What Love Tastes Like. Zuri Day
“So it’s you who’s going to run away this time, huh?” Nick asked.
“Why would I have to run away from you?”
Nick grabbed Tiffany’s hand and gently rubbed his thumb over the inside of her palm as he answered. “Because you’re trying to deny this almost overwhelming attraction you’re feeling for me, trying to hide the fact that even at this moment you’re getting wet for me.” His eyes darkened as he continued to stare at her lips, wetting his own.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Tiffany retorted as she gently but firmly removed her hand from Nick’s, then grabbed her purse. “I’m leaving.”
Tiffany was fast but Nick was faster. He grabbed her arm before she could run. “I want to go out with you.”
“Why? You have your pick of any woman at the hotel.”
“And I’m sure all of those women are special in their own way. But I want you.” Nick released the grip he had on her arm, but did not remove his hand. Instead he stroked the inside of her forearm with his finger. “You’re an incredible woman, Tiffany, and I’m attracted to you. I think we started something beautiful in Italy, and I’d like to see if what we felt there was real or just my imagination.”
Also by Zuri Day
Lies Lovers Tell
Body By Night
Lessons from a Younger Lover
Published by Dafina Books
What Love Tastes Like
ZURI DAY
Kensington Publishing Corp.
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
For all of those who love to cook,
and who love to eat.
Acknowledgments
As always, special thanks to the A Team. You’re the best! To Eden Chuislekuda, for her restaurant and food-industry expertise. To my mother, one of the finest cooks I ever met, who helped inspire my love for the kitchen, and my sister, Dee, who made it look so easy. Finally, to the Food Network, my in-home school for all things culinary! Especially my favorite chefs, the Neelys, Paula Deen, Alton Brown, Rachael Ray, and the irresistible Bobby Flay. Bon appétit!
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
1
Could anybody possibly be that fine? That’s what Tiffany Matthews asked herself as she fastened her seat belt, took a deep breath, and clutched a teddy bear that looked as frazzled as she felt. The bear had an excuse—it was twenty-three years old. And so did Tiffany—she was exhausted. Graduating from culinary school and preparing for a month-long overseas internship had taken its toll.
There was yet another draining aspect to consider: Tiffany was terrified of flying. So much so that even after taking the anxiety pill her best friend had given her, she brazenly endured the curious stares of fellow passengers as they watched the naturally attractive, obviously adult woman sit in the airport, enter the jetway, and then board a plane with a raggedy stuffed animal clasped to her chest.
Tiffany didn’t care. During a childhood where her mother worked long hours and her grandmother loved but didn’t entertain, Tuffy, the teddy bear, had been her constant and sometimes only friend. No matter what happened, Tuffy was there to lend a cushy ear, an eternal smile, and wide, button-eyed support. This stuffed animal was also the first present she remembered her father giving her, when she was five years old. Unfortunately, his gift stayed around longer than Daddy did, a fact that after years of not seeing him still brought Tiffany pain. They were estranged, and while Tiffany would never admit it, having her father’s first gift close by always felt like having him near. Tuffy brought comfort—during her childhood of loneliness, her teenaged years of puppy love and superficial heartbreak, her college years of first love and true pain, and now, while pursuing a dream her parents felt was beneath her. As the plane began its ascent into the magnificently blue May sky, and Tiffany squeezed her eyes shut, praying the pill would stave off an attack, she knew she’d take any help she could get to make it through this flight, even that of a furry friend.
It wasn’t until the plane leveled off and her heartbeat slowed that she thought of him again—the stranger in first class. Their eyes had met when she passed by him on the way to her seat in coach. Tiffany had assessed him in an instant: fine, classy, rich. And probably married, she concluded, as she finally loosened the death grip she had on Tuffy and laid him on the middle seat next to her. Clearly out of my league…. Still, she couldn’t help but remember how her breath caught when she entered the plane and saw him sitting there, looking like a GQ ad, in the second row, aisle seat. His close-cropped black hair looked