“Could you use some help with anything?”

Nina turned around just in time to see Raoulf standing near the entrance of the kitchen. He was so tall that he bowed his head as he walked through the doorframe.

“I didn’t mean to startle you…again,” he said.

“It’s okay,” she said, unable to take her eyes from him. He was the most compelling man she’d ever seen. “I should’ve invited you in here in the first place. It’s just that I haven’t had anyone in my home in a while, except for the repair guy. And then there’s the staff from the local food bank. I make and freeze some of my casseroles and take them down there on a weekly basis. I’m rambling again…”

Raoulf smiled. “No complaints from me.” He held up his hands. “I found your guest bathroom, so I’m all cleaned up. Can I help you set the table?”

“Sure. Plates and wine glasses are up there. Utensils are in the drawer to the right of the fridge.”

For a man living on the road, he certainly knew how to clean up. Instead of worn jeans and a dark hoodie, he wore a nice pair of black pants and a dark blue collared shirt. He still had on boots, but they were much nicer versions of the ones he previously sported. His hair was still wild and free. That must have been his signature style—unkempt and savage. He wore the unique scar on his face like a badge of honor and didn’t seem ashamed by it in the least.

“Everything smells great. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in forever,” he said as he began preparing a place setting for each of them.

“I’m glad I could do this for you. I appreciate your help earlier this week,” she said, bending down over the refrigerator to grab the two bowls filled with the chilled Chef salad she’d made earlier just before he’d arrived.

He sat down at the table and she put one of the bowls in front of him followed by a basket of breadsticks. She felt his intense stare all over her body as she brought the plates and other condiments to the table one by one. She sat the wine bottle on the table and without hesitation he popped the cork with little to no effort and then poured some into each glass.

His gaze ran over the offerings. “This looks almost too good to eat. You’re a Master, indeed.”

Heat spread across her chest, up her neck, and over her face. “Maybe have a bite before you decide,” Nina suggested.

She pulled her salad bowl toward her and Raoulf followed her lead. He poured a hefty three tablespoons of dressing on his salad.

“That’s our family’s homemade house dressing. It’s my father’s recipe. Initially, it was his mamma’s recipe and then he tweaked it a bit. He used to make it by the batch and then hand-sell them to local restaurants in France when he was a kid. One of the restaurants offered him a job in-house and that’s where he got his start.”

“Then you come from a line of pros,” he said.

“I guess you could say that. We don’t really specialize in any one style of cuisine. I’m like my father in that I love a little variety.”

“That explains things,” he noted.

“Please…” She made a gesture toward the dishes. “Don’t mind me rambling. Help yourself. I have a couple more steaks left if you’re still hungry after that one.”

“Thank you,” he said.

For a long moment, they were both quiet as they immersed themselves into eating dinner. Raoulf moved from one dish to the other, ravenously attacking the food with gusto. He seemed a little uncomfortable with a knife and fork, especially when it came to cutting into the steak. After seeing him throwing his utensils down and shoveling food into his mouth without them more than once, she made the assumption that he was more comfortable eating with his fingers. She didn’t know what appealed to her more. Raoulf licking his fingers clean or Raoulf running his tongue across the seam of his lips after every bite.

He cleaned his plate and then looked at her expectantly.

“More?” she asked.

He nodded. “Please.”

She felt a triumphant smile cross her lips and she got up quickly to put more food on his plate. He dived in again before the plate could fully hit the table. Meanwhile, she ate small rabbit bites of her food as she secretly watched him. This time he didn’t even bother with the knife and fork, except to occasionally shovel the home fries down. On top of that, he even spooned down two bowls of the cobbler.

Good Lord, where had he put all that food? He didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. Did he really eat this much? Was he just super hungry or was the food that good?

“You were really hungry…” She just couldn’t help herself.

“That too.” He picked up a napkin, wiped his mouth, and then cleaned his fingers. “But that was the best damn plate of food I’ve had in a while.”

“Why thank you.” She blushed.

“You’ve barely eaten anything,” he said.

“I like to snack as I go along to make sure everything tastes great.” She winked. “I’ll be fine.”

Nina got up and began clearing the table.

“Let me help you clean up.”

“No need. You’re my guest. You should sit down and let all that food digest.”

“How did your search go today?” he asked, as she ran some water in the sink.

“Excuse me?”

“The other day you mentioned you were looking for a place to set up your catering business.”

“Oh,” she said. “It went great actually. I looked at two places and both have ample space and are reasonably priced. I just want to make sure I’m making the right decision to set up shop here, ya know. I kind of chose Alastar out of the blue.”

“Don’t you like this town?”

“Oh, I love it out here. It’s quiet and the folks are super nice. I just don’t want to make any more mistakes. I have to make sure I do what’s right for my business and not make this a personal decision.”

“What do you mean?”

She scrubbed at a cast iron skillet for a few minutes before answering him. “Once…I used to be a personal chef to a very busy executive further down south.”

“Further down south…where?”

“Texas,” she answered.

“Texas?” he mumbled. “Virginia is far away from Texas.”

“Yeah, I absolutely loved Texas and I loved my job there. I signed an employment contract that pretty much stated that I was set for life as far as full-time gainful employment goes.”

Raoulf had leaned up against the kitchen counter, watching her work and listening to her intently.

“That sounds like a lucrative job. Something unexpected must have happened,” he said.

“He was dealing with family problems all the time. I didn’t ask what was going on right off the bat, but I had come to trust him and he told me that he needed to enter a marriage for a couple of months to inherit something that was left in his grandparent’s will. Anyway, one thing led to another and I entered into an agreement to help him. I was already at his home all the time, so no one would suspect anything if we entered this marriage agreement for a short while. Plus I was getting something out of the deal too. While he was finalizing things on his end, he fronted me the cash to get my side catering business up and running. I was supposed to marry him some time afterward. I couldn’t do it after what I discovered, so I backed out. To get out of the agreement, I sold my business and paid him back what I owed him. I know this is strange…”

“It’s not strange to me,” Raoulf replied.

“It’s over and done with anyway and I’m trying to move on with my life. I wasn’t able to do that for a long while after I didn’t go through with what I’d agreed to do for him.”

“Why did you decide not to marry him? Was something wrong with him? Did you suspect something was wrong?”

Nina promised herself that she’d never talk about this to anyone, but the circumstances had been weighing so heavy on her over the last few weeks, that she felt relief now that she’d gotten some of it off her chest.

“He’s corrupt. That’s all I can say. Look, I don’t like to talk about it. The matter is private.”

Raoulf frowned. “Understood.”

She didn’t miss the look of suspicion that set in across his face as his attention turned from her to something just outside of her kitchen window. When she followed his gaze, there was nothing there. He was deep in thought, and most likely trying to figure out what could have led her to agree to such a thing and then not go through with the marriage. She’d confided in a best friend about this same issue and even she voiced the same concern. What had been going through her head when she agreed to something like that? Too bad Nina was still bound by the confidentiality part of the agreement. She’d never broken that stipulation and she doubted she ever would. It had been months since Warren Chestnut had tried to get a hold of her. The more he searched for her, the further away she moved. Only this time she felt that she was truly free from him spying on her. Or maybe he’d just gotten tired of running after her, hoping she’d change her mind and actually live up to her end of the agreement.