Read Recipe for Love for Free Online Page A

phone and turned it on. She didn’t need to call Gino. She’d known him long enough to be certain that he’d stayed nearby and would be there soon.
    As she walked, she grumbled toward the sky, “You win. This was ridiculous from the beginning. It’s time to go home.”

     

Chapter Four
     
    She’s gone!
    He’d known the moment he’d opened the door and been greeted by his lonely feline. He searched every room of his home—even calling out her name a few times.
    Gone.
    He stood in the middle of the empty guest room and closed his eyes. It was for the best. He knew nothing about her outside of the innocence she claimed to have. Everything else had been a lie. For all he knew, her virginity could be a lie as well. Normally he wouldn’t have agreed to house her in the first place. Alyson had caught him in a moment when agreeing had been easier than questioning. He should be relieved.
    He looked around the room one last time and something caught his attention. A bag from his sister’s store was on a chair. He searched it and realized it was clothing.
    If Madison had left for good, wouldn’t she have taken that with her?
    Maybe. Maybe not.
    Was it possible she had gone outside for a walk? No sign of her anywhere.
    He absently lifted his jacket off the rack near the back door and headed outside. Putting aside the questions raging within him, he called for her and continued his search. The sun was just setting over the tops of the trees. The evening air was cooling quickly.
    He got into his car and started it, but he didn’t put it in gear at first. What am I thinking? That she’s walking the streets like a lost child? Looking for her is likely a waste of my time. She’s probably flying back to the States or in town flashing those big brown eyes at someone—offering another man what I’d declined last night. Yet he threw his car in reverse anyway and sped down the driveway.
    He caught a glimpse of a woman walking down a side road with shopping bags in each hand. He turned his car around with a squeal of the tires. In half a heartbeat, he’d pulled up next to her, jumped out of the car, and stood beside her. She shivered, and he swore. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Are you completely lacking in sense? It gets cold, even here in the South,” he snapped, retaining his grip on the front of his jacket, effectively holding her in place before him.
    The welcoming smile she’d flashed when she first saw him disappeared. “I was about to thank you for coming to find me, but I’ll hold out for an apology first,” she said, folding her arms before her, her chin set at a stubborn angle.
    How prim and proper she sounded as she chastised him. He wanted to shake her as much as he wanted to kiss her. Well, not quite as much. “And what exactly am I supposed to apologize for?” He knew his tone was harsh, but he was angry.
    She bristled defensively. “I didn’t mean to get lost, and I don’t deserve your snide comments. If you can’t be nice, take your damn coat back and leave me here. I don’t need you.”
    He frowned down at her, not hiding his displeasure, and waited for her to back down. Most people did. She looked him straight in the eye and stuck her chin out even farther. That beautiful, stubborn chin. Before Madison, he would have said he preferred a more agreeable woman. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had corrected him, never mind lectured him on his behavior. He found her direct challenge more exciting than any striptease or act of seduction. He wanted to kiss that stubbornness right out of her—slowly, all night, if that’s what it took. As his blood rushed downward, he found himself softening his stance and admitting, “I thought you were gone for good.”
    Madison looked down, then back up at him, this time through her long lashes. “And that wasn’t a cause for celebration?”
    His hands tightened on the front of the coat he’d wrapped around her, and he