Catch Me a Catch (5 page)

“It cleans
your palate.” He grinned at Jack. “We take chocolate tasting very seriously in
this house.”

Annie was
decanting chocolates from a box on the counter onto small china plates. She
placed one in front of each of them.

“Annie’s
brought these for us from Dublin, Jack. It’s a sort of special treat.” The
abrupt change of subject was bewildering. What on earth was going on?

Annie smiled,
taking obvious pleasure at his confusion. “Right, we are tasting two different
types this evening. Elderflower Ganache and Almond Praline Truffle. You’ve two
of each. Shall we start with the Elderflower?”

Bull picked up
a chocolate and held it up. “It looks great, good and shiny.”

Maeve agreed.

Jack picked up
a chocolate and followed their lead. He’d heard of chocolate appreciation but
these guys were crazy. They were taking it way too seriously.

“Now feel.”
Maeve rubbed her thumb gently over it. “Lovely. Smooth and silky.”

All the
comments seemed to be directed at Annie.
Bizarre
. He obediently felt the
chocolate’s smooth surface under his fingers.

“Can I taste
it now?”

“No. Not yet.”
She shook her head, looking serious. “First you have to smell it.”

Jack stifled a
grin as Maeve and Bull closed their eyes and sniffed the chocolates. This was
really getting ridiculous.

“Smell it,
Jack.” Annie frowned, and to keep the peace he brought the chocolate to his
nose and gave it a cursory sniff.

“Great.” He
had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. This sure wasn’t the way he ate
chocolates. His usual technique consisted of stuff it in, chew and swallow.

“Now, we can
taste.” Annie held up a finger in warning. “But don’t just toss it in there and
chew, Jack. You need to put the chocolate into your mouth and wait for it to
melt.”

“Umm, the
melting point.” Maeve carefully placed the chocolate in her mouth and waited,
as if expecting an alarm clock to start ringing.

“Okay, go
ahead.”

The heady
taste of chocolate bloomed on his tongue. He pressed the candy to the roof of
his mouth. Delicious. The soft, creamy center dissolved, and an intense flowery
flavor teased his taste buds. His eyes closed and he surrendered to the full
sensual onslaught of the chocolate.
So that’s why women love it so much.
When he reluctantly opened them, Annie was staring at him, her pupils huge.

“That has got
to be the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted.” He licked the remnants from his top
lip. Her eyes flickered to his mouth, setting off an uncomfortable tightening
in his body.

“Thank you.”

Was she aware
of his body’s reaction to her? Jack shifted in his seat. It wasn’t the time or
the place to be having a private moment with her parents sitting right there
with them. He glanced sideways. Bull was popping his second chocolate into his
mouth with a look of pure bliss on his face. Good, nobody seemed to have
noticed.

“Annie, you’ve
outdone yourself,” Maeve said.

Realization
dawned. “You made these?”

Annie nodded,
and straightened the plate with nervous fingers. “I’m a chocolatier. These are
my entries for the Chocolate Oscars competition. The elderflower ganache got me
through to the semi-finals.”

 “I’m not
surprised, they’re wonderful.” The contents of his plate looked as good as they
tasted. “Do you make them here?”

“I used to,
when I was learning. Now I make them in my flat in Dublin.” Her shy smile was
enchanting. “I have all my equipment and supplies there. It takes up quite a
lot of space.”

“They’re
delicious, Darling.” Maeve recovered from her chocolate induced trance. “What’s
the other one?”

“It’s a
praline. A different type of chocolate to demonstrate my range.” She picked one
up and looked at it. “This is my semi-final entry. Everybody ready to try one?”

This time Jack
knew what was coming. The bizarre ritual grew on him and he looked, felt and
smelled the chocolate with the others. His mouth watered as the heady aroma
stimulated his senses.

Annie placed
one into her mouth, her small pink tongue visible as her lips parted to receive
it.
God, who knew chocolate tasting could be so goddamned erotic?

He couldn’t look
away. The moment her chocolate started to melt a look of ecstasy came over her
face. Her eyelids fluttered shut and a half smile of total bliss smoothed her
features.
What would it be like to kiss her now?

He followed
her lead. As it melted, he bit in to the dissolving chocolate. The texture of
finely ground nuts slightly abrasive against his over-sensitized tongue. He
moaned, swirling the thick filling over his tongue. She was a genius. The
flavors were so perfectly matched the immediate rush of the chocolate blended
with the praline perfectly, fading to a warm cocoa aftertaste.

“God, those
are good.”

“I delivered a
batch of these to the judges in Dublin before I came up yesterday. If I win,
I’m through to the finals. Then I’ll have to produce my top chocolate.”

“Which is?”

She was dangerously
fascinating, and fast becoming irresistible. “Divine. I just call it Divine.”

“Did you bring
one for us to taste?” The white cardboard box on the counter was too far away
to check.

“No, Divine is
under wraps.”

“Until they
ask for it,” he finished. She didn’t need to explain, he knew why.

There was a
magical purity about creation. The moment before revealing your greatest
creation was one to be guarded jealously; lest any of the magic should
dissipate. It was the same in his business. Jack let his ideas for an
advertising campaign take careful form. Allowing them to develop, like all the
subtle flavors in one of Annie’s creations, before presenting to a client. Once
the client had seen the campaign, the moment was broken. Up until then, the
magic needed to be kept safe. He and Annie Devine had more in common than he’d
thought.

“I’ll put the
kettle on.” Maeve walked to the counter. “Annie, take Jack out to put his
things in the dryer, he’ll get lost in the dark.”

****

Annie glanced
out at the darkening sky.
He can see perfectly well, but Mum will be
appalled if I refuse.
She battled with conflicting emotions at the thought
of being outside in the dark with Jack Miller. The revelation he was a
transatlantic sailor had been a shock. When she’d found out he wasn’t a client,
and remembered all the things she’d said to him, her embarrassment had turned
fairly quickly into anger.

Despite
herself, his reaction to her chocolates had dissolved her anger at his
deception. His face had changed when he bit into the first chocolate.
Would
he look like that if they were making love?
Rough waves of desire flooded
her. By the time he’d touched the second chocolate to his lips she was so
turned on she thought she might combust. It was only the presence of her
parents in the kitchen that stopped her from walking up and licking the trace
of chocolate off those firm molded lips.

He’s
dangerous.
She walked to the back door.
And he’s not a client any more,
so he’s available.
She stepped out onto the rough cement path on the way to
the shed.

“You’re
supposed to be making sure I don’t fall in the dark.” His warm hand grasped
hers in the darkness. “Not run away from me.”

“I’m not
running anywhere.” She faced him. “Although after today I think I’d be
entitled. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“I told you
matchmaking me wasn’t going to happen,” he replied stubbornly. “And you begged
me to give you a chance.”

“So you do
want to meet a woman then.” She tried to pull her hand away.

“I don’t.” He
gripped her hand tightly. The rough ridges of his thumb stroked the sensitive
skin on the back of her hand, playing havoc. “In fact, before you touched me,
the last thing I wanted to do was meet a woman.” His voice was so low it was
only a grumble in the darkness.

She’d touched
first.
Trust him to remember.

“Huh.” She
tugged her hand out of his grip. “You’ll have to do better if you think I’m
going to forgive the dance you led me. You even sat out here this evening and
let me take your picture. Why did you do that if you’ve no intention of going
in the book?”

She reached
the door and flicked on the light.

“I have
trouble saying no to you.” He walked past her and pulled his clothes out of the
washing machine. “I have a feeling it’s a common complaint around here.” He
stuffed the wet clothes into the drier. She ignored him. It was too tempting to
forgive and surrender to his flirtations, but a trace of humiliation lingered.
She wasn’t inclined to let him off the hook so easily.

“You misled
me. You weren’t honest,” she insisted stubbornly, scrutinizing his butt as he
bent to place the last handful of clothes in the dryer.

“Like you’re honest.”
He straightened and caught her staring.

“Yes.” She
crossed her hands in front of her chest. The thin cotton shirt wasn’t doing a
very good job at hiding her erect nipples.

“But you’re
not honest.”

“What do you
mean I’m not honest? I am!” It was as though she had signs pointing all her
buttons out in neon, and he was pressing them.

“Then why
don’t you tell them you dread the idea of being the next matchmaker?”

The color
drained from her face
. How had he worked it out?

“I don’t know
what you’re talking about.”

“I thought you
were honest?” he challenged, gripping her upper arms. “I saw your face when
your father told me, Annie. Don’t try and fool me.”

“I’m not trying
to fool anyone.” Being the matchmaker was more than a job. It was her destiny.
Her dreaded inheritance. “I just don’t know how to tell him.”

The touch of
his hands set off an unwanted blaze of reaction. She scooted away, and his
hands dropped to his sides. She rubbed her upper arms vigorously banishing the
disturbing tingle that overcame her body every time Jack touched her.

“So, now you
know how I felt,” he answered, wryly. “But at least I came clean. You need to
tell them. They’ll understand.”

“No. They
won’t.”

She’d
struggled with the idea of telling them for years. Finally, she’d avoided the
problem by leaving. With Durna out of sight, it had been blissfully out of
mind. But a problem avoided wasn’t a problem solved. Being back for the
festival had brought it dead center again.

“There’s
always been a Devine matchmaker at the festival. My father expects me to
continue the tradition. If I had any brothers or sisters perhaps I’d have a
chance, but I don’t…”
How could she explain her feelings to him? She couldn’t
even deal with them herself.

“I don’t know
what I’m going to do about it, which is why I haven’t told anyone how I feel.”
It was something she’d wrestled with forever. The most difficult challenge
she’d faced since Steve left her at the altar. She didn’t want to disappoint
her father. He’d be crushed. “You have to promise not to talk about it. It’s
going to be hard to tell them. I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to
it.”

“So you’re
just going to pretend?”

“Right now,
yes.” She willed him to understand.

“I don’t get
it. You’re an adult, Annie. You control your own life; you shouldn’t live it by
anyone else’s rules.” He turned to face her, and placed his hands on his hips.

“I want to
open a shop in Dublin. And you don’t know me or my family. I can’t break my
father’s heart by telling him I don’t want to be the next matchmaker. It’s not
that easy.” She brushed the hair tumbling into her eyes away. Challenged him
with her glare. “Do you do everything you want?”

“Yes.” Jack
stepped closer and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. His eyes darkened to
stormy blue. “I do.”

He wanted to
kiss her. She felt it in the powerful electricity that surged through her at
the touch of his calloused thumb against her mouth. Her heart hammered in her
chest as warring emotions battled within her. Give in to desire, or get away
before she did something she might regret. She took the easy option.

“It’s cold out
here. Let’s go back in.” She swiveled on her heel and hurried down the path,
every molecule stretched tight with awareness of his presence, following.

Chapter Four

Annie dragged
the duvet up to her ears and curled her legs closer to her body. Outside the
window, tree branches swayed from side to side in the darkness and bats swooped
fast and low, hunting moths attracted to the faint light cast by the rooms
below.

Drawn to
the light just like I’m drawn to Jack
. Everything came back to the man
lying in the bed in the next room. Even now, with a busy day of matchmaking
ahead, her ears strained for any sound through the thick walls.

Her long ago
attraction to Steve was water compared to the whiskey kick of excitement that
flooded her senses when Jack’s thumb had caressed her mouth. It threw her off
kilter. Too tongue tied to make casual conversation after the incident in the
laundry room, she’d escaped early to bed.

The bed was as
lumpy as ever. She relieved some tension by pounding her pillows, and then
rearranged them and tried to settle again. It was no use. Her hormones were in
an uproar. Her imagination running overtime.

I know what
I want from life, and Jack Miller isn’t it.

She closed her
eyes tight, willing herself to sleep.

Liar.

****

The sea
glistened in the midday sun. Diamond flickers of light bounced off the tiny
caps of the waves. An off-sea breeze plastered Jack’s tee shirt to his chest
and he angled his right shoulder forward to deflect it. His calves burning at
the unaccustomed exercise, he stopped for a moment to stretch out his straining
muscles. He pushed his toes skyward in a hamstring stretch, and continued down
the road again. Last night had been a disaster, one he was determined to
mitigate. It would take time to repair the boat. Hopefully his relationship
with Annie could be repaired more quickly.