LITMIR.BIZ

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you don’t have to. Are you ready to eat?” he asked, changing the subject.

      “What’s on the menu for brunch?”

      Resting a hand at the small of her back, he escorted Chandra toward the kitchen. “You have a choice of fresh fruit, pancakes, waffles, an omelet or bacon, sausage, ham and grits. To drink, there’s herbal tea, regular and hazelnut coffee, orange, grapefruit or cranberry juice. As for cocktails you have a choice between a Bloody Mary and a mimosa.”

      “I prefer a mimosa.” Chandra flashed an attractive pout. “I’m really impressed with you, Preston. I’ve never hung out with a guy who could cook.”

      Preston gave Chandra a sidelong glance, his gaze lingering on the tumble of hair falling around her face. “I’m no Bobby Flay or Chef Jeff, but I can promise you won’t come down with ptomaine poisoning.”

      “I think I’m going to enjoy working with you.”

      And I promise not to like you too much, she added silently.

      It was what Chandra told herself every time she met a man to whom she felt herself attracted. It’d worked in the past and she was certain it would work with Preston Tucker.

       Chapter 4

      Chandra followed Preston into an expansive state-of-the art stainless-steel-and-black gourmet kitchen outfitted with Gaggenau appliances. “Very nice,” she crooned.

      “Should I take that to mean you like my kitchen?” There was a note of pride in Preston’s voice, as if he were talking about one of his children who’d aced an exam.

      She met his questioning gaze with a wide smile. “Did you think I was talking about you?”

      “I was hoping you’d think I’m nice.”

      Chandra sobered. “Does it matter what I think of you, Preston?”

      “Of course it does. After all, we’re going to be collaborating.”

      “Hold up, dark and brooding. First you want me to develop a paranormal character, and now you’re talking about collaboration.”

      “Pascual is yours, beautiful, and that means we’ll have to collaborate to make him a powerful and memorable character. I need for him to mesmerize the audience the second he walks on stage. Even before he opens his mouth, he must pull them in and not let them go until the final curtain.”

      “Are you going to include him in every scene?” Chandra asked.

      “No. It would make it too intense. Whenever he’s offstage I want to build enough tension for the audience to look forward to his reappearance. Enough shoptalk. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to eat.”

      Chandra was also ready to eat. Aside from the salad she’d eaten the day before, her only intake of food was a cup of coffee earlier that morning. “It looks as if you do some serious cooking in here.”

      “It works whenever I host a dinner party. There’s more than enough room for a caterer and his staff to work without them bumping into one another.”

      Preston’s kitchen was almost as large as the apartment she was renting from her cousin. It was furnished with top-of-the-line cook ware and miscellaneous culinary gadgets suspended on hooks from an overhead rack.

      “How often do you have dinner parties?” she asked, recalling Denise telling her that Preston usually kept a low profile.

      “I always host one before the debut of a new play. I invite the entire cast and production staff.”

      She watched as Preston rolled back his shirt cuffs, exposing muscular forearms before washing his hands in one of the double sinks. “How long does it usually take for you to write a play?”

      He dried his hands on a towel. “It depends on the subject matter and my state of mind. My first one took several years because I’d reworked it half a dozen times. However, there was one I completed in four weeks, but it took its toll on my health because I’d averaged about three hours of sleep each night. I took a couple of months off, checked into a resort and did nothing more strenuous than eat and laze around.”

      Removing her suit jacket, Chandra hung it on a high-back stool pushed over to the slate-gray granite countertop. “You probably were burned out.”

      “Probably? I was. It was another year before I was able to focus and write again.”

      “How long do you project it will take for you to complete Death’s Kiss?” she asked.

      Preston, resting his elbows on the countertop, gave her a long, penetrating stare. “That all depends on my collaborator’s availability.”

      “And that depends on whether I can find a teaching position. I’ve applied to several schools with vacancies for Pre-K to 6. I’ll be available to you until I’m hired.”

      The schools Chandra had applied to were in designated hard-to-staff districts. Belinda taught at a high school in those districts. Earlier that year one of Belinda’s students was arrested and expelled for discharging a handgun in her classroom. Fortunately the incident ended with no casualties.

      Teaching in the public school system would be vastly different from what she’d experienced in the exclusive private school in Northern Virginia where the yearly tuition was comparable to private colleges. The most profound difference between the children who attended Cambridge Valley Prep, Philadelphia public schools and her former students in Belize was that the prep school students were the children of elected officials and foreign dignitaries.

      Preston stood up straighter. “Where did you teach before?”

      “The Peace Corps, and before that I taught at a private school in Virginia.”

      “You really were in the Peace Corps?” There was a note of incredulity in his query.

      “Yes,” Chandra confirmed.

      “Where were you stationed?” he asked, continuing with his questioning.

      “Belize.”

      Preston never imagined that she had been a Peace Corps volunteer. There was something about Chandra Eaton that projected an air of being cosseted. Now that she’d revealed that she spent two years working in Central America he saw her in a whole new light.

      “After you let me know what you want to eat, I want you to tell me about Belize, and if it is as beautiful as the photographs in travel brochures?”

      Propping her elbow on the cool surface of the countertop, Chandra supported her chin on her heel of her hand. “I’d like an omelet.”

      “Would you like a Western, Spanish or spinach?”

      “Spinach.”

      “Blue or goat cheese?”

      “I prefer blue cheese.” Pushing back from the countertop, Chandra slipped off the stool. “Do you mind if I help you?”

      Preston held up a hand. “No. Sit down and relax.”

      She affected a frown. “I’m not used to sitting and doing nothing.”

      Preston stared at the slender woman in business attire, realizing they were more alike than dissimilar. Even when he was in between writing projects he always found something to do. He usually retreated to his Brandywine Valley home to catch up on his reading and watching movies from his extensive DVD collection. He also chopped enough wood to feed two gluttonous fireplaces throughout the winter months. And whenever he heard the stress in his sister’s voice from having to deal with her four sons—both sets of twins—he drove down to South Carolina to give her and his probation officer brother-in-law a mini vacation. He took his rambunctious nephews on camping excursions and deep-sea fishing. Last year they’d begun touring the many Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia, Florida and their home state.

      Preston

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