“What song are you humming?”

Abena paused from stirring sugar in her coffee. Sonia Galiano, Esteban’s wife, walked over to where she stood at the coffee pot.

The certified sommelier worked for the company now, most days from home, but today she was checking inventory on the computer in the office Esteban set up for her. Later in the morning, before the restaurant opened, she planned to spend time educating the servers on the latest imported wines.

The handsome couple turned heads wherever they went. Sonia had short, dark hair, golden skin, and a personality that sparkled from within. Abena hadn’t been surprised when Esteban married her. They fit well together, and she liked working with Sonia on managing his household.

“I’m humming?” Abena asked.

“Yes,” Sonia said with a laugh. “You didn’t know?”

“No. It’s a song I heard this morning while I dressed for work.”

She’d spent the night upstairs with Santiago, and it was a song on his playlist. The Argentinean melody stuck in her head and made her want to shake her hips.

Sonia tilted her head, fixing her red lips into a thoughtful moue. “You’ve been acting different lately. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re in love.” She laughed as she refilled her coffee.

“Excuse me?”

In love? The very thought almost sent her into a panic. She and Santiago had only been sleeping with each other a little over a month. She looked forward to every minute they spent together, but calling her anticipation “love” was a bit of a stretch.

Sonia studied her with interest. “You know, my comment was a joke, but now I’m not so sure. Are you in love? I assumed you’d be broken-hearted since your engagement ended with Marc, but—”

Santiago came into the room, whistling. He wore a dark suit and dark tie, which meant he probably had meetings outside of the office. He always dressed conservatively when he did. “Buenos dias, ladies.”

“Buenos dias, Santiago,” they replied.

He poured coffee into a mug and grabbed a packet of sugar. “I received good news today.”

“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Sonia said.

“After much back and forth, Chef Carlucci has agreed to be the executive chef at Cibo.”

Both women let out excited squeals.

“How did you manage that?” Sonia asked, eyes wide.

“It wasn’t easy, believe me. After I talked to him in New York, weeks passed before I tracked him down again to continue our conversation.” Santiago poured the sugar into his coffee and stirred. “At one point, he flew out of the country without a word. We resumed talks when he came back, but for almost two weeks, I didn’t know how to reach him, or whether or not his disappearance was a bad sign. We have a few minor details to work out, but today he finally agreed to our verbal offer.” He smiled at Abena. She could tell he wanted to say more, but with Sonia in the room, he held back.

“Congratulations.” Abena held back, too. She wanted to fling her arms around his neck and give him a big, congratulatory kiss, knowing how hard he’d worked to convince Carlucci to come on board.

Over the past month, he shared his thoughts, challenges, and successes with her. They grew closer, spent a lot of time together, and she enjoyed every minute of it, even if all they did was as simple as eating a late meal and then falling into bed.

She appreciated how he never complained about her hours. And despite his chauvinistic jokes every so often about the differences between men and women, he never made her feel as if she should be doing “less demanding” work.

There were times, however, when she was tempted to complain about his hours. On Saturdays, they met for lunch if Santiago could break from work. She suspected he might not stop even for thirty minutes to eat if she didn’t call and invite him out for a meal.

On Sundays, he was definitely more relaxed. They went to brunch, tossed around a Frisbee, or played volleyball on the beach with strangers. On occasion, they cooled off in the sparkling Atlantic Ocean. Unlike Marc, he didn’t care how much material her bathing suit was made of, and jokingly blamed the skimpy attire for why he constantly touched her or stole kisses in the middle of a game.

They’d also done volunteer work together. A few nights she dragged him away from the computer so they could lend a hand at Miami Feed the Hungry and Homeless, serving dinner and helping with cleanup afterward. From what she could tell, Santiago enjoyed the experience.

“Abena, when you have a break, may I see you in my office?” Santiago asked.

“Certainly,” she replied.

He nodded at them both on the way out, but his gaze lingered on Abena before he left the room.

Sonia swung her head toward Abena. “Santiago?” she whispered.

“What? Why would you think Santiago and I…?” Abena’s cheeks and neck became very hot.

“Because you barely looked at him the entire time he was in here. And the look he gave you before he left the room was, um, noticeable.”

Abena laughed. “You’re imagining things.”

“Did I imagine the two of you were weirdly polite to each other?”

“Mhmm.” Abena cradled the mug in her hand and sipped her coffee.

“Huh. Okay. I won’t push, but I’ve always suspected there was something between the two of you.” Sonia paused at the door, cup of coffee in hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything to you-know-who.” She winked and then disappeared.

Abena relaxed the tension in her shoulders and silently thanked Sonia for not informing Esteban. She suspected he wouldn’t exactly be thrilled about his second-in-command and his assistant having a relationship. Especially with Santiago having a few weeks left on his probation period.

Later, she took Esteban his midmorning espresso and went over details for the Restaurant Innovation Summit taking place in Texas at the end of the month. He asked her opinion on how Crystal was working out, gave her some tasks for his administrative assistant to complete, and then left for a meeting across town.

Abena worked in her office and stayed away from Santiago for as long she could, but finally could no longer resist temptation and strolled down the hallway to his side of the building.

She stopped at Crystal’s door. “Is he in?”

Every time she saw Crystal, she silently thanked her for getting into a fight with her boyfriend and missing the pop-up club that night. If she hadn’t, Abena and Santiago wouldn’t have gotten together.

“Yes. Go right in,” Crystal replied.

Abena knocked once and entered the office. She closed the door behind her, leaning against it and watched as Santiago slowly rose to his feet to greet her.

“So, you pulled it off,” she said. Her whole body was already aware of him, tingling in anticipation.

“Yes, I did. And I think I deserve a reward.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” She walked over to him, hands held demurely behind her back.

He chuckled softly as he watched her move across the floor. When she rounded his desk, he sat on the corner and pulled her between his legs.

“What’s my reward for doing such outstanding work?”

Abena trailed a finger up his hard thigh. She’d become so much more daring now. So much more confident in her skin and her ability to please him. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a kiss.”

“Only a kiss?” he asked, bringing his mouth within an inch of hers. “I managed to get the most elusive chef in the world to work for our new restaurant, and all you can offer is a kiss?”

She giggled and flung her arms around his neck. “What did you have in mind, Señor Vila?”

His hands snaked around her back to her bottom. “I was thinking a back rub.”

“A back rub?” She gasped when his lips found the middle of her neck and sucked.

“Mhmm. A naked back rub.”

Abena moaned and squeezed closer. She rubbed her cheek against his hair-roughened jaw. “Which one of us is naked?” she asked.

“Both of us,” he whispered.

“I don’t think all you want is a back rub.” She kissed the corner of his mouth. “Both of us naked could only lead to one thing.”

“What’s that?” he asked, his eyes half-closed and filled with lust.

“Hot sex.”

He groaned. “My favorite pastime.”

She giggled and gave him a proper kiss, sinking her teeth into his bottom lip and then gently sucking as she pressed closer. She was so proud of him, happy for him, as if his accomplishment were her accomplishment.

She eased away, but he pulled her back in.

“No, not yet, querida.” He seized her mouth again. They kissed for a long time, their mouths gliding over each other, their tongues tangling in an erotic tango. They kissed for so long her nipples ached and she pressed her breasts against him for relief, but the pressure only inflamed her lust more. His hands ran up and down her back, over her hips and ass, grabbing and squeezing. She arched into him, moaning quietly in her throat, while her wet, throbbing sex ached to be filled. But when his hand inched up her skirt, she pressed her hands against his chest and eased back.

Taking deep breaths, she finally spoke. “We can’t. You know we can’t. It’s the middle of the day.”

“I’ll be fast,” he promised, dragging her close again.

“You’re never fast.” Abena slapped away his hand and stepped out of his embrace. “Sonia is already onto us.”

“She is?”

“She promised not to say anything to Esteban. Would it bother you if he found out?” Abena straightened her twisted skirt.

Santiago licked his lips and let his gaze rove over her hips in a hungry caress. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to know about us right now.”

She nodded. “I agree. It could make things awkward.”

“Yes. And I’m still on probation.”

She nodded vigorously. “True. No point in rocking the boat.” His answer made sense, and she wholeheartedly agreed with him, but on some level his response disappointed her, too. She fixed a smile on her face. “You’re still coming by later?”

“Of course. You’re cooking jollof rice.”

“Sometimes I think you only want me for my cooking skills.”

“And your sexy body.” He winked.

A pinprick of pain lanced Abena in the chest, but she kept on smiling. He was only kidding, but she wished he’d said something different.

“You have appointments to attend, don’t you? I’ll see you later.” He reached for her again, but she scampered away with a laugh.

On the way across the room, she felt his gaze until she closed the door behind her. Walking down the hall, her steps weren’t as light as when she initially went to see Santiago. She shut the door of her office and leaned back against it, staring at the window across the room.

She was falling for him. Fast and hard. Spending so much time together evoked a wild variation of emotions, and not because of his sexy body.

Her mouth twisted into renewed disappointment at his answer.

No, not because he was sexy, but because she blossomed in his company and she felt sexy and alive. He made her laugh. He was smart. He was driven. She admired him. They spent quiet, perfect moments together, but there were times when they argued, too. Yet she didn’t want to be anywhere else but in his company.

Abena swallowed the lump in her throat and bit her bottom lip.

That was love.

She let a tremulous breath pass her lips. She’d never experienced such depth of feeling with Marc. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t sure about anything. She didn’t know how Santiago felt about her beyond the sex, and she never addressed the issue of monogamy with him, though she didn’t think he was seeing anyone else.

She sat down and rested her head in her hands. She could have never married Marc. Her feelings for him paled in comparison to the intensity and longing she felt for Santiago, almost from the beginning. With Santiago, she always felt dangerously close to drowning in a sea of emotion.

She didn’t know how long this affair would last. She’d simply have to live in the moment, go with the flow, and hope for the best.