Anything but Vanilla(34)
‘Are you seriously asking me to run Knickerbocker Gloria tomorrow?’
Without thinking, she put a hand on his forearm. It was the simplest of gestures. Quiet appreciation of everything he was doing, no matter how unwillingly. ‘I wish. Unfortunately you have to do the hygiene course before I can leave you in charge.’
‘I do know how to wash my hands,’ he said.
‘I don’t doubt it, but I’m afraid the Environmental Health Officer will require a certificate to prove it.’
He covered her hand with his own. ‘It’ll be tough, but I’ll try and live with the disappointment.’
‘I’m sure you’ll survive. On the other hand...’
She paused.
‘On the other hand what?’ he asked.
‘If you’ll take Basil’s place at Cranbrook tomorrow...’ his eyes narrowed ‘...I’ll ask Basil to run Knickerbocker Gloria until Nancy gets back.’
‘Excuse me? Are you offering me a job?’
‘I’ll pay you the going rate.’
‘That would be the minimum wage, I imagine.’
‘A little more than that.’
‘Don’t tell me...all the ice cream I can eat.’
‘At these prices?’ She rolled her eyes. ‘You’ve got to be kidding. I could offer you a discount on Rosie. If you’d like to hire her for a party?’
‘How about next year’s Christmas party at the hospice?’
‘We already do that for cost, but if you’ll come along and play Santa I could be persuaded to do it for nothing.’
‘It’s almost irresistible,’ he said. The ‘almost’ suggested that he’d manage. To resist.
‘Okay, I’ll let you help me make the champagne sorbet. Final offer.’
‘Without a hygiene certificate?’ His smile was slow, meltingly sexy... ‘Whatever would the Environmental Health Officer say about that?’
‘When I say help, I was thinking about opening the champagne. For the second batch. Since you’re so concerned about my nails.’
‘Now who’s being patronising?’
‘I’ll need a taster, too. Just in case Ria has been waving her wand over the mixture. After the great job you did with the cucumber ice cream, you’re my go-to guy when it comes to magic.’
And that did it. His laugh, full-throated and deadly, rippled through her like a gentle breeze, stirring up all kinds of blush-making thoughts. It was such a good thing that he wasn’t her type or she’d be in serious trouble.
‘I should have thrown you out when I had the chance, Sorrel Amery.’
‘It was never going to happen. I’ve got your measure, Alexander West.’ It had taken her a while but, whatever his relationship with Ria, her dreamy look was totally justified... ‘Okay, here’s my very final offer. All of the above plus dinner. I’ll bet there’s nothing but nut cutlets in Ria’s fridge.’ She lifted one of her own eyebrows. ‘Am I right? Or am I right?’
He shook his head. ‘I thought...’
‘What?’ He didn’t reply. He didn’t have to. He’d made it fairly plain what he’d thought. ‘That I was all front and no bottom?’
‘On the contrary. When I saw you bending over that freezer I thought you were all bottom and no front.’ His gaze drifted down to the open white coat, lingered momentarily on the neckline of her chemise. ‘Then you stood up and turned around.’
She opened her mouth, closed it, tucked a non-existent strand of hair behind her ear and then snatched her hand away, remembering how gentle, how warm his fingers had been as he’d done that.
‘The champagne goes in the syrup...’ She cleared her throat. ‘Whenever you’re ready. Then you can turn it on and set it to churn.’
‘When do you want me to taste it?’
‘When it’s just starting to turn slushy.’
‘What will you be doing?’
‘Checking on progress at the business end of the event. If you’ve no objections?’ she said, leaving him to empty the champagne into the syrup while she took a moment to call her sister.
‘Elle? Has the ice-cream bar gone to Cranbrook Park, yet?’
‘All done. Sean stayed and set it up with Basil. Everything is in place. How are you managing your end? You sound a bit shaky.’
‘Do I? Well, it’s been a shaky sort of a day, but I’m getting there.’