Nik released her wrist. It was going to be a challenge working with this woman and not wrapping his hands around her long, slender neck. He looked at it now, letting the image play across his mind.

"Sit down." Nik motioned toward one of the stools that were tucked under a long counter on the side of the room. When work was hectic, some of the employees took their meals here. "I'll cook it for you: '.

Before Sara could say anything, Nik walked into the refrigerator A moment later he emerged with a large bowl filled to the brim. with eggs. He placed it near the closest stove.

Sara remained standing where she was. She didn't much care for being motioned off anywhere like a lowly servant. "Don't bother." Sara reached around Nik's side toward the pile of eggs in the bowl. " " I can- "

For the second time in five minutes Nik caught her wrist. This time his grasp was firmer. He felt her pulse jump under his thumb. It made him wonder why. Maybe she was girding up for a battle. "You told me yesterday that you don't cook."

It figured he'd remember that. Sara shrugged, annoyed. She could certainly manage beating up two eggs, for heaven 's sake. "I don't, but-"

Nik caught up the last word. " " But I'd rather not see this kitchen in a mess before I even start. "

Amus.e.m.e.nt was the best way to handle this bear, she decided As if in surrender, she raised her hands in the air, away from any utensils or ingredients. "Wanna make your own mess, huh? "

He didn't particularly like being laughed at, not when he felt as if his neck was going to snap off and his stomach was the scene of an intense inferno. "Santangelo, go chew on an abacus until I'm finished."

Exasperated, he banged down the metal pan that was shiny despite years of use and pulled open a drawer beneath the butcher-block table.

"Are you always this charming first thing in the morning ?" Sara watched him almost snap off the top of the antacid bottle and shake out two tablets. They bounced from his hand and landed on the table.

He reached for the tablets. Sara beat him to it. He raised a warning brow. "No, usually I'm worse. Just ask Jennifer"

Smiling sweetly, Sara offered up the prize, pouring the two 2ablets from the palm of her hand into his. "Don't tell me I'm giving you heartburn."

"No." He threw the two tablets into his mouth and chewed with a vengeance, wishing they could act instantly. Or, at the very least, make her disappear. " " The two aspirin I took this morning beat you to that. " This time.

"Aspirin? You have a fever?" Sara placed her palm to his forehead.

Nik moved his head aside. He didn'z quite like the fact that her hand felt soothing. The rest of her certainly wasn't.

"No, a pain in my neck." He saw the slight flash of annoyance in her eye. " " Literally. " Without meaning to, he ran his hand along the back of his neck and winced slightly. " All the aspirin did was give me a burning sensation in my stomach" He turned back to the pan. "

Now, if you're finished taking inventory "

Sara had stopped listening. Instead, she circled behind him. Nik felt as if he was being stalked. Before he could ask her what she thought she was doing, Sara was standing on her toes, placing her long fingers on either side of his neck.

She probed, her fingers surprisingly st.u.r.dy. "Here? Does it hurt here? "

He tried to move aside, but he couldn't. Sara was holding him in place. "I'm paying you to be an accountant, not a ma.s.seuse. "

The man was a mule. She took a deep breath and discovered that his cologne created a very pleasing sensation, conjuring up all sorts of warm, sensual images within her. Probably essence of paprika mixed with equal parts onion powder, she mused.

Her hands remained firmly in place despite his attempt to shrug her off. "You're not getting a ma.s.seuse. This is something I learned from a chiropractor in New York."

Nik opened his mouth to protest being a guinea pig for her experunents when suddenly there was a sickening, crunching noise. It came from his neck. "Oh, G.o.d."

Miraculously, his pain was gone.

Nik took a slow, tentative breath, as if to test whether his head was still connected to the rest of him or had fallen off somewhere. He turned to look at her, his expression incredulous

"The pain's gone."

Sara tried not to appear too smug, but lost the fight. She slipped back onto the stool. "Yes, I know. Works every time. Now I feel like I've earned my breakfast."

He stood a moment, flexing his muscles uncertainly, as if he expected something to pop off. What, he wasn't sureq "You do this often?"

She shook her head. "Not that many people I know get pains in their neck."

He eyed her for a moment. "I find that hard to believe." He had a few more choice things to add, but he swallowed them. He was best at just cooking, and decided to concentrate on that exclusively for the time being.

Sara watched, fascinated despite herself, as Nik created an omelet for her. His fingers seemed to fly from dicing ingredients on the chopping block to the frying pan and back again. Bits of ham, green pepper and what appeared to be three kinds of cheese, not to mention things that flew out in an array of interesting colors from containers on the spice rack, all met and melded on the sizzling pan in an edible rainbow.

Sara crossed her arms in front of her. It was a little like watching an artist create a masterpiece. Or, more appropriately like a magician conjuring something out of nothing.

Holding a corner of the plate through a towel he had picked up, Nik placed the dish before her. "There. Breakfast" He took silverware from the same drawer where he kept his antacids. He handed the knife and fork to her.

The omelet was huge. There was no way she could ever manage to finish it on her own.

"Aren't you going to join me?" She c.o.c.ked her head as she looked at him. "This is way too big for me."

Getting off the stool, she opened the drawer he had just shut and took out another set of utensils. She offered them up to Nik.

He regarded the knife and fork uncertainly. He had a dozen details to see to before the restaurant was open for business. Details he liked attending to himself. He didn't have time to share a meal with a woman he found as annoying as he found attractive.

"I, um..."

The utensils remained aloft. A smile curved her mouth. "Or did you manage to poison this somehow when I wasn't watching?"

He took the knife and fork from her and sat down, even though he'd had no intentions of doing either. "Of course it isn' tpoisoned ."

She smiled wider, wondering if he even knew that he was sitting down.

"Then there's no reason not to join me, is there?" She bent closer, her body suddenly very much in his s.p.a.ce. "Unless you don't like the company."

Hot chocolate. Her eyes definitely reminded him of hot chocolate. That hot chocolate had been his favorite drink as a child seemed oddly disconcerting to him right now. "I'm not sure exactly how I feel about the company."

The answer pleased her. "Good. I've never liked being thought of as predictable." She tossed her head. The large hoops at her ears swung back and forth. "It's far too stifling" She scanned the length of the spice rack. "Have any hot sauce handy?"

He did, but he wasn't about to let her commit the ultimate sin by splashing his creation with a fiery red wave. "My omelet doesn't need any hot sauce."

No ego problem here. Resigned, Sara took a bite. It was like a warm surprise on her tongue, tangy and flavorful and light. She looked at Nik and saw that he was watching her reaction. She decided to play it straight. "This is good."

He relaxed a little. No matter how long he went on cooking , Nik knew that people's opinions would always matter to him. And one unfavorable critique canceled out a dozen praises the way a single swipe of a hatchet could cut down a year's worth of growth for a sapling.

He cut himself a piece of the omelet. "Of course it is."

She grinned as Nik swallowed. "No one's ever going to accuse you of allowing a rampant case of modesty to get in your way."

Nik was about to put her in her place when Sam looked in. The old man pursed his lips as he regarded the two of them at the counter. " " I see you found her. "