Always Friday Read Free Page B

aware of her presence, she took a moment to study Dan and wondered
what he would look like in a fisherman’s sweater with that fantastic hair of his
a little mussed. Damned good, she suspected.
    “Have another Shrimp Puff Ole,” Ivan said as he thrust the
silver tray at Daniel. When Dan declined, Ivan drew his shaggy brows together
and asked, “Too spicy, you think?” Before he received an answer, Ivan caught
sight of Tess. “Ah, my lovely Tess, come taste my shrimp puffs. I make a new
creation from the beautiful shrimps I catch today with my own hands. Here,” he
boomed, thrusting the tray toward her. “Taste and tell me what you think.”
    Tess winked at Dan, who had stood when she entered, and
popped one of the delicate golden morsels in her mouth. As she chewed and
swallowed, her eyes widened and glazed with tears. “Good Lord, Ivan,” she
gasped.
    “A little too hot maybe?”
    “A little hot? It would take the hair off a dog.”
    Ivan roared with laughter. “Just like my Olivia. She never
spares my feelings when I make a disaster. I will put these down the disposal.”
He started out the door, tray in hand. “Take the hair off a dog. I like that.”
His robust laughter echoed behind as he left.
    “Is he always so . . .”
    “Gregarious? Blustery? Larger-than-life?” Tess supplied,
laughing. “Always. But he’s really a dear, a teddy bear underneath all that
bravado.” With Dan following, she crossed to the drink cart and mixed a wine spritzer
for herself. “He rarely ever prepares anything that isn’t delicious, but when
he has a failure, it’s a doozy. How many of those fireballs did he foist off on
you?”
    “I only had a couple.”
    “And you managed to keep a straight face? You must have an
insulated digestive system.”
    “I think the Scotch dulled the pain.” He laughed and Tess
was glad to see the more relaxed side of him peeking through.
    He seemed a little looser this evening, Tess thought. She
sipped her spritzer and assessed the tall man beside her with frank admiration.
Oh, he had a long way to go before all the starch was out of his collar, but
the blue-gray eyes perusing her were a bit less strained, the frown lines
softer.
    “You look lovely this evening. I like your plumage.” His
hand rested on her bare shoulder as his finger ruffled the edge of her
feathered earring.
    The sensation of his skin on hers, the message in his eyes,
made the hairs on the side of her neck stand up, and the drink in her mouth
turned to warm foam. And her silly knees started doing their own thing. Part of
her wanted to purr and rub her cheek against his hand; the rest of her wanted
to offer her other shoulder to be stroked. It was a darned shame he lived half
a country away. She had a feeling about staid Daniel Friday. A powerful
feeling.
    She swallowed. “Thanks,” she said, stepping out of his reach
before she became addicted to his touch. How could a man affect her so? She’d
been engaged to David Lloyd for nearly three years, and not once had her knees
wobbled or the hairs on her neck prickled. “What kind of business are you in
back in Pittsburgh?”
    “Have you ever heard of Friday Elevators?”
    “Of course.” She started to say that, until two years ago,
she could have quoted from their prospectus, or she could have recalled that
the company had almost gone under some years ago but had shown a steady growth
for about the last ten. Instead, she bit her lip.
    “You’re not going to say anything about business being up
and down, are you?”
    Tess laughed. “No, do you get that a lot?”
    “All the time.”
    Ivan lumbered in with another tray, which Dan eyed
suspiciously, “No, no.” The chef waved a massive hand. “No more jalapeno juice.
Only a little cream cheese with toasted almonds and very delicate herbs.
Delicious, I promise. And the dinner I fix tonight, ahhh. If Hook doesn’t get
my Olivia back to taste it, I’ll skewer that big ox. They should be home by
now. Do you think