Free Tempting Donovan Ford by Jennifer McKenzie Page A

hand was large and strong but held her fingers loosely enough that she could break free if she wanted to. She should want to. His eyes drilled into hers, searching. “Why are you so afraid of change?”
    “I’m not afraid.” But her pulse pounded in her ears and made her vision shimmer for a second. “I just don’t think we need to change for the sake of change.”
    It felt as if her whole life had been nothing but change for the past two years. A sick mother, taking over the restaurant, dealing with Alain’s death and then the nightmare that had been Jean-Paul’s reign. And now the Fords also wanted to do things their way.
    Was it so wrong to want a little stability? A little time-out so she could get her legs under her and figure out what to do next?
    She studied his hand as it curled over hers. They looked good together. Strong and supportive. “I just don’t want to see this place turned into a replica of every other restaurant out there. I don’t want us to lose what makes us different, special.”
    The parts that reminded Julia of her mother and the traditions she’d built during her ten-year tenure as executive chef in the kitchen.
    Suzanne Laurent had been part of the heyday of La Petite Bouchéeas a junior kitchen slave, and she’d always believed that with hard work and a concerted effort it could be a top-tier restaurant again. Given a little more time and money, maybe she’d have been able to get it there. Now it was up to Julia.
    “And you think that’s what I want?” His voice was low and serious. Sexy.
    Julia looked up from their hands. It wasn’t a connection she could pursue anyway. Even if they did look like something sculpted by Michelangelo. She tugged free and put her hands in her lap. “I don’t know what you want, Donovan. You say you want to sell the restaurant and know that I’m an interested buyer. Yet you don’t include me on the decisions that will affect the future of the restaurant. Wouldn’t it make more sense to get my opinion?”
    There was a pause, a long, silent pause. She could hear the rumble of voices outside, tourists braving the February weather to visit the popular market next door, and the whoosh of cars and wind. He nodded slowly. “Of course. You’re right.” He stood. “Come and look.”
    He led her to another table to a trio of poster-board mock-ups. “These are just some ideas based on my suggestions and work the designer has done for us in the past.” His arm brushed hers as he pointed, and his scent filled her head. That spicy, clean scent that made her think of the windowsill herb garden she’d had in Paris.
    Julia prepared herself for shiny white and lots of cold, oversize mirrors. A restaurant version of Elephants. Instead, she saw something more beautiful than she’d imagined.
    Louis XVI oval-back chairs in dark wood and a silky ivory moiré. The golden parquet floor replaced with light gray wood. The walls were no longer slabs of plain white decorated only with scattered pictures, but had strips of white wood installed as panels, and the walls themselves were a foggy gray with mirrors and other objets d’art. The bar was longer, stretching to fill up that awkward corner that was too small for a table and too big for a plant.
    It looked like her restaurant, only better. So much better.
    She inhaled, sucking in wonder, excitement and eau de Donovan. God, he smelled good. She shoved that discomforting realization out of her head. No matter what she might personally think of Donovan Ford, he was off-limits.
    How could she grow her own name, increase her cachet in a city full of world-class chefs if she allowed herself to be waylaid by the first amazing-smelling man to cross her path?
    Julia concentrated on the mock-ups in front of her, on the impersonal wall displays, and her gaze skittered up to the photos that were hung there now. The walls of La Petite Bouchée were currently covered in personal photographs taken by current and former staff