which was more like a dress on her, and wrapped in his robe, Emma slowly made her way toward the kitchen and the delicious aroma that was coming from there. His back was to her but she saw him stiffen slightly before turning around.
“I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed your robe,” she said as she sat down at one of the stools at the breakfast nook.
Lucas was speechless. The Emma Taylor that he saw once a month at his father’s office was always beautiful but this woman sitting across from him simply took his breath away. Her auburn hair was still damp and curling wildly around her face. She had on no makeup and her eyes were deep blue and staring at him right now with curiosity.
Oh, right. She had asked him a question.
“No, it’s fine. Like I said, I don’t have much here that you were able to wear. I’m glad you can use it.”
“Your shirt was plenty big but I was still a bit chilled.”
He nearly groaned. Turning his attention back to the meal preparation, all he could picture in his mind was Emma wearing his t-shirt and that she was probably naked underneath. That image stayed there and he cursed when he burned his hand taking the steaks out from under the broiler.
“You all right?” she asked.
“Fine,” he lied, hating how hoarse his own voice sounded. “I wasn’t sure how you liked your steak.”
“Rare, preferably, but however you made it will be fine. Is there anything I can do to help?”
You can take off that oversized robe and let me see if the reality is as good as my imagination. Lucas shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now was totally not the time to be thinking such thoughts. They were more than likely stuck together for the weekend and it was going to be long enough without him indulging in naughty thoughts of Emma in various states of undress.
Emma continued to look at him expectantly and finally Lucas cleared his mind enough to respond. “No, no…everything’s ready. We’ll just eat here at the island so that you don’t have to move.” He quickly plated their steaks and added the potatoes that he’d baked and turned to place them down. “I’d offer you some wine but I don’t think it’s a good idea with your head injury.”
Emma rolled her eyes at him. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t much of a wine drinker anyway but the fact that he was still being so dramatic over the bump on her head was getting a little on her nerves. “That’s fine; I’ll stick with water.”
Lucas poured her another glass and took a seat opposite her. Right now he thought it was in his best interest to have three feet of granite between the two of them. He wasn’t feeling too confident in his restraint right now. Utensils in hand, Lucas was about to cut into his steak but waited to see how Emma was enjoying hers.
Her smile said it all. “It’s rare,” she said and looked up at him.
“It’s how I make mine and I guess I just naturally assumed that everyone at e theirs that way. Plus, if you didn’t, I could have always put it back under the broiler. You can’t un-cook it if it’s too well done but I can certainly tighten it up if it was too rare.”
“It’s perfect, Lucas; thank you.” Her voice melted over him and Lucas felt his body tightening. His throat felt dry and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was starting to sweat. How could she have this much of an effect on him? He’d spent many hours in her company and never felt like this.
Forcing himself to take a bite of his dinner he stopped cold as Emma purred with pleasure. Lucas had to wonder if she even realized that she’d done it. He took a large forkful of steak and focused on saying the alphabet backwards in his head and chewed until his jaw hurt; all the while looking only at his plate. When he finally allowed himself to look up, Emma was smiling at him. “What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she replied with a chuckle.