Free An Exquisite Challenge by Jennifer Hayward Page B

“It’s Thursday night in Napa. Where do people go to do that?”
    “There’s a little restaurant in St. Helena where everyone goes on Thursdays. It’s the night to be there. And the chef’s from the Culinary Institute, which means yummy food.”
    Oh, her stomach liked that idea. Her workload, however, did not. “Sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I have two hundred people left to research for my chemistry matches. I’m not going anywhere except the kitchen to beg Elena for dinner while I surf the Net. Care to join me for some exciting entertainment?”
    “You need to get out.” Susan cast a critical eye over her. “No offense, but you look like crap.”
    “I have a multimillion-dollar event in eight days,” Alex murmured dryly. “It’s not about looking good at this point—it’s about survival.”
    Susan stuck her hand on her hip. “If I promise to help you with half of those names tomorrow, will you come out for a drink? We need to catch up.”
    Alex eyed her as though she was suddenly plated in eighteen-karat gold. “I have some tough ones you could help with.”
    “You buy the drinks—you’re on.”
    Feeling like an escapee from prison, Alex packed up her things and checked with her team to see if they wanted to come. They pleaded fatigue, so she stripped off her jeans for the first time in weeks and put on a flirty summer dress. “Very cute bartender there,” Susan alerted her in the car. “You’ll like him.”
    She was pretty sure she’d love anything that wasn’t a run sheet or budget tonight. And she did love quaint little St. Helena, the most adorable town in the heart of Napa, with tree-lined streets and cute shop fronts. In addition to its boutiques and restaurants, St. Helena also featured a campus of the Culinary Institute of America, giving it a bustling, hip atmosphere that was exactly what she needed tonight.
    The chic restaurant was buzzing as they stepped inside. Done in a breezy, clean California style with original works of art on the whitewashed walls, it featured a long cherrywood bar that ran the length of the restaurant. The bar area and tables were packed with an affluent-looking Napa crowd.
    They were lucky enough to score seats at the bar when a couple left. Which was fine with Alex, because Susan was right—the bartender was serious Scandinavian eye candy—tall, blond, built and funny to boot.
    They ordered drinks and flirted with the Swede, who was a student at the Culinary Institute. It was hot in the jam-packed space, steaming hot, so she slipped off her sweater and turned to slide it over the back of her stool. The sight of Gabe tucked in an intimate little booth opposite them with a sleek-looking brunette who possessed more natural style in her pinkie than Alex had in her entire body stopped her cold.
    He was dressed in jeans and a collared shirt, a lazy, confident smile playing about his lips as he focused on his dining partner. Her stomach did a swooping dive. What did the De Campo men always say? Take a woman out for dinner, flatter her outrageously, and you’re as good as there. She was pretty sure she’d never heard Gabe say it, but there was no doubt in her mind looking at the lazy smile on his face and the animated interplay between the two that that was exactly what Gabe had on his mind.
    Her fingers tightened around the back of the stool. She had no claim on Gabe. She should be happy he was out with another woman so they could avoid the dangerous attraction between them. But really. How could he look at the other woman like that when he’d kissed her like he had just days ago?
    Gabe’s gaze drifted away from his date to scan the room idly. And collided with Alex’s. She jerked her head back and aimed a look of pure nonchalance at him, but not before, she feared, her “I hate you” message was broadcast loud and clear. His eyes narrowed on her and he murmured something to his dinner companion and stood up. She calmly arranged her sweater on the