Naked Treats Read Free Page A

swallowed the lump rising in her throat. She
couldn’t imagine abandoning her brother, especially since she was
partly to blame. She was the lucky one to have found a way to make
a good living when so many other chefs were without jobs.
    But she knew how Mikey would react if he found out
she cooked for her clients in the nude. The sooner she could get
this money set aside, the better.
    ****
    The following Friday afternoon Rose stood at the meat
counter of her favorite gourmet grocery store surveying the
selection of aged prime beef. Finally deciding on a beautifully
marbled rib eye steak, she placed the package in her basket and
moved on to the produce aisle. Never having prepared an evening
meal for Mr. Cranston, she didn’t like assuming he was a
steak-and-potatoes kind of man, but she had to start somewhere. And
since he was obviously wealthy and not a vegetarian, a good aged
steak seemed like a safe bet this first time.
    In the produce section she chose ingredients for a
simple salad, plus lemons and garlic for a homemade Caesar
dressing. Then she stocked up on eggs and cream, planning to make
custard for dessert. And last of all she bought a bottle of nice
cabernet.
    Would he prefer cocktails? If so, he’d no doubt make
a point to maintain his own stock of liquor.
    Everyone enjoyed a glass of fine red wine with beef,
didn’t they?
    At the check-out counter it really began to bother
her that she didn’t know more about him. By the time she settled
back in the cab for the ten minute ride to his apartment, she had
an attack of full-blown curiosity going on.
    How odd. This hadn’t happened with any of her other
clients. She’d had no problem at all maintaining a purely business
relationship with everyone else. But then none of her other clients
had insisted on hiring her for additional hours and paying her
twice her standard rate to do so. That ramped everything up a
notch.
    So what did she know about Zack Cranston?
    Well, aside from his obvious wealth, she knew he
liked fine art and had excellent taste. The walls of his impeccably
decorated apartment sported several pieces by well known
mid-century American painters. He seemed to be a neat person. Even
the little powder room where she changed her clothes always
sparkled. He probably had maid service once or twice a week. As for
what he did for a living, she hadn’t a clue. She’d had the agency
do all the screening, and she had never had reason to ask to see
his file.
    And then there was the fact that he was absolutely
gorgeous. His hotness was something she’d tried her mightiest to
ignore, and up until tonight she’d done a pretty fair job of not
thinking much about him. As with her other four clients, she’d
managed to keep any personal feelings completely at bay. But she
was only human. Of course she had noticed his broad chest and
shoulders, the tousled wealth of his dark hair, the chiseled planes
of his face.
    And his eyes. They were hazel, a changeable blend of
browns and greens and hints of steel blue. The most striking pair
of eyes she had ever seen. Not that she’d looked directly into them
very often. Doing so always seemed to cause havoc with the rhythm
of her heart.
    Until now she’d only seen those eyes in the morning,
when long rays of yellow light slanted in through the east windows.
What color would they be tonight with only lamplight to pierce the
shadows that fell across his handsome face?
    As the cab neared his building she took out her
compact and checked her makeup, then gave her reflection a stern
scowl. There was nothing different about tonight, she told herself.
She would just be fixing dinner instead of his usual breakfast.
He’d be the perfect gentleman, as he always was, and she’d cook a
fine meal and clean up afterwards just as she always did. It was
true that he sometimes liked to kid around with her, but she would
be silly to take his teasing seriously. He’d never come close to
crossing the line. And that was a good thing.