Still caught in the rush of emotion he could evoke, Caasi didn’t speak. A happy smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“I’ll cook the steaks if you fix the salad. Agreed?”
Eagerly, Caasi nodded. He helped her out of the car, his arm cupping her shoulder as he led her up the back stairs and into the kitchen.
“I’ll get the grill going and leave you to your task,” he instructed.
Almost immediately he was out the back door. Taking off her jacket, Caasi draped it over a chair and looked around. She really loved this house. A gentle feeling warmed her. Any woman would be proud to be a part of this.
The ingredients for the salad were in the refrigerator, and she laid them on the counter. Next she searched through the cupboards for a large bowl. A salad shouldn’t be difficult, she mused happily. Her culinary skills were limited, but a salad would be easy enough.
She was at the cutting board chopping lettuce when Blake came back for the steaks and a variety of spices.
He paused, watching her as she slid the knife across the fresh lettuce.
“Is something the matter?” She tensed and looped a strand of hair behind her ear. What could she possibly be doing wrong in making a salad? It was the simplest job he could have given her.
“No. It’s just that it’s better to tear apart the lettuce leaves instead of cutting them.”
“Okay.” Feeling incredibly naïve in the kitchen, Caasi set the knife aside.
“Did you wash it?” Blake asked her next.
Caasi swallowed at the painful lump that filled her throat. With tight-lipped grimness she answered him with a negative shake of her head. Dumping the cut lettuce into the bowl, she carried it to the sink and filled the bowl with water. Pure pique caused her to pour dishwashing liquid over the green leaves. “Like this?” She batted her long lashes at him innocently.
Not waiting for his reaction, she moved into the living room and stared sightlessly out the front window. A hand over her mouth, she took in several deep breaths. What was she doing here with Blake? This wonderful homey scene wasn’t meant for someone like her. She was about as undomesticated as they came.
The sound of footsteps told her Blake had moved behind her. His hand on her shoulder sent a silky warmth sliding down her arm.
“I apologize,” she whispered. “That was a stupid thing to do.”
“No—I should be the one to apologize.” The pressure of his hands turned her around. Gently he pulled her into his arms, his chin resting against the top of her head.
“It’s just that I’m so incredibly dumb.” Her voice was thick with self-derision.
“You, stupid?” Soft laughter tumbled from his throat, stirring the hair at the crown of her head. “Maybe you won’t be competing in the same class as Chef, but not because you lack intelligence. You’ve just never learned, that’s all.”
“But will I ever?”
“That’s up to you, Cupcake.”
Caasi winced. “You’re using that name again when I’ve asked you repeatedly not to.”
He didn’t comment for several tense moments. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the first time I saw you. I’d been working with your father for several months. Isaac didn’t talk much about his private life. I think I was at the Empress six months before I even knew he had a daughter. We were in his office one day and you came floating in as fresh as spring and so breathtakingly beautiful I nearly fell out of my chair.” He stopped and gently eased her away so that he could look at her as he spoke. “I watched this hard-nosed businessman light up like a sparkler on the Fourth of July. His eyes softened as he held out his arms to you and called you Cupcake. I’ve never thought of you as anything else since.”
“I was barely twenty-two.”
A finger under her chin lifted her face to his. “The amazing part is that you’re even more beautiful now.” Ever so gently, he placed his mouth over hers.
No kiss had ever been so incredibly sweet. Caasi swayed toward him when he released her. “I hope you’ve got another head of lettuce. I’m afraid I’ve ruined the first one.”
“I’ll start cooking the steaks now.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose and released her. “How do you want your steak cooked? Rare?”
“No, medium.”
Blake looked dissatisfied. “You honestly should try it cooked a little less sometime.”
“Blake.” She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. “We seem doomed for one confrontation after another. I happen to prefer my meat medium. If you’d rather, I can cook my own.”
“I’d like to see that.”
“Steak,” she asserted, “I can do. There’s nothing to it but flopping it over the grill a couple of times.”
“It’s an art.”
“You overrate yourself,” Caasi insisted. “How about I cook the steaks and you make the salad?”
Blake chuckled, shaking his head. “I hate to see good meat wasted, but it’ll be worth it just to prove my point.”
Caasi was in the backyard, readjusting the grill so that it was closer to the fire, when Blake walked out.
“I thought you were making the salad.”
“I did,” he said teasingly, his eyes twinkling. “I slapped a hunk of lettuce on a plate, added a slice of tomato, and poured dressing over the top. What’s happening to my steak is of much more interest to me.”
“On second thought …” Caasi moistened her dry lips. “I’d hate to ruin your meal. Why don’t we each cook our own?”
“That sounds fair,” Blake agreed with a smile.
The thick steaks sizzled when placed across the grill, flames curling around the edges of fat.
“Who lowered this? It’s too close to the fire,” he said irritably.
Guiltily, Caasi handed him the potholders. “Sorry,” she muttered.
Blake didn’t look pleased. He obviously took his grilling seriously. He’d flipped his steak over before Caasi had a chance to add salt and pepper to hers.
When he lifted the barely warmed meat from the grill, Caasi dropped her jaw in disbelief. “That couldn’t possibly be done.”
“This is a rare steak.”
“That’s not rare,” she declared. “It’s raw. A good vet would have it back on its feet in fifteen minutes.”
What had been a light, teasing air was suddenly cold and sober.
“You cook your meat the way you like it and I’ll have mine my way. As far as I can see, you’re not in any position to tell me what’s right or wrong in the kitchen.”
Caasi felt the color drain out of her face.
“Caasi,” Blake said, forcefully expelling his breath. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Why not?” she said. “It’s true. You go and eat. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
Caasi ate little of her dinner and noted that Blake didn’t, either. Her steak was burned crisp around the edges and was far more well done than she normally enjoyed. The whole time they were eating she waited for Blake to make some sarcastic comment about her cooking. She was grateful that he didn’t.
Blake didn’t say anything when she left the table and took her plate to the sink. The bowlful of sudsy lettuce leaves was there to remind her of her childish prank. This new relationship Blake apparently wanted to build wasn’t going to work; she couldn’t be with him more than ten minutes without the two of them fighting. She didn’t know how to respond to him on unfamiliar ground. Crane Enterprises had been a common denominator, but now that was gone.
Gathering the wilted greens in her hands, she dumped them into the garbage.
“You could use the disposal instead of—”
“I think I’ve had enough of your ‘instead ofs’ to last me a lifetime.” She made a show of glancing at her watch. “On second thought, maybe we should forgo the races for another time.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” he snapped. He stood so fast he almost knocked over his chair in the process. Pointedly
he took the car keys from his pocket.
They didn’t say a word during the drive back to the Empress. Caasi sat upright, her arms crossed determinedly in front of her. From start to finish, the evening had been a fiasco.
Blake pulled up to the curb in front of the hotel. His hands clenched the steering wheel as he stared straight ahead. “We need to talk, but now isn’t the time. Neither one of us is in the mood for a serious discussion.”
Caasi couldn’t agree more. “What do you want from me, Blake? When you worked for the hotel I knew exactly where we stood, but now all I feel is an uncertainty I can’t explain.” She watched as Blake’s hand tightened on the wheel until his knuckles were white.
“You haven’t figured it out yet? After all these years you still don’t know, do you?” He was so angry that Caasi knew any kind of response would only fuel his irritation. “Maybe it is too late, maybe you’re so impossibly wrapped up in Crane Enterprises that you’ll never know.”
She’d barely closed the car door before he drove away. As the car sped down the street, she stood alone on the sidewalk. Blake was always leaving her.
Later that night, as she lay in bed staring at the dark ceiling, Caasi thought about his parting comment. Obviously she had been horribly wrong not to recognize his motives.
Rather than suffer through another day of self-recrimination over her relationship with Blake, Caasi drove to June and Burt’s on Sunday afternoon.
“Welcome,” June said, greeting Caasi with a hug. “I’m glad you came. The first pictures of Cassi have arrived. You wouldn’t believe how much she’s changed already.”
“Sure I would.” Caasi walked into the house and handed June a small gift she’d picked up for the baby while in Sacramento.
“Caasi,” June protested, “you’ve got to stop buying Cassi all these gifts. Otherwise, she’ll grow up and not appreciate anything.”
“Let me spoil her,” Caasi pleaded, and lifted the sleeping baby from the bassinet. “She’s probably the closest thing I’ll ever have to a daughter. And I love her so much, it’s hard not to.”
“I know.” June shook her head in defeat. “But try to hold it down. There isn’t any more room in her bedroom to hold all your gifts.”
“I hope that’s not true.”
“Almost,” June said. “She’s due to wake up any minute and will probably want to eat. I’ll get you a cup of coffee now. Burt’s working in the back, building one of those aluminum storage sheds.”
Cradling the sleeping baby in her arms, Caasi sat in the rocking chair. Her eyes misted as she watched the angelic face. It never failed to materialize, the powerful, overwhelming surge of love she experienced every time she held this child. If this was what she felt with June’s baby, how much more would she feel for her own? The question had been on her mind ever since her dinner with Edie. What had Edie called it? Baby hunger. But it was more than that, far more than a passing fancy because her two best friends were having children. When June and Edie had married she hadn’t had the urge to go out and find herself a husband. These feelings were different.
A home and family would be worth more than all the accumulated riches of Crane Enterprises. Her father had worked himself into an early grave, and for what reason? All those years he had slaved to build a fortune for her. But she didn’t want wealth. The greatest desires of her heart were for a simple life. A home and family, maybe a dog or two. Certainly, money alone couldn’t provide all that.
The baby stirred and, opening her tiny mouth, arched her back and yawned.
“Diaper-changing time,” Caasi announced, as she carried little Cassi into the bedroom and laid her across the changing table. Within a matter of minutes Caasi handed the baby to her mother.
June sat in a rocking chair and unbuttoned her blouse to nurse. “Every time I see you with the baby I’m amazed at how natural you are with her,” June said, as she smoothed the soft hairs away from her daughter’s face. “To be honest, I was afraid you wouldn’t do well around children, but I was wrong. You’re a natural. I wish you’d marry and have children of your own.”
The coffee cup sat on the end table, and Caasi’s hand tightened around it. “I’ve been giving some serious thought to exactly that.”
“Caasi, that’s wonderful!” June exclaimed. “You don’t know how glad I’ll be to see you get away from that hotel. It’s dominated your life. I swear, it’s been like a monster that’s eaten away at you more and more until you were hardly yourself. Who’s the lucky man?”
Caasi shifted uncomfortably, crossed and uncrossed her legs, then set her cup aside. “I wasn’t thinking of getting married.”
June’s eyes widened incredulously. “You mean …” She stopped and looked flustered. “You’re just going to have a baby?”
“Something like that,” Caasi explained cheerfully. “A husband is a nice extra, but not necessary.”
“I don’t get it. Why not marry? You’re an attractive woman, and you have so much to offer.”
“Maybe,” Caasi returned, “but in this case a husband would be an encumbrance I can live without.”
“What about the baby? Doesn’t he—or she—have a right to a father?”
“That’s something I’m thinking about now.”
“This whole idea doesn’t even sound like you. Where did you come up with—” June stopped, a knowing look lighting her eyes. “Edie. This sounds exactly like one of her crazy schemes.”
“Maybe.” A smile tugged at Caasi’s mouth. “And when you think about it, the idea isn’t all that crazy. Single women are raising children all the time.”
“Yes, but …” Slowly June shook her head. “Have you chosen the father? I mean, have you said anything to him?”
“Not yet.”
“Then you have chosen someone?”
“Oh yes. You’ve never met him, but he …” Caasi paused and swallowed. “He used to work for me. Actually, I think my method is a better idea than Edie’s. She suggested I pick up someone in a bar. I swear, that woman is loony sometimes.”
“I’m going to have a talk with her,” June muttered between tight lips.
“Don’t. To be honest, I think she was only kidding. She didn’t expect me to take it seriously, but I have and I am.”
“You know, Caasi, I’ve never advised you about anything. You’ve never needed my advice. There’s confidence in everything about you—the way you talk, the way you stand, the way you look. Think about this, think very seriously before you do something you might regret.”
“I will,” Caasi assured her with a warm smile. “I’ve never done anything haphazardly in my well-ordered existence, and I’m not about to start now.”
Monday’s mail included an invitation to Gina and Donald’s wedding. She felt bad at having snubbed Blake’s sister the past Saturday. Gina was a warm and loving young woman. Caasi took her checkbook and wrote out a generous check. Staring at the amount, she pictured her confrontation with Blake after she’d sent his cousin a wedding gift. She could imagine what he’d accuse her of if he saw this. Defeated, Caasi tore the check in two and wrote another for half of what she had before.
“What the heck,” she muttered with frustration. What gave Blake Sherrill the right to dictate the kind of gift she gave anyone? Angrily she tore out another check and wrote it for the amount of the original one. After scribbling an apologetic letter declining the invitation, she added her congratulations and hoped the couple could put the money to good use.
The letter and money went out in the afternoon mail.
Tuesday Caasi met with her lawyer. If he thought her request was unusual, he said nothing, at least not to her. He did admit, however, that he hadn’t handled anything like that in the past and would have to get back to her. Caasi told him there wasn’t any rush. She hadn’t heard from Blake since their Saturday-night clash.
Wednesday morning Caasi was in her office giving dictation to Laurie when Blake burst in.
“There’d better be a good e
xplanation for this.” He slapped a newspaper on top of her desk.
Completely calm, Caasi turned to Laurie. “Maybe it would be best if you excused us for a few moments, Laurie. It seems Mr. Sherrill has something he’d like to say.”
The secretary stood up, left the office, and closed the door behind her. Blake waited until they were alone.
“Well,” he demanded, and stalked to the far side of the room.
“I knew this would happen.” Her hand gestured impatiently. “I knew the minute I put the money in the mail that you’d come storming in here as if I’d done some terrible deed. Quite frankly, Blake Sherrill, I’m growing weary of your attempts to dictate my life.”
“Dictate your life!” he repeated, and rammed both hands into his pants pockets, then just as quickly pulled them out again and smoothed back his hair. Even when angry, Blake was a fine male figure. His body was rock hard as he continued to pace the carpet. “I couldn’t believe it. I still am having trouble.” He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. “Caasi, what would your father say?” He was deadly serious.
“My father?” She shook her head in bewilderment. “My father has been dead for years. I don’t think he’d care one way or another if I sent your sister a generous wedding present.”
“My sister?” he said, confused. “What has Gina got to do with this?” He spread the newspaper across her desk and pointed to the headlines in the business section: “International Rumored to Buy Empress Hotels.”
“Oh, that.” Caasi said with relief. “I thought you were talking about—”
“I know what you thought,” he shouted. “I want to ask you about this article. Is it true?”
She gestured toward the chair on the other side of her desk. “Will you sit down?” she requested calmly, belying her pounding heart. “We need to talk, and there’s no better time than the present.”
Blake lowered himself into the soft leather chair, but he sat on the edge of the seat as if ready to spring up at the slightest provocation.