Free Double Dealing by Jayne Castle Page A

the
kitchen.
    Indeed, it was fascinating, she decided shortly. Everything
went together with a precision and patient skill that Samantha could only
admire. She watched as he set a pan of sliced apples in butter to sauté while
he put mushrooms into another shallow skillet. When the mushrooms were cooked,
he removed them and added more butter to the pan. In this, Gabriel browned
several small veal scallops to perfection.
    Transferring the scallops to a platter, he added calvados to
the skillet, igniting it and shaking the pan until the flames went out. Then he
poured in cream and a bit of glace de viande and
reduced the rich sauce until it was slightly thickened. The result was served
over the veal together with the sautéed apples and a salad composed of
asparagus, potatoes, and beets.
    “My God, this is good.” Samantha sighed as she savored each
bite. “When I think of all those poor people suffering through lettuce and
sprouts tonight back at the spa… “ She broke off, shaking her head with pity.
“Do you always feed your business partners this well?”
    Gabriel lifted his eyes from the remainder of the veal on
his plate, riveting her attention with the sudden, utter seriousness of his
expression. “I haven’t agreed to any business arrangements yet, Samantha. But I
did want tonight to be a little special.”
    “You’re trying to impress me?” she dared lightly. She refused
to be put off by the fact that he wouldn’t make a commitment regarding their
deal.
    “I’m trying to do a little more than impress you. I’m trying
to seduce you,” he drawled evenly, his eyes never leaving her face.
    Samantha dropped her fork halfway to her mouth. It clattered
rudely to the white octagonal plate, and she mumbled a hasty apology as she
recovered it. Play this light, Samantha.
Give him an out and maybe he’ll retreat of his own accord. He’s not really the
pushy type.
    “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you correctly. Goodness, I
hope I didn’t spatter anything on this lovely place mat!” She searched the
woven fiber mat anxiously for signs of veal sauce. What was she going to do if
he didn’t back down? Honesty in a man was far more unnerving and far more
difficult to handle than the subtle maneuver!
    “You heard me, Samantha,” Gabriel said quietly. “Why the
panic? Ssurely I’m not the first to pose the question.”
    She took a grip on her resolve. “Of course not. Somehow I
just wasn’t expecting it from you.”
    He smiled bleakly. “Still trying to dress me in a halo and
wings?”
    “Mr. Sinclair, I came here tonight because I hoped we could
do business together. I never mix business with my personal life.” Not anymore,
she silently noted to herself. “And certainly not to the extent you’re suggesting.
Is that very clear?” No one knew better than she just how disastrous a
combination it could be.
    “I’ve been thinking about you ever since I saw you lying on
that massage table this afternoon. I would like to take you to bed, Samantha,”
he said with devastating simplicity.
    Samantha swallowed, her fingers drumming on the glass
tabletop as she mentally ran through a list of ways to handle this new
development. He wasn’t going to simply back off. Once started on a course of
action, it would probably take a nuclear explosion to deflect Gabriel Sinclair
from his chosen path. She had never before experienced such blunt directness
and such a deliberate way of doing things in a man, and it temporarily put her
off stride. Perhaps the best way to handle it was to be equally blunt.
    “Are you saying that our partnership is contingent on my
sleeping with you?” Utter disdain permeated her words. “If that’s the case,
Gabriel, I might as well say good night and be on my way. I don’t make deals
like that.” She wasn’t bluffing and it showed. But she couldn’t read the
thoughts moving behind the guarded hazel gaze as Gabriel continued to search
her own fiercely controlled features. Then he