Page 55 of It Must Be Love

"Because sometimes people look at me with disgust, and I don't want to see it." She snatched her arm away from me and set her champagne glass down on the kitchen counter. Then she went to stir something in a pot on the stove.

My heart broke at what she'd said, and it took me a minute to regroup. She was an introvert, but she wasn't timid. This was hurt; this was pain someone had caused her. I probably had a part in it.

It was a small kitchen, and in two steps, I was next to her. "No."

"What does that mean?" She looked into the pot, where I saw she had a wine reduction sauce cooking.

I lifted her chin, forcing her to look at me. "Do you see disgust?"

"It's because I dressed up, isn't it?" she accused.

"You look amazing, Naya."

"You wouldn't look at me like this if I was wearing what I did at work, would you?"

"The last time you were in my office, I was ready to come in my pants, just touching your lips. So, you tell me?"

She looked shocked at my blunt words.

I nuzzled my nose against hers and smelled that intense rose scent of hers. "You dressed up for me?" I teased and regretted it because her eyes seemed distressed.

She shrugged.

"So, what's for dinner?"

She eased up a little. "Roasted duck with plum sauce. Mashed potatoes. The cauliflower almond roast you asked for. Green beans with tomato confit. And you know what's for dessert."

"I'm starving, babe. When can we eat?"

Her cheeks flushed. Ah, she likes it when I call her babe. Noted.

"Another fifteen minutes or so. But…I have a starter to go with the bubbly."

She removed a dome from a plate, and I saw she had shucked raw oysters on ice.

"Nice. Where are these from?"

"I went to Boston Public Market. These are from Red's Best Seafood. Actually, I did all my Christmas dinner shopping there."

She'd made a meal fit for a king and I knew she was struggling financially to the extent she didn't even have a car, while I'd just parked my Maserati on the street.

"Did you bicycle in this weather?"

"I bicycle in all weather." She brought out small containers from the fridge and arranged them at the center of the oysters. They contained mignonette sauce, horseradish, and hot sauce. Then, she expertly chopped lemon wedges and set them around the oysters.

"Bon appétit." She spread her hands.

"Did you shuck these yourself?"

"Yes."

"You're a woman with many skills."

She smiled broadly at the compliment. Did no one say nice things to her? Who would? Darren? Sure. Not her brother or sister-in-law, and her father was dead. She must have other friends, or maybe not. Kara had snidely mentioned that she had no social life and could therefore babysit Magnus at short notice and whenever they needed it.

Naya was a superb cook, and I had one of the best Christmas Eve dinners of my life and I'd eaten Christmas dinner in Michelin-star restaurants. It was more than the food; it was the love with which she'd made it, the care she took to make my Christmas Eve as perfect as she could.

"Nolan and Daddy couldn't cook, so I had to learn," she told me when I asked how and who taught her to cook. "YouTube helped a lot."