Christmas Every Day Part 47

She shivered, thinking of her last experience with something bearing that label. She eyed the contents of his trunk dubiously. "And still make it taste like something other than rubber? "

Nik removed a large box from the trunk and handed it to Sara. The box felt surprisingly light in her hands. Sliding the lid aside, she looked in to see four rows of cannoli neatly arranged.

Chocolate-sprinkled cream peered invitingly out of both ends. She felt her mouth watering despite herself.

"And still make it taste like something other than rubber," Nik a.s.sured her.

She shut the lid again. "This I have to see."

Nik took out a large pot and hefted it toward the front door. " " I was counting on it. " His words drifted over his shoulder.

Sara followed him into the house. She just bet he was, she thought.

Nik took over the kitchen like a liberating World War II general marching into formerly enemy-occupied territory. Sara and the sauce both simmered as, for the next hour, Nik reheated the main dishes and prepared the pasta salad and vegetables he had brought with him.

The man was everywhere. Everywhere she didn't want him to be.

Sara finally occupied herself by setting the table. She looked at Nik grudgingly as he p.r.o.nounced his manicotti "perfection." No wonder he never wore a chef's hat. He probably couldn't find one that was big enough to fit his head.

With a clang, Sara laid down the knife she was holding. "You have a way of taking over, don't you?"

He glanced in her direction, amused. "Only familiar territory"

Placing the fork on the other side, she turned and looked at him. "That would apply to the kitchen and the food."

What was she getting at? "Right," he agreed slowly. He added a dash of oregano to the sauce, then tasted it. Good.

She was tired of shadowboxing. "So what are you doing , b.u.t.ting in to my life?"

He replaced the lid on the pot and checked on the spaghetti he was preparing as a side dish. He intended to give Raymond a smorgasbord of food to choose from. The rest would be leftovers to be eaten over the course of the week. "I don't follow."

She didn't like talking to the back of his head. Abandoning the table, she walked over to him by the stove. " " That's unfamiliar territory.

Now they were getting to it, he thought. Still, he went on as if the conversation only marginally held his attention rather than completely, the way it actually did. "Not entirely I just thought I'd keep you from making any mistakes you'll regret later."

She thought of last week. It should never have been allowed to happen.

It had made her too vulnerable. "I already have."

Knowing the way her mind worked, antic.i.p.ating her answer , hearing it shouldn't have hurt. But it did.

Nik maintained an impa.s.sive expression. "I was referring to you shutting your father out of your life. L,ast time I looked, you seemed pretty intent on doing that."

Unable to deal with the way he was looking at her, Sara went back to setting the table. It was amazing how much mileage she could milk out of something so simple. "Well, we've come to an understanding since then."

Now that Nik thought of it, Raymond had looked a little more at ease.

And the air hadn't been charged with the same degree of tension as when he'd brought Raymond home from the hospital.

If anything, it seemed as if that tension had shifted completely so that it now surrounded him and Sara. "I'm glad to hear that." Nik sprinkled grated cheese into the sauce.

She yanked the refrigerator door opened and took out a small bottle of wine. "Which is more than you and I have come to, it seems." She slammed the refrigerator door shut again.

Nik looked up from the dish of eggplant he was arranging His eyes seemed to touch hers. "I'm working on it, Sara. I'm working on it."

And undoing me. She looked away. "We're working at cross-purposes."

"Maybe," he agreed. For a moment he abandoned what he was doing and crossed to her. "I have a solution."

Sara moved to the other side of the table as she folded another napkin and slid it next to a plate. She chewed on her lower lip. " " What?

He wanted to nibble along her lip the way she was doing. The taste of her mouth returned to him in vivid waves. "Come and join my side."

She raised her eyes just for a moment. "You're overbearing "

He grinned, making no move to return to what he'd been doing. "When I have to be." He moved in front of her again. "Some people call that tenacity."

Sara set down the last knife and fork. There was hostility in her eyes. He had invaded and wasn't leaving. "I call it a royal pam."

Somehow, she wasn't exactly sure how, Nik had managed to back her up against the counter. Suddenly the kitchen seemed a lot smaller to her, and he was filling every available s.p.a.ce.

Nik lifted his hand and lightly swept it over her hair. It was hard to believe that he could be so gentle one moment, so infuriatingly abrasive the next. "Then let me make the pain go away, Sara."

She licked her lips. The very sheen tempted him. " " Then you'll be leaving? " Her voice was so shaky she was ashamed of herself. It reflected what was happening to her interoally.

"Not on your life." Nik searched her face for a moment, looking for something that insisted on remaining hidden. With a sigh he stepped back, giving her room. Tell your father dinner's ready. "

Sara walked out of the room, though she wasn't completely sure how. Her insides were vibrating like a tuning fork. All systems were screaming Mayday. And the plane was going down.

Because he had embraced discipline as a way of life, Raymond ate in moderation. But he sampled everything. His abundant appreciation was evident in every bite he took and savored.

He looked at Nik, seated across the table from him. "This is wonderful." Raymond took the smallest sip of wine to wash down the last of the tetrazzini. With harnessed gusto he turned to the cannoli.

"I thought that food like this was out of my life forever."

Raymond sighed as he let the dessert melt on his tongue. "If you were a woman, Nik, I think I'd be proposing right now."

If he were a woman, she wouldn't be hip-deep in trouble right now, Sara thought belligerently.

Feeling that anything she said would only be used to serve Nik's purpose somehow, Sara had elected to eat in silence. It seemed as if Nik and her father hardly noticed her verbal withdrawal. They talked all through the meal. They'd found common ground in the fact that they both knew Kane, and had gone on from there to cover baseball, cooking and police work.

She hadn't seen her father this animated since she was a child. No doubt about it, she thought grudgingly. Nik was good for her father.

Just bad for her.

As was his habit with things he prepared, Nik had eaten very little. "

" No need for anything as drastic as marriage, " he said with a laugh, then nodded at the counter behind him. " "There are plenty of leftovers for you, and I'll give you all the recipes." He wasn't normally so generous with his original recipes, but he made an exception this time. "I promise that your doctor will approve of every single one."

Raymond eyed the plate of cannoli, but knew that one had to be his limit. With a heavy sigh he laid down his fork.