"Or you and I could do some antiquing today," he suggested, and then cautioned, "We'd have to take it easy. No gallivanting about."
"Gallivanting?" she asked dryly.
"Frequent breaks for coffee or food, and not on your feet for too long," he said firmly.
Alex stared at him for a very long time, but then sighed and pushed away from the counter again. Her tone was sulky when she said, "I guess that's better than being stuck here all day."
"You really are a bad patient, aren't you?" Cale said with amusement as he followed her out of the kitchen.
"Who said I was a bad patient?" Alex asked, glaring over her shoulder.
"Sam."
"Like she's any better," Alex snorted as she opened the closet door and bent to retrieve her discarded coat. She then tugged his coat off its hanger and turned to hand it to him.
"Thank you," Cale murmured.
Alex nodded and shrugged into her coat, before adding, "Besides, I'm not a bad patient."
"No?" Cale asked dryly, pulling on his scarf, hat, and gloves.
"No," she assured him, and then added with a touch of chagrin, "I just like to get my own way."
Cale laughed outright at that admission. He wasn't surprised. She owned her own home, ran her own business, and pretty much was used to getting her own way in matters. But then so was he, and Cale suspected that if he ever did succeed at wooing her into agreeing to be his life mate, there would be some fireworks for the first year or so as they struggled to learn to live as a couple. But the makeup sex would definitely be hot.
"Warm enough?" Alex asked with amusement as she took in the way he'd bundled up. The hat was pulled low on his forehead, and he'd wrapped the scarf around his neck and face so that the only portion of skin the sun would reach was the bit around his eyes.
"I'm European," he said through the scarf. "Not used to this cold."
"Hmm." Alex turned to open the front door. "This from the same man who didn't even pull his coat on before running out to his car this morning."
Cale didn't comment but followed her out of the house, locked the door, and pocketed her keys. He planned to hold on to them until at least tonight. There was no way she was going to ditch him and take off to the restaurant to clean. Crazy woman, he thought with a sigh. She obviously didn't know how fragile she was as a mortal. He would have to look after her until she agreed to the turn, Cale decided, and hoped it didn't take too long to get her to that point now that they'd shared a dream. He didn't know how Mortimer had managed Sam's not turning all these months. The guy must have worried himself sick.
Cale had felt like he'd swallowed his own heart last night when he'd gotten to the restaurant and seen Bev helping a bleeding Alex to her feet. He hadn't been able to get to her fast enough. He needed to up his game on the wooing front and get her to agree to be turned, and that was that.
"This should add some color to the office," Alex said with a pleased smile as she peered down at the framed eight-inch-by-eight-inch print on her lap. It was called Food Prep, and showed a chef in a bright Italian-style kitchen slicing a parsnip. Despite the fact that she'd found it today in an antiques store, Alex was pretty sure it wasn't an antique. At least she recalled seeing this print and three others being sold in a set in one of therestaurant catalogues she had. It looked much better live than it had in the tiny picture in the catalogue, and she thought she might order the other three prints that went with it when the restaurant was making a profit.
"It's charming." Cale glanced briefly toward the print, and then quickly returned his eyes to the road as he suggested, "Would you like to stop at the restaurant and hang it before we head over to the old La Bonne Vie for dinner? We're a bit early anyway."
"Yes, please," Alex said happily. They had headed north of the city to hit antiques stores in the small towns there and would drive right past the turnoff leading to the part of the city where the new restaurant resided. In fact, they were already approaching that off-ramp, Alex noted as Cale put on the blinker to take it. She watched him make the maneuver, and then asked curiously, "How does this car handle?"
When Cale glanced at her in question, she explained, "My car's kind of on its last legs and I'll need to replace it in the next six months to a year ... if I can afford it," she added wryly, and then continued, "I was considering a Pontiac Solstice, but this seems to ride nice."
"It handles well," he assured her, and offered, "You can try it for yourself when we leave the restaurant if you like."
"Ooooh, that rare and exotic animal, a man willing to let a woman drive his car," she teased. Her mood had improved a great deal while they were antiquing. Alex still wished he'd let her give her restaurant kitchen a once-over, but understood why he hadn't. She'd alsohad fun this afternoon, enjoying wandering through the various antiques stores with him and looking at this and that.
"This is just a rental," he reminded her, and then added, "Though I'd be happy to let you drive my own vehicle. Of course, you have to come to France to do it."
"Like that will happen," she said with a laugh.
"I am sincerely hoping it will," he said solemnly.
Alex glanced at him sharply, her eyes following the outline of his profile. It was the first time anything had been said to suggest he hoped to continue their friendship beyond the two months he was to be here. If it was a friendship. She wasn't sure how to classify their relationship. He worked for her at the moment, had stated a desire to get to know her better, but hadn't tried to kiss her or anything. Well, except in that wild dream she'd had last night, but that was her mind torturing her with what she couldn't have. She couldn't lay that at his door.
Not that she wanted him to kiss her, Alex told herself firmly as she realized the direction of her own thoughts. She hadn't even allowed their conversations to dip into the personal area since the night they'd painted the dining room together. She didn't want to get involved, Alex reminded herself firmly, and turned her face forward as Cale turned into the parking lot behind the new restaurant. Her eyebrows rose when she spotted the SUV parked where she normally parked her own car. "Is that Justin Bricker?"
"Hmm." Cale nodded, his expression serious now.