas was murmuring into her neck. Vaguely she was aware of him exploring her back, squeezing her bottom, and one giant hand cupping the back of her head. With a whimper she raised her hands and began to caress the lush beard on his face. Each of her whimpers was answered with a growl from Mr. Klaus whose straight white teeth were grazing her neck. Lucy could not believe the passion in his eyes...no one had ever looked at her with such longing. For the first time in her life she felt truly desirable.

Lucy was desperate to feel his skin. His whole body shuddered as her hands began to pull the starched white button-down shirt out of his trousers.

Nicholas groaned, "Please don't stop. I've dreamt of this."

She stopped and stared up at him. "You dreamt of me?

Really?"

"Hell, yes, every night for weeks. You're driving me insane."

"I've been dreaming of you, too, Nicholas." She blushed wildly admitting her nocturnal fantasies, but Nicholas was 26

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now reverently cupping her breasts through her apron. Lucy's legs began to buckle. She bumped against the counter behind her, and the basket of apples tipped over, spilling Granny Smiths all over the floor.

"Oh no! What am I doing? "
I must be losing my mind
.

Nicholas, looking rather disheveled and flushed, knelt down on the floor and quickly captured the rolling apples.

"Don't worry, the apples are fine. No one will notice a bruised apple in a pie."

Lucy shook her head at Nicholas. "I can't believe I'm kissing you when I hardly know you. I have a huge order to fill, my assistant just quit, and...and...well, I'm not usually like this, honestly. You are a huge distraction, Mr. Klaus. I simply can't afford a distraction right now. I have too much work to do." With trembling fingers, she tucked her loose curls behind one ear.

"I apologize for the distraction, but not for the kiss. The timing was poor, perhaps, but I won't deny my attraction to you, Lucy. Later, after the work is done, we're going to finish what we started." Nicholas cupped her chin with his hand and forced her to look into his eyes. Lucy was shocked by the intensity of his gaze
. My God, his eyes are gorgeous. Like
burnished gold, burning...for me? No man has ever looked at
me like that

Lucy was shaking. Embarrassed by her blush, she turned away from Nicholas and began to stack the apples back in the basket. "I'm sorry, Mr. Klaus. I really have to get back to work."

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"Please call me Nicholas. And
we
definitely need to get to work. Pies, cookies, candy canes. What else do you need for tomorrow?" Lucy was astounded to see him listing ingredients on his little note pad.

"You can't be serious. I'm sure the last thing you want to do is pull an all-nighter in my kitchen..."

"On the contrary. I've been on vacation for a long time, and I desperately miss working. I don't have to head back home until tomorrow. You've impressed the hell out of me in the last two weeks. Every single item I tasted from your menu has been divine. I would be honored to aid you in any way I can. Although I draw the line at puppies in the kitchen."

Lucy laughed at his horrified expression. "No more puppies. It's almost closing time. It'll be just you and me and Bing Crosby on the CD player."

Nicholas rolled his eyes. "You want to torture me, don't you? How about Bach or Vivaldi for inspiration?"

"It's Christmas time, Nicholas. My CD player is filled with Christmas music. Just be glad Kandy's gone. She listened to punk rock holiday mixes and Celine Dion. She has eclectic taste in music." Lucy grinned impishly at her new assistant, and he laughed out loud. It was a deep, rich, husky sound that surprised her. Lucy had the distinct impression that he did not laugh often.

"Well, if you really want to help out, I can offer you Kandy's pay."

Nicholas shook his head. "Not necessary. I'm offering as a friend. I'll wash the Granny Smiths while you close the shop.

What do you say?"

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Lucy shot him a shy smile. "Thank you. It will be nice to have some company tonight."

As soon as the last of her customers headed home, she cleared the tables and turned out the lights in the front of the store. She could hear Nicholas humming absentmindedly as he gathered the ingredients for the pies. Lucy smiled to herself. He was humming
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
, one of her favorite Christmas carols. Mr. Nicholas Klaus was a fascinating combination of passion and discipline, and Lucy could not help her curious nature. That kiss was the most overwhelming, delicious and irresistible moment of her life, and she desperately hoped that Nicholas truly intended to finish what they started.

* * * *

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Nicholas could not in good conscience allow Miss Lucy Anne Brewster to struggle alone with her huge party order.

Her seduction would have to wait...just a little longer. The sight of tears in her lovely eyes shook him to the core. He usually worked alone in the kitchen, but he found Lucy's company very pleasant. They were a good team. He could hardly wait to celebrate later with more of her extraordinary kisses. The heat of their brief encounter was difficult to forget, but he reigned himself in, determined to finish the pies and alleviate some of her worries.

"So, Nicholas, when did you decide you were going to become a baker?"

Nicholas was rolling out pastry on the cold marble counter.

Although Lucy did not have the latest gadgets in her kitchen, it was well-stocked with old-fashioned equipment, like the beautifully made wooden rolling pin he was using.

"My earliest memories are of me in the kitchen—driving our cook mad." He chuckled as he smoothed the dough. "He finally gave up trying to barricade me out and started to teach me how to cook. He was a wonderful instructor."

Lucy carefully cut out tiny leaves and apples with copper cutters. "Did your parents approve? Baking is a rather unconventional career for a man."

Nicholas laughed. "Are you implying it's a less-than-manly occupation, Miss Brewster? That's not very politically correct."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

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Lucy blushed red as a beet. "Oh no. It just seems like everyone I know wants their sons to become doctors, lawyers, or some Wall Street wiz. I think anyone who follows their passions...well, it's wonderful to see people passionate about what they do, you know?"

One perfect corkscrew curl was dangling in front of Lucy's lovely blue eyes, and a light dusting of flour coated her adorable nose. It took all of Nicholas' willpower not to hop over the counter and pin her to the wall. He cleared his throat. "I completely agree. Unfortunately, the eldest son in my family is expected to follow in his father's footsteps, and baking is not the preferred career."

Lucy raised her head and gazed at him intently. "Are you the oldest in your family? What does your father do?"

Nicholas began his precision cuts of the pastry, forming perfect circles to line the pie tins. "I am the oldest of five brothers, and my father...well...he's in the toy industry."

"Oh, that's wonderful. Christmas must be his busiest holiday. Do your brothers help out, too?"

"Yes, we're all involved, including my mother. Sven is a toy designer, Gregor oversees the financial end of the business, Wolf is involved in charity donations, a big part of our operation, and my youngest brother Oskar manages our employees. We have a lot of them, and they're quite a handful."

"What does your mother do?" Lucy added details to the leaves using a thin scalpel.

"Um, well...our business is so large, we have an entire community built around the factories. My mother takes care 31

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of the village and basically makes sure everyone is happy.

Which is not a simple job."

"Where exactly is your business, Nicholas?"

Nicholas waved vaguely with his rolling pin. Lucy was starting to ask too many questions, and he needed to distract her.

"Up north. So, how about you? When did you know you wanted to work in the culinary arts? Those leaves are beautiful, by the way. I can't believe you have serrated edges."

"Oh, thanks, I actually studied real apple foliage to make sure they were accurate. To answer your other question...I knew I wanted to be a baker when I was about five years old.

It was Christmas time, and I visited one of those holiday villages with my parents. There was a gigantic gingerbread house in the center of the display, and a man was decorating the outside with white frosting and candy. I thought to myself, 'That is the coolest job ever! To create delicious things people love to eat, and to use your imagination all the time.' My parents always indulged my experiments in our kitchen, even after the exploding food processor incident, kitchen fires, and the time I burned my dad's tongue by using too many habanera chilies in my salsa, and..."

Nicholas barked out a laugh and held up a hand. "My God.

You had a steep learning curve. It's a wonder you didn't burn your house down."

Lucy blushed. "I certainly tried, on more than one occasion. We didn't have a lot of money, but my parents 32

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scraped together the funds for culinary school. They were so proud the day I graduated."

Nicholas began to chop the apples. He loved the feel of the knife in his hand, flying as fast as he could, clicking on the wooden cutting board. "Well, your parents must be thrilled with your success. Sweet Inspiration is a wonderful cafe."

"Actually, my parents died several years ago in a car accident. They never got to see my cafe. I wish...well, after all the years I spent dreaming about opening this place, I really wish they had gotten a chance to see it. They would have loved it."