Free The Flavor Of Love by Shiree McCarver, E. Gail Flowers

Huh?” He blinked once. Twice. He noted her smug smile and decided to knock her down a peg or two. How easy it was for her to forget why she was going. “I suppose I should have said, I couldn’t think of anyone better suited at such short notice and free of charge,” he revised his statement.
    Etta moaned and said, “The frog is back. Ribbit…ribbit.”
    “ Then why are you the one making the frog noises?” He pointed out.
    “ Because it takes one to know one?” Etta said snidely, ending the question by sticking her tongue out at him.
    Keigo laughed.
    “ Tell me, Etta, with exception of your Internet cooking show, what are your future plans? Don’t you think people would take you more serious if you didn’t tell them you fancy yourself as a psychic chef?”
    “ You don’t have to believe in me. Lord knows before Neil died, I was determined to never read another hunger pang and to become one of the ‘normal’ people.”
    “ Who’s Neil?” Was he the “almost marriage” she implied about earlier?
    “ Neil is another story, for another time.” Biting her lip, she avoided his eyes. It wasn’t enough for him to miss the moisture that pooled in them before she looked away. “I know what I do is strange to some, but I grew up in a carnie. Normal is strange to me. In my world with the people that I call family along with my mother, people with the second site is a reality. There is no way you can grow up around people with gifts of their own and remain a skeptic.”
    Keigo admired her easy optimism. He was an admitted reserved planner. If he worked in a bank and someone with her personality came to him wanting his bank to invest based on supernatural abilities without having scientific documented facts to back it up, he’d turn her down without further consideration. Dreamers were good in a romantic affair, but not business.
    The one thing he couldn’t deny is the kids at his camp would love her. The more he thought about his decision, the more he was coming to like the idea of having Etta underfoot at Bent Arrow. It definitely wasn’t going to be boring.
    He must be dizzy from lack of food too, because he couldn’t stop looking at her, especially when she wasn’t looking at him like she was at the moment. Her lovely eyes trailed from his face to his chest and then to his crotch? He must be mistaken. Surely she hadn’t just sized him up! He would be offended if he hadn’t already done the same to her several times.
    Men sized up breasts. Women secretly sized up crotch bulges thinking men weren’t aware that they were being checked out. When in actuality, men always did crotch checks on themselves to assure zippers were up and penises nestled in the most flattering position.
    He cleared his throat bringing her attention back to his face. “So plans for you being head chef at Bent Arrow aren’t going to be a problem for you?”
    “ Does the camp have Internet access?”
    “ It’s a training camp for inner city kids who want to go into the field of law. Fast access is a necessity along with other necessities,” Keigo assured her.
    “ I’m hoping for the most important necessity such as indoor plumbing. I’ve seen enough bushes and port-o-potties to last me a lifetime.”
    “ Etta, it’s not a boot camp,” he shook his head at her musings. “We try to give kids options before they decide to make the wrong choices, not after.”
    “ Sounds like something that I would feel honored to be a part of. So when do we leave?”
    Keigo stared. She had loveliest reddish-brown eyes he’d ever seen. They reminded him of a puppy he had once; trusting, affectionate and needy for love and attention in return. He crossed his arms over his chest and moved to take a seat behind his desk, putting some distance between him and those eyes.
    “ How about we get together and discuss everything another day? I will call you and set up a time that is good for you.”
    “ I…I thought you were going to come for