Page 16 of Tuxedos and Tinsel

“Maybe. So, where would you like to go for dinner?”

Maya shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. What do you have a taste for?”

Ian lifted his brow a fraction. He threw his head back and roared at her embarrassed expression when she realized what she’d asked.

“Um...there’s a Mexican restaurant not far. We can go there. Let me get my purse. I’ll be right back,” she mumbled, and exited like the room was on fire.

Still chuckling, he wondered if she knew just how close she had come to being on the menu tonight.Looks like it might be a great holiday after all.

Thursday morning, Rhonda breezed into the kitchen, snagged a still-warm cinnamon roll and came over to the stove, where Maya stood. “You’re never smiling at six thirty in the morning. What gives?”

Maya looked up from the raspberry sauce she was stirring. “Morning, Rhonda. As I recall, you’re the one who’s not a morning person. And what’s wrong with smiling?”

Rhonda eyed Maya. “Nothing, but we have a meeting with that man from the developer’s company this afternoon and you were pretty upset yesterday when we closed. So what happened between then and now? Did they pull the offer?”

“I wish,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Ian stopped by my house last night.”

“Ian?How did he get your address?”

“Apparently, when I gave the chef at the Bonaventure my contact information—smart me had left my cards in the car—I wrote down my home address. I told him he was free to share it with prospective clients. I’ll have to go back and give him the shop’s address.”

Rhonda sighed wistfully. “A determined man. I wish stuff like that would happen to me. So?”

“Against my better judgment, I agreed to our original agreement. The man does not play fair,” she said, recalling the way she had ridden him last night on her couch.

“That look on you face tells me, fair or not, he plays well.”

“Yeah, he does. But I need to get my mind off Ian and on the meeting this afternoon. I’m not looking forward to it, because I know it won’t be the end.”

Later, after closing, Maya sat in her office thinking about her meeting with the man from EJJ Developers. Just as she predicted, he was not happy when she wouldn’t entertain the offer for her property. The price he quoted was above the building’s market value and more than she had paid, but none of that mattered. Saving her business did. And as much as she wished she could wave a magic wand and make this all go away, Maya knew she hadn’t heard the last of the developer. Her cell chimed. Picking it up from the desk, she read a text message from Ian: I want to see you tonight.Her first thought was to reply with a resounding yes, but the rational part of her warned against letting him get too close. After several minutes of inner debate, she typed back:Can’t. Need to work late to prepare for a party.It was partly true. She did have to provide desserts for a client tomorrow. The cell chimed again.

Ian:R u free Saturday night?

Maya:Yes.

Ian:Good. Can’t wait to kiss you again. I’ll bring the melted chocolate. I just need you to provide that brown sugar sweetness I can’t get enough of.

Her pulse jumped. Warm chocolate, more of his expert kisses and extraordinary bedroom skills... She was in so much trouble.

Chapter 6

“This woman is driving me crazy!” Chris stormed into Ian’s office, closing the door forcefully.

Ian turned from his drafting table. “Shellie finally realized that she could do better?”

Chris snorted. “Of course not. My wife knows there is no other man for her. I’m talking about the woman who’s holding up the condo project.”

“She still won’t sell?” he asked incredulously.

“No. We offered more than the fair market value and she won’t budge. It’s been two weeks since Sam went to her shop. He’s called twice and she basically told him not to bother calling again.”

Ian blew out a long breath. “I need this deal to go through. What are we going to do?”

Chris propped a hip against the table and folded his arms. “Dad is going to try to schedule a meeting with her for the first or second week of December. Since today is Thursday and Thanksgiving is next week, he thought it would be better to hold off.”

“It must be serious if Dad’s going to hold the meeting.”

“He doesn’t want to mess around with this. Apparently, word got back to him that a couple of the investors from Capshaw’s party are getting antsy. Hopefully, she’ll come around. I don’t want this to mess up the holidays. You should plan on coming. We might need you.”