The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress Page 0,26
in the evening. With a sigh, she knew she needed to get out of here and head home. As she packed up her bag and locked down her equipment, she considered the various dinners she might make tonight.
She was just starting her beat up old car when her cell phone rang. Thinking it might be Gaston calling to check on her again, she tensed. But it wasn’t the number he’d used before so her body relaxed again. She didn’t recognize the phone number so she sent it to voice mail, then pulled out of her parking space.
Heading home, her mind went through possible meals and, on impulse, she stopped by the grocery store and picked up fresh fruit and vegetables, some milk and cheese and some pasta. She was doing Italian tonight. She passed by the rice and saffron spice, her mind immediately thinking of Gaston and his preference for Paella. She remembered the first time he’d taken her to one of the seaside restaurants and they’d shared a huge serving of the fragrant dish, stuffed with jumbo shrimp, mussels, scallops and even a spicy sausage that added just enough zing to the meal. And the wine had been crisp and refreshing….Gaston really knew how to pick a wine that would perfectly compliment any meal.
Just because she wanted to and not for any reason that had to do with Gaston, she strolled through the wine section, her fingers running along the reds and wondering which bottle might go well with a pasta meal.
When her phone rang once again, she picked it up out of her purse and glanced at the number again, her eyebrows furrowing when the same, strange number came up. Once again, she pressed the ‘ignore’ button and went back to perusing the wines. She had no idea which wines would be better. Her father had preferred a glass of Scotch with his meal, never really getting into the whole wine business. He’d served it when he entertained, but she hadn’t been allowed to taste it when she was younger.
A smile formed on her face when she thought back to the first time she’d gone out to dinner with Gaston. She hadn’t accepted the glass of wine at that meal because she was underage. She actually chuckled out loud at the memory of his expression. He was stunned that she wasn’t legally able to drink a glass of wine with dinner. He hadn’t kissed her that night, or the next three dates. But in the end, their attraction for each other had overcome his need to treat her like a friend.
That kiss….she’d thought about that first kiss so often over the years. His eyes when he realized he wasn’t going to be able to deny himself that night, her smile of invitation, her need to feel him, to taste him and touch him had been overwhelming.
With a gasp, Elana looked around, noticing that she was still in the grocery store and she’d been smiling off into space, looking like a strange woman with a bizarre expression on her face.
When she saw that another woman was looking at her as if she’d just lost her mind, Elana grabbed the first bottle of wine she saw and dumped it into her cart then quickly headed for the checkout line.
Back in her car, she drove home to her apartment and lugged her groceries up the stairs. It was almost eight thirty and a part of her wondered if she really wanted to cook this late at night. Then she remembered Gaston’s comment about her lack of a meal the previous night and she set about boiling the water and mixing up the sauce. By the time she had the garlic sizzling in the oil and the vegetables stirred in, she was glad that she’d decided to cook tonight. It had been too long since she’d done this, she thought with a smile as she tasted the red sauce before adding in a bit more fresh basil.
The hard knock on her door startled her, but she wiped her hands on the dish rag and moved cautiously towards the door to her apartment. Glancing out through the peep hole, she almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Gaston standing there, staring right back at her.
“Open the door, Elana!” he snapped at her.
How did he know that she was standing here?
Angrily, she considered just ignoring him. He could stand out there and rot for all she cared. She’d told him this afternoon