Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
“ H oney, I’m home!” Raina Mayne announced in a singsong voice that brought a grin to Reese’s face on the other end of the phone.
“Hey, you,” she greeted her sister, sinking into her favorite armchair in the living room. “How was Italy?”
“Absolutely wonderful,” Raina said dreamily.
Reese’s grin widened. “I want to hear all about it.”
“Well, the conference was productive, of course. I came away with a wealth of information about the latest advances in spa therapy, which I can’t wait to incorporate at Touch of Heaven.”
“That’s good.” Reese knew how much her sister’s luxury day spa meant to her.
“As great as the conference was,” Raina continued, “the other things we did are what made the trip so special. We went on moonlit gondola rides, explored beautiful vineyards. Oh, and the food , Reesey. The pasta, those gelatos. You would’ve been in foodie heaven.”
Reese smiled, fighting a small pang of envy. “It all sounds very romantic.”
“It was. It felt like a second honeymoon.” Raina sighed. “You should have been there.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. I would’ve been a third wheel. Maybe next time. ”
“Not as long as you and Victor are together,” Raina muttered under her breath.
Reese’s smile faded. “What’d you say?”
“Nothing,” Raina said brightly—too brightly. “Anyway, enough about my trip. How’s Hotlanta? Are you having fun?”
“You could say that.” Now that Reese finally had her sister on the phone, she didn’t even know where to begin. She had so much to tell her. And yet, a part of her wanted to keep the most intimate details of her liaison with Michael to herself, like a cherished secret.
She decided to start somewhere safe. “First and foremost, I have some exciting news to share. Remember the contest I entered six months ago to become Michael Wolf’s apprentice?”
Raina snorted out a laugh. “Of course I remember. You were—” She broke off abruptly. “Wait a minute. Are you about to tell me that?—”
“You’re speaking to Michael Wolf’s new apprentice.”
“Oh my God!” Raina let out an ear-splitting squeal that must have brought her husband running. Raina excitedly repeated the news to him.
“Hey, that’s great,” Warrick Mayne’s deep, masculine timbre could be heard in the background. “Tell her I said congratulations.”
“Warrick says congratulations,” Raina quickly relayed.
Reese smiled. “Tell him I said thanks.”
“He just left the room. This is unbelievable, Reesey,” Raina continued in a breathless rush. “I knew that recipe you submitted would knock the judges’ socks off. Remember how much we all loved it when you made it for us?”
“Yes. Thanks for being my guinea pigs.”
“Hell, we should thank you . Do Mom and Dad know?”
“Of course. They were very excited. I made them promise to let me tell you.”
“Man, why did I have to be the last one to find out?” Being the baby of the family, Raina had a complex about being last in anything . “When’d you get the call?”
“Tuesday, technically. But I didn’t listen to the actual message until Wednesday.”
“Today?”
“No, last Wednesday.”
“ Last Wednesday!” Raina cried in disbelief. “You should’ve called me! ”
Reese laughed. “I didn’t want to disturb you. Besides, there was an eight-hour time difference.”
“I don’t care! You could’ve called me anytime!”
Reese grinned. “Even if you and Warrick were in the middle of, ah...” She trailed off pointedly, clearing her throat.
“Well…” There was no mistaking the naughty mischief in Raina’s voice.
Again Reese laughed. “I didn’t think so.”
“You could have left me a message,” Raina insisted. “That’s what voicemail is for. Anyway, you must’ve been so thrilled when you got the call.”
“Actually,” Reese said dryly, “I was anything but.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, I’d met Michael Wolf at his restaurant the night before. Let’s just say we got off to a rocky start.”
Knowing Raina would never accept such a cryptic response, Reese gave her a detailed account of everything that had transpired between her and Michael that night, as well as the next morning when he’d called to apologize, only to further antagonize her.
“I can’t believe he was tripping like that,” Raina exclaimed at the end of her story. “Warrick always speaks so highly of Michael Wolf. I wouldn’t have expected him to come off as such a jerk. It just goes to show?—”
“Wait a minute,” Reese interrupted. “What do you mean, Warrick speaks highly of Michael? Warrick knows him?”
“Yes.” Raina sounded sheepish. “I’ve been meaning to tell you for months, but between planning the wedding and opening the new spa, I kept getting sidetracked. And I was also hoping to surprise you when Michael showed up at the wedding. I was so disappointed when he couldn’t make it. He had to fly to Barcelona to help judge the finale for Top Chef or one of those other cooking shows. But he sent us the most amazing wedding gift?—”
“How do he and Warrick know each other?” Reese interrupted again.
“They met through a professional organization for engineers. You know, of course, that Michael was a successful engineer in his previous life. At any rate, he and Warrick really hit it off and have been friends ever since.”
“Wow,” Reese whispered. “Talk about six degrees of separation.”
“I know. So, uh, you’re not mad at me for not telling you sooner?” Raina said meekly .
“No.” Reese smiled. “It’s obvious Michael and I were destined to meet eventually, anyway.”
“Obviously.” Raina chuckled. “Don’t think I wasn’t going to comment on the fact that you almost slept with him the first night you met him. That is sooo unlike you, Reesey. That man must be even hotter in person.”
“Words can’t begin to describe.” Reese shivered at the memory of Michael gilded in sunlight as he stood in front of his bedroom windows—gloriously naked and fully aroused.
When he began stroking his huge veiny cock, it was all she could do not to leap over the bed and jump his sexy bones. The knowledge that he was deliberately trying to torment her—mission accomplished!—hadn’t stopped her traitorous body from responding. She couldn’t take her eyes off his fisted hand pumping slowly up and down his shaft. When a glistening drop oozed from the slit, she’d gotten so turned on that she’d started spasming even before he left the room, and long after he’d dropped her off at home, her legs were still shaking.
The sight of Michael pleasuring himself had been added to a growing collection of graphic images that were permanently seared into her brain.
“So what happened at the audition?” Raina asked eagerly. “Obviously you guys must’ve patched things up, or you wouldn’t have been chosen as his apprentice.”
Smiling, Reese opened her mouth to tell her sister about the wacky audition performance that’d landed her a spot on Michael’s show.
An hour later, she’d told Raina everything . About their wonderful day of sightseeing together, about meeting his family, about watching Michael in his element at the restaurant. Raina listened in rapt absorption, occasionally interrupting for clarification, laughing at funny anecdotes like their paintball adventure, groaning at their heated fight over Victor’s roses, sighing poignantly at Michael’s romantic overtures and purring lasciviously as Reese described—sparingly but honestly—the explosive night of passion they’d shared.
“Oh my God,” Raina breathed when Reese had finished speaking. She sounded completely stunned. “I don’t even know where to start. I can’t believe how much has happened, and you’ve barely been there a week! ”
“I know.” Reese sighed.
“Girl, if you were the practical joker type, I wouldn’t have believed a word you just said. It’s so freaking insane! ”
“Trust me, I’m having a hard time believing it myself. It’s been a pretty surreal experience.”
“Oh, Reesey.” Her sister’s voice softened. “Are you…falling in love with Michael?”
Reese choked out a husky laugh that felt like a sob. “According to you and everyone else, I’ve been in love with him for years.”
Raina didn’t laugh. “You know what I mean.”
Reese closed her eyes as tears crowded her throat, making it ache. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
Raina was silent for a long moment. “What’re you going to do about Victor?”
Reese swallowed with difficulty. “I haven’t decided.”
“Well, you’d better decide soon,” her sister gently advised. “Because when he tunes in to Michael’s show on Wednesday and sees the two of you together, he’s going to realize that he’s already lost you.”