Okay, an easy question.
Breathe, Scarlet.
Just breathe.
She sucked in a long stream of air. Though her body thrummed from a rush of adrenaline, she managed to say, “River Cross. Wine country about an hour and a half outside of San Francisco.”
“Lived there your whole life?”
“Mostly. I had an apartment in the city with friends when I went to SFSU.”
“What’d you study?”
“Criminal law.”
She heard the grin in his voice as he said, “That was a given. Sorry I asked.” Then he added, “How long have you been an insurance fraud investigator?”
She scraped the baby bellas into her pan with a spatula and said, “I interned with a company during college, then moved back to River Cross and hung my own shingle after I graduated.”
“Ambitious of you.”
“Yes.”
She gave the onions some love, then stirred the ingredients.
Behind her, she heard Sam leave the island. He pulled open the fridge again. A heartbeat later he was at her side. He yanked the cork out of a bottle of white wine and splashed a small amount into her sauté pan, making it sizzle.
“Adds an extra punch,” he said with a coy grin. “Better for the garlic-cream sauce I’ll whip up to top the roast with.”
“How are you such a good cook?” she asked, quite pleased she was finally capable of speech after she’d lost her voice earlier. Kind of surprised it didn’t vaporize again with him standing right next to her but pleased nonetheless.
“I’m a bachelor,” he simply said. “It’s either learn or starve.”
“Makes sense. Not exactly convenient takeout or delivery service in these parts, I surmise.”
“That is correct.”
“Though you don’t seem to lack for homemade desserts.”
With a sexy chuckle that reverberated deep within her, he said, “No, I do not. It tends to be the payment around here when you do something nice for someone.”
Her gaze slid along his corded throat, up to his strong jawline, to his mesmerizing eyes. She said, “I bet you do a lot of nice things for the single ladies of the county.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed ever so slightly as he swallowed hard. He told her, “I don’t exactly provide the kind of services you’re thinking of.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
They stared at each other. At a complete impasse.
While Scarlet would guess he had more than his fair share of admirers and likely gave his affection to one every now and then, she didn’t take him for a womanizer. And given that he wasn’t the least bit concerned about having a new woman at his place, unexpectedly, and he was accustomed to cooking and picking up after himself, she would venture to say there was no revolving door to his bedroom.
He didn’t seem like the type. Even if he was too damn hot for words and made her want to strip him bare and crawl all over him.
She had no idea how much time ticked by as they were both swimming in each other’s eyes. But he eventually stepped away and said, “Don’t forget the mushrooms.”