“You look incredible in that top,” he told her with a crooked smile. “Did you wear that just for me?”
She flicked him another alluring gaze and a sexy smile, saying nothing, before bending down to check on the rest of the meal in the oven. She could feel his eyes on her as she opened the oven door and so she lingered there a moment longer than she needed to before straightening up and turning to the chopping board to dice the herbs.
“Let me help,” he insisted. He picked up a second knife and began to dice handfuls of fresh oregano. “The others at the Academy used to tease me for cooking,” he told her. “They'd bring in their sandwiches and hot dogs and I'd be there with a homemade risotto.”
“So you're a food aficionado?” Laura asked him with a teasing smile.
“I appreciate fine food,” he told her. He looked up at her with an acknowledging smile. “I appreciate fine things in general.”
“Did you find out what started the fire?” Laura asked. She was beginning to feel herself flushing under his gaze and she didn't want to lose her appearance of being calm and sophisticated just yet.
“Hair straighteners,” Daniel told her. “It was hair straighteners.”
“How many fires do you fight every day?” Laura asked him.
“Well, that depends,” Daniel replied. “It's worse in the summer with all the forest fires, but then again, people set more things on fire in the winter just for heat and warmth. We frequently get called out when there's no fire at all. Road accidents and things like that.”
“What about cats in trees?” Laura asked with a playful smile. “Or does that never happen?”
“I've had a dog under the porch and a parakeet in the ceiling fan,” he told her. “No cats in trees yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. What do you do?”
“I own a card shop,” she told him. “You know, birthdays and anniversaries. It sounds boring, but I like the idea that everyone who comes in is thinking of someone else.”
“Are you the emotional type then?” he asked her.
Laura flashed him a devilish glance. “Not tonight.”
He grinned back, finished chopping his oregano with a flourish and finished his glass of wine. Laura realized that she had almost finished hers and poured them both another. She pulled out plates, cutlery, and table settings from the cupboards and Daniel rushed to help her set the places at the small kitchen table on the other side of the counter. He looked up at the photos pinned to the wall behind it.
“Who is this with you?” he asked, pointing to a photo of Laura and Sophie hugging with big grins on their faces.
“That's Sophie,” Laura replied. “She's been my best friend since forever.”
“It looks like you spend a lot of time together,” he commented.
“Well, I don't have a sister,” Laura told him. “So I'm glad to have Sophie around. Do you have any brother or sisters?”
“A younger sister,” he nodded. “Do you have any brothers?”
“One older.”
“So what's your older brother doing, letting you invite strange men into your house for bad Italian food?” he teased her.
“I don't think I'm going to be telling my brother about tonight,” Laura laughed lightly.
“Why not?”
“Ooh, I'm not sure he'd approve of my behavior.”
“I'll hold you to that,” Daniel grinned.
Laura served the bad Italian, which turned out to actually be pretty good, especially accompanied by another glass of wine and his good company. The two began to talk about everything and anything, but it wasn't the words that were making Laura's body tingle.
No, it was the deliberate, teasing body language which played between them. The way she slowly closed her lips over her fork and slowly pulled it out from her mouth. The way he kept his eyes fixed on her over the top of his wine glass as he drank, looking at her in a way which told her that he was only thirsty for her.
At one point she even felt his leg brushing against hers beneath the table and she didn't move hers away, but simply smiled another teasing smile so that he would know she had noticed and that she liked it.
After dinner, Laura began to gather the dishes and Daniel helped her once again. She didn't know if he was truly that much of a gentleman, or whether, like her, he just wanted to live in the excitement of standing close to one another. The electricity between them was tangible.
It hung in the air, heavy and anticipating, building a desire, minute by minute which rested in the shrinking space between them, as Daniel moved closer to her to take the dishes from her hands and reached up over her head to hang the wine glasses from their posts.