Daughters of the Lake(61)

“What’s that?”

“Pasta,” she said, giving his hand a final squeeze and pulling away. “Are you hungry? I know it’s a little early, but I could whip up something for us.”

Nick finished his ale. “A fabulous idea,” he said, putting his glass down on the table. “But I’ll help. I’m pretty handy with a spatula.”

Kate smirked. “I’ll bet you are.”

Soon, Kate and Nick were in the kitchen, aprons on, knives in hand. She was slicing tomatoes, and he was chopping onions. Bacon was sizzling under the broiler, and chicken was cooking on the stovetop grill. A pot of pasta water was heating on one burner, a stainless steel pan was warming on another, and in a saucepan, butter was melting.

“What are we making, exactly?” Nick asked.

“Cheesy pasta with onion, bacon, tomato, spinach, and chicken,” she said. “Comfort food. I thought we could both use a dose of it. My own famous recipe. Here, hand me those onions, will you? And get the milk out of the fridge?”

As the pasta bubbled in the water, Kate began sautéing the onions. “This’ll be your job,” she said to Nick, handing him the spatula and stepping away from her post in front of the pan. “Caramelize. Don’t burn. And then add the tomatoes and, last, the spinach.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled.

While he was doing that, Kate added a few tablespoons of flour to the melted butter in the saucepan and stirred to make a roux. To that, she added the milk and the shredded cheese.

Ten minutes later, they were back at their table with heaping bowls of pasta in front of them.

“This is incredible,” Nick said, taking a bite. “Do you mind if I inhale it? I may not be able to talk for a while.”

“I think in some parts of the world, that’s a compliment to the chef.”

“Only if it’s followed by profuse burping. Which I’m not above, by the way.”

Kate smiled, watching him. How long had it been since she’d had such an easy conversation with a man other than Simon? She couldn’t remember the last time. Things had been so strained with Kevin over the past year or so, she had trouble recalling a time in which they were truly happy.

“What?” Nick said, taking a bite of his pasta. “You’re staring at me.”

She was out on a limb, and she knew it. “You’re really easy to talk to, Nick Stone,” she said, inching out onto that limb even further.

He smiled. “So are you,” he said. “I haven’t opened up like this to anyone at the precinct—nobody knows about my dad. And yet here I am blurting all of this out to you. This may sound like a strange thing to say, but it feels like I’ve known you forever.”

Kate’s stomach did a quick flip. “I’m the one dreaming about a dead woman, remember? Very little is going to sound strange to me.”

Their conversation meandered through typical first-date territory—where they had spent their childhoods, college experiences, the roads each of them had taken to get where they were. They had so much in common—favorite movies, books they enjoyed, even where they liked to travel, and how they treated their dogs—Kate began to peek into the future and wondered if hers was going to include Nick Stone.

But she shook that thought out of her head. Now was not the time to even consider getting involved with another man. Her divorce papers weren’t even signed. And she was involved in an investigation he was working.

After dinner, Nick and Kate took their drinks into the library and sat in front of the fire.

Nick’s arm rested against the back of the sofa, inviting Kate to snuggle in. She didn’t, fighting off every impulse she had to do so.

“I’m glad I took the afternoon off,” he said finally, not looking at her.

“I’m glad you did, too,” she said.

“I should probably get going,” he said. But neither of them moved.

And then he turned to her, his outstretched arm pulling her shoulders in to him. Before she knew it, his mouth was on hers, and her arms were wrapping around his neck. She dissolved into him and wished the kiss would go on forever.

But then she pulled away, shaking her head. “I can’t do this.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just—”

“No, I just—too. But Nick, this is wrong. I’m still married. I’m in the process of getting a divorce, but technically . . .”

He nodded. “I understand. I should go.”

“That might be best.” She got up from the sofa on shaky legs and followed him to the door.

Before he left, he turned to her.

“I had a really good time tonight,” he said. “I know you’re still married. And you’re part of an open investigation. The timing stinks. But when all of that works itself out, I hope we can do this again.”

“I’d like that,” she said and shut the door behind him as he walked out into the crisp, fall night.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“So?” Simon said across the breakfast table the next morning. “I want to hear every last detail.”

Kate could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. She had thought about nothing else but her evening with Nick Stone during her early morning walk with Alaska.

“That good?” Simon grinned.