Read Online Luscious by Amanda Usen - Free Book Online Page A

but you can’t escape my high school fantasies forever.”
    He pointed at the towels on the bed. “However, if you want to knot those suckers together to make a rope, we can escape from the balcony together. Your mother will never know.”
    She laughed and the happy sound made him smile too. “Not a half bad idea, Romeo, but I think I’ll just suck it up.” She paused at the door. “You’ll be okay on your own?”
    “Sure,” he said casually. Better to be alone than in the kitchen watching Chef Smarmy put the moves on her. “I’m on vacation, after all. I can think of a half a dozen things to do until dinnertime. Hey, if I order a snack from room service, will you be the one to bring it up?”
    “Only if you want me to poison it,” she said as she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

Chapter 6
    Olivia sank down onto the bench at the trestle table in the upper kitchen and closed her eyes. Her body still ached from the effects of Sean’s kisses. What had he said? Whatever we do together will be unlike anything you experienced with him. She shivered. No doubt. She was sure he was good in bed, but she was an utter disaster.
    A disaster according to whom? The question popped into her head, and she considered it. Keith had been the one who didn’t want to kiss her, didn’t want to make love to her, and eventually stopped coming home to her. Keith had subsequently proven himself to be an authority on absolutely nothing. Was it wishful thinking to hope he was wrong about other things too?
    She searched her memory, going back to their years in culinary school, trying to remember what had made her believe in Keith in the first place. He had come on strong, overcoming her reservations with fast-talking charm. He’d been a rule bender, a fast worker in the kitchen, a teacher’s pet, and good girl that she was, she’d admired those qualities immensely.
    Keith had convinced her he could run Chameleon, made her think that if they married, all her worries would be over. She had discovered too late that his slick charm disguised inability. He took shortcuts that ruined the food, insisting the fastest way to do something was the best way.
    It had taken her two years to see through his façade and when she had, her restaurant had been in shambles—one more reason to be grateful to Marlene. Marlene had stuck around through two years of hell with Keith in charge and now she was in Norton cleaning up his mess. No, she was cleaning up Olivia’s mess. She scrubbed her face against her palms as shame made her cheeks burn.
    She had run away, and worse—she didn’t want to go back. A real boss would have stuck around to earn back the respect of the staff, not fled. She needed to regain her self-respect, not indulge in a senseless affair with another man who made her feel weak and inadequate.
    Nice try . Olivia sighed, catching herself in the lie. Sean did make her feel weak, but only in the knees. When he had laid her on the bed, his strength had made her feel strong too. His weight on top of her had made her feel protected and powerful. He didn’t make her feel inadequate. He made her feel invincible, but maybe that was the problem. She didn’t trust her own judgment anymore. The intense desire to be with Sean could be another sign of her imminent personal apocalypse.
    So, where, exactly, did that leave her? Well, let’s see—she was in Italy with a man who wanted to make love to her. She’d been summoned to the kitchen by her mother who was probably going to kill her. She had a boatload of guilt from her failed marriage, a stalled career, and no bright, shiny plan for her future. She felt her wheels begin to spin. What was she going to do?
    Abruptly, she decided not to panic. The old Olivia would panic. The new Olivia, the one who had just been making out with Sean, was going to figure this out. Somehow. She sat up straight on the bench and pulled her shoulders back, taking a deep breath, letting the air fill her chest,