Jennifer hurried after her brother, catching his arm just as he moved beyond the door. " " And since when do you notice when someone takes a break, unless they happen to be standing right next to you? Or in one of your pots? You're oblivious to everything that isn't on a spice rack. "

He shrugged off her hand. "I notice a lot more than you think."

Jennifer leaned against the wall as she crossed her arms , in front of her. Well, well, well. Maybe she d better call Julia and get a little more information about their new employee It had been a long time since Nik had shown an interest in a woman. " " Apparently, " she murmured.

Nik saw the look that rose in Jennifer's eyes. He didn't have to stay and take this. He turned and headed toward the kitchen. His souffle was almost ready. "I've got work to do, Jennifer."

"It's about time, Nik," she called after him.

He heard the grin in her voice. Nik turned just as he reached the kitchen, his hand on the swinging door. He knew he was going to regret asking. "About time for what?"

Jennifer laughed as she relished the scene. She antic.i.p.ated

Kane's expression tonight when she told him that the unmovable object was finally being moved.

"Now that part's up to you, brother, dear. Just remember" she eyed the office door behind her "- don't drag your feet."

Nik scowled. "Try to do something nice for someone and it gets blown out of proportion."

"If you say so." Jennifer's expression told Nik that she wasn't buying his protest.

He waved at his younger sister, dismissing her. "Go to work, Jennifer."

Jennifer laughed as she turned to reenter the office. At the last moment she looked over her shoulder. "You, too, Nik. You, too."

She heard Nik muttering under his breath as he walked into the kitchen.

Chapter 4.

The noise level in the kitchen had decreased a while ago as activity wound down. Most of the staff had already gone home. Nik looked over toward the large clock that hung on the wall near the rear exit.

Ten-thirty. He had put in a fourteen -and-a-half-hour day. He was bone tired. It was time to call it a night.

He looked around for Antonio. Nik saw the silver-gray mane bent forward as the older man sat on a stool, entertaining one of the waitresses with a story. He was like an old fox, Nik thought, amused, always eyeing the young chickens wistfully. Antonio had been with him at Sinclair's almost from the beginning and everyone knew he was harmless.

Nik crossed over to him as he untied his ap.r.o.n. "Want to lock up for me tonight? "

He dropped the ap.r.o.n into the side bin, where all the day's laundry was collected. The waitress flashed an inviting smile at Nik, then sensibly departed, leaving the two men to talk.

Antonio remained seated on his stool. He regarded his former protege with keen interest. "Getting old, eh, Nikolas ?"

Antonio laughed, his booming voice rattling around the icitchen. He leaned around Nik's body to get a better view of the departing waitress before the door swung shut on her. Then, looking up at Nik, he patted the stool next to him.

Antonio Rossi was well into his sixties. He had started out as a busboy in an exclusive hotel in Naples at the age of ten. There he had worked diligently under the tutelage of his maternal uncle. Eventually he was running the kitchen at the same hotel. At thirty, his talents took him to America. He was the best backup chef Nik could have wished for.

Nik glanced at the empty stool, then decided that if he sat down now, he'd never have the strength to get up again. "I'll never be as young as you, Tony."

Nik turned to leave, but Antonio held up one finger, stopping Nik as he dug into his back pocket with the other hand.

"Wait." Rising, he pulled out his wallet. The cracked brown leather case was thick with photographs. "Did I show you the new picture of my granddaughter?"

Nik laughed and shook his head. Antonio had five children and twice as many grandchildren. And everyone at Sinclair's knew them by sight, thanks to Antonio's everpresent wad of photographs.

"No," Nik answered. Antonio began riffling through his wallet. "Not in the last fifteen minutes."

The broad shoulders, which appeared far too wide for his frame, shrugged as Antonio stuffed the wallet back into the recesses of his pocket. "When are you going to get pictures of your own, eh?"

Nik ran his hand over the back of his neck. He felt the knots that had been building up all day. "I've got pictures"

"Nieces." Antonio waved a dismissive hand in the air like a chess player pushing the pieces off a board. "They do not count."

Nik shook his head, amused. "You'd better not let Jennifer or Julia hear you saying that."

Too short to reach Nik's shoulders, Antonio wrapped a surprisingly strong arm around Nik's back.

"No offense to your lovely sisters or your charming nieces, but there is nothing like bouncing your own baby on your knee, Nik." A wide grin split the tanned face, spreading the well-groomed silver mustache. Tiny fringes of hair hung over teeth that were whiter than new-fallen snow as Antonio winked slyly. "Unless, of course, it is bouncing a pretty lady on your knee instead."

Antonio had enough energy for both of them. "You're a dirty old man, Tony."

Antonio looked pleased by the a.s.sessment. "Yes." He nodded his head as he hit his chest with one powerful fist. "But that is how I stay young: '

His expression grew serious as he regarded Nik. "You work too hard, my friend, and do not let me work as much as I should: Antonio pushed the younger man toward the outer door, which led into the hallway. " Go, I take care of the kitchen for the last hour. Get some rest. "

Rest. It sounded almost seductively alluring at this point. Nik nodded. He remembered muttering good-night as he left.

As the kitchen door closed behind him Nik looked down the darkened hall. He was surprised to see a beam of light pooling on the floor. It was coming from the small office. Jennifer and Katie had long since left the restaurant. Kane had come by on his way home from the precinct to pick up his wife and daughter. As for Sara, as far as he knew she had left at six. Or so he surmised. That meant the office was empty.

Curious, Nik walked down the hall and looked in. Sara was sitting hunched over the desk. Her shoes had been kicked off to the side and her bare feet were curled up against one another like two woodland creatures huddling for warmth. She was moving the toe of one against the sole of the other as she concentrated on the screen. It const.i.tuted the only movement going on in the room. Sara had her head propped up on one fisted hand and she seemed totally engrossed in the spreadsheet she had typed in on the computer

Nik knew he should just walk away. It was late and he was asking for trouble. But he leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb and just watched her for a moment, fascinated by what he saw. Only a single lamp illuminated the room. The beam gently played across her features, dusting them with shadows and lights, making them seem soft. Sara looked totally unanimated and utterly docile. And almost sweet. Nik felt something stir, something very basic and strong.

It took him completely unaware.

He straightened, squared his shoulders as if a battle cry had silently sounded, then walked into the room. "Don't you have a home to go to?"

Sara turned to look in Nik's direction. She seemed so unfazed by his entranre it was as if she had been expecting him all along.

She thought of the house on Avalone Drive. And of her father. " " Not really. "

Nik's brows drew together as he plucked a fragment of a conversation from his memory. Had he misheard? "I thought you said you were staying with your father."

Sara sat up in her chair. Lacing her fingers together over her head, she stretched, flexing her body like a graceful cat trying to warm herself on all sides by the fire. Nik tried not to notice that her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were straining invitingly against the thin fabric of her sweater. Maybe he wasn't as dead tired as he'd thought.

She let her hands drop bonelessly to the desk. "I am."

Had he lost the thread of the conversation somehow? Didn't that mean she had a home to go to? "Then... ?" He let his voice trail off as he waited for her to explain.

A quirky smile lifted her lips. "Doesn't necessarily make it a home, does it?"