Romantic Acquisition Page 0,59
when he saw her. Kate was covered in flour from her head down to her toes. She wore an apron but he wasn’t sure why since there wasn’t a place on her that wasn’t touched by the white powder. “What happened to you?” Carlo said, but he took her in his arms and kissed her.
“What do you mean?” she asked when he pulled away, not really caring anyway. She loved being held in his arms, she thought as her hand ran up the side of his muscular arm under his coat.
“You’re covered in flour and some other unidentifiable mixture,” he said, his eyes roaming over her face and hair. “I’m sure you’re delicious.”
Kate blushed over his charm and self-consciously pushed her hair back. “I like to cook,” she said.
“And like all other things that you like to do, you throw your whole self into it, literally,” he asked, chuckling as he released her and he was able to see that she was covered in flour even on the back of her shoulders. How the woman got flour on the back of her, he’d really like to know.
“Cooking is very therapeutic,” she defended and went back into the kitchen.
Carlo just smiled as he watched the way her cute derriere filled out her jeans. He followed her into the kitchen and was astonished by the mess. “Do you always cook like this?”
Kate looked around and didn’t see anything wrong with her kitchen. “Like what?”
Carlo just shook his head. “You’re unique, Kate Avril.”
“Thanks,” she said cheerily.
She drained the pasta and put a huge portion on two plates. Then she plunked two perfectly browned chicken breasts on top of the pasta. Next came the wonderfully pungent sauce and mozzarella cheese.
“Give me three minutes and I’ll join you,” she said as she put the two plates and some salads she’d made ahead of time, on the dining room table.
Carlo opened the bottle of wine he’d brought and poured two glasses, wondering what Kate could still be doing in the kitchen. There was a lot of clanking and then long silences. He was afraid to peek inside, fearful of the next mess she might be creating.
She appeared four minutes later, completely free of flour. “What happened in there?”
“I was cleaning up,” she said and took a sip of wine.
Carlo was about to sit down but he was too curious. Peering into the kitchen, his eyes widened at the immaculate counters and floors. All the pans were stacked neatly in the sink and everything was cleaned up, not a speck of flour or sauce on the counters.
“Where did it all go?” he asked, sitting down at the table.
She smiled at his reaction. “I told you, I cleaned it all up. I’m a master at kitchen cleaning. Whenever I cook, I make a huge mess. I’ve had to learn strategies for cleaning quickly or live in a science project.”
Carlo laughed at her analogy. “I defer to your superior cleaning abilities.”
They dug into the meal and Carlo was adequately impressed with her cooking abilities. The chicken was tender and flavorful, perfectly complemented by the spicy sauce.
They made love early that night and fell asleep in each others arms, exhausted from two nights of passion. They were content to simply hold each other.
The next two weeks followed a similar pattern. Carlo and Kate worked hard during the day, finalizing the last few details for ATI’s due diligence procedures so Carlo could take his findings back to the board of directors and either approve or deny the sale. At night, Carlo would come to her house or she’d meet him at his and they would eat dinner, talk about the day then make love into the wee hours of the night, falling asleep in each other’s arms.
The second weekend, Carlo left her a message telling her that he had an emergency and had to postpone their Saturday night plans. Kate didn’t mind. She spent her time alone sleeping and watching a movie. The next day, she spent with Carlo who didn’t have a family gathering since so many of the kids were sick. They spent the day reading the newspaper, making love and going for a walk in the crisp winter afternoon.
Monday morning, Kate was pulling a file for Jeff. She walked into the conference room where the pace had slowed considerably. Carlo was talking to someone on his cell phone but winked at her as she walked in. Kate suppressed a smile of pleasure as she handed the files to