Free The Sweetest Seduction, Breakaway Hearts by Crista McHugh

her. “I’m sorry, Adam. It’s just that when you invited me over to you place, the first thing that came to mind was—”
    “That I’d try to force you into my bed by using your restaurant as leverage?” He lingered by the door, his hand still on the handle. His mouth pressed into a firm line. “I see I’ve already made a favorable impression on you.”
    “No, it’s not that, it’s just—” She threw her hands up into the air. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I mean, if I just thought you were after sex, I wouldn’t have agreed to have dinner with you in the first place, but I—”
    A sizzle from the kitchen stopped her verbal diarrhea. She sniffed the air and caught the scents of smoky cumin and singed black pepper. “You’re cooking dinner?”
    “Oh, shit, it’s burning.” Adam dashed past her into the kitchen and flipped the flank steak cooking on the indoor grill. He poked it with his tongs. “Do you think it’ll be okay?”
    She came up beside him and inspected the meat. Whatever rub he’d used looked a bit charred, but everything underneath it looked fine. “I think it’s still edible.”
    “They had this Bobby Flay marathon on the Food Network yesterday, and somehow, I got the impression I could turn into a super chef from watching it.”
    She laughed and took the tongs from him, moving the steak to the edge of the grill where the heat was less intense. “Have you ever cooked anything before?”
    “Just Easy Mac.” He snatched the tongs back with a boyish grin, bumping her aside with his hip. “I’m a man. Grilling dead animals is part of my DNA.”
    “Then don’t let me get between you and all that secret information encoded on your Y-chromosome,” she said, still laughing, the awkward start to the evening now a distant memory. “So why did you decide to take on the grill when we could’ve easily gone out to dinner?”
    “Would trying to impress you be explanation enough?” He nudged the steak with the tongs, not looking up from it. “I just thought it would be nice for you to have someone cook for you for a change.”
    A warm glow ignited near her heart and quickly spread through her chest. “That’s very sweet of you.” She glanced around at the scattered ingredients on the counter. “And ambitious.”
    “Did you miss the memo where I always get what I want?”
    Her grin mirrored his. If this was the only side to Adam she knew, falling for him would be a no-brainer. He was smart, funny, sexy as hell—all things that would have any woman tripping over her high heels to grab him like a Black Friday special. If only she could forget the fact that he held the future of La Arietta in his hands.
    “Is there anything I can do to help?” She started cleaning up the food scraps on the counter.
    He left the grill and coaxed her away from the mess. “Yes, you can pick out a bottle of wine to go with dinner.”
    “And what’s on the menu this evening?” she asked, even though she had a good idea based on the scraps of cilantro and parsley she’d just cleaned up.
    “Grilled flank steak with chimichurri sauce, roasted vegetables, and mashed potatoes.”
    “Sounds delicious.” She surveyed the kitchen and saw that the oven was on, and a pot with steam coming out from under its lid simmered away on the stove. Everything looked to be under control. “Where’s the wine?”
    He pointed to the glass cabinet by a large wooden table in the next room. “Get whatever you’d like.”
    Lia’s jaw dropped as she inspected the contents of the wine cabinet. Adam had excellent taste in wine. Expensive, but still very good. She settled on an Argentinean Malbec and opened it in the kitchen. It tasted like black cherries, followed by hints of black pepper toward the end. “Perfect.”
    Adam took a sip from the glass she offered him and nodded in approval. “Good choice.”
    “I’d like to think I know a thing or two about pairing wine with dinner.” She eased onto the barstool