Degrees of Passion (16 page)

He balled his hand into a fist. Anger and hurt warred inside him. But what could he say? He had no room to protest her statement. They didn’t have a commitment and she’d already told him she didn’t talk to her family about her love life. Part of him had hoped that he’d be special enough to break that cycle of secrecy.

‘My mistake,’ Ryan said.

Sasha kept her eyes steadily forwards, refusing to look at the man next to her. She waited for Kevin to contradict her denial of them. When he didn’t, she couldn’t help but feel disappointment when there should have only been relief.

In truth, she was unsure how to act and resented Kat for instigating this whole scene. She only really connected with Kevin the night before and didn’t know where they stood, or how she even felt about them, or if there was even a ‘them’. If she didn’t want her sisters poking into her long relationship with Trevor, she sure as hell didn’t want them butting into whatever she had with Kevin.

To hide her insecurities, Sasha turned her attention to something safer. ‘I wish spring would get here already and the snow would stop.’

‘The internship lets out for spring break in about a week. You could go somewhere warm,’ Kevin suggested.

‘Oh, can you, Sasha?’ Zoe asked. ‘I’d love to take another family trip.’

‘Mm, Bahamas,’ Kat moaned. ‘Sun. Sand. Heat.’

‘A cruise,’ Jackson suggested.

‘I’ve been dying to photograph the Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico,’ Ryan inserted.

Kat chuckled. ‘We’re talking crisp ocean waters and sandy beaches.’

Ryan shrugged. ‘Deserts have sand. Oceans of the stuff.’

‘I can’t,’ Sasha said. ‘I’ve got too much work to do with my final project and we have to work on a presentation to officially complete the internship since it’s so short timewise.’

‘I won’t be here,’ Kevin said. ‘I’m going upstate.’

‘Oh?’ Sasha wished she could stop the small sound of disappointment, but it was too late.

‘It’s not exactly warm, but it could be a nice break,’ Zoe said, a mischievous look on her face. Sasha frowned. She’d expect such obvious meddling from Kat, not Zoe. ‘And you both need to work on your presentation.’

‘Kevin’s family is there,’ Sasha said. ‘I’m not intruding on a family thing. We’ll just work on it when he’s back.’

‘You’d be welcome,’ Kevin inserted. Sasha turned to him in surprise only to see a matching emotion in his eyes, like he was amazed he’d offered. He cleared his throat. ‘They own the Sawmill Pine Bed & Breakfast near Lake Champlain, so there are plenty of available rooms. If the B&B has overflow, my mother takes in guests and there are the separate cottage houses. They wouldn’t charge you and I planned on renting a car to drive up anyway.’

‘A free vacation?’ Ryan reiterated. ‘You can’t refuse that, Sasha.’

‘I don’t—’ Sasha mumbled.

‘We could have uninterrupted time to work on that presentation,’ Kevin interrupted. ‘Unless you have other plans?’

Did sitting at home eating ice cream and fudge cake in pyjamas count as a plan?

Sasha nodded, trying to act nonchalant about it. ‘OK. Sounds great. We’ll go upstate for spring break, but I’m paying for half the rental.’

‘If you insist,’ Kevin answered.

‘Oh, here we are,’ Kat announced as the limo slowed. ‘And don’t worry. Since I kidnapped you from work, I’m covering the check. Or should I say Mimi is? She’ll be so pleased I’m finally using my Richmond special allowances account for something.’

Kat didn’t wait for the driver as she opened the door. Cold air instantly swept into the car, cutting off conversation as the occupants adjusted their hats and coats. Sasha waited, letting the others go first. As she moved to step out, Jackson held out his hand to help her. She smiled at Zoe. Her sister had really found herself a true gentleman.

Kevin exited last, standing behind her on the snowy sidewalk. When she glanced at him, his face was turned up to read the restaurant’s sign. Fat snowflakes landed on his face, dusting his black skull cap and his wool coat. Reading the sign, he said, ‘Annika.’

‘I’ve heard they have great Scandinavian dishes here,’ Zoe put forth. ‘Mostly Swedish cuisine, if I recall. I’ve read about Chef Bengtsson in the
New York Times
.’

‘He’s a nice guy,’ Jackson said. ‘I’ll introduce you.’

‘You never told me you met him.’ Zoe took her husband’s arm.

‘It never came up.’ Jackson walked his wife inside. Ryan strolled after them.

Sasha grabbed Kat’s hand, gripping it tight to keep her from following. To Kevin, she said, ‘Would you mind going ahead? We’ll be right in.’

‘Sure.’ Kevin joined Ryan who held the door open. The two men walked in.

‘What?’ Kat asked, her face revealing she knew full well ‘what’.

Sasha let go of her sister’s hand, afraid if she didn’t she’d keep squeezing until Kat yelped in pain. The cold surroundings faded in light of her irritation. Her breath came out in white puffs as she demanded, ‘So, are we really going to meet Mimi about donating to the museum, or was this just your way of messing up my chance at completing the internship without completely being hated by the doctor in charge?’

‘Whoa, turn down the hostility,’ Kat said. ‘I can explain. Kind of.’

‘Of course I’m hostile,’ Sasha hissed. ‘Damn it, Kat. This is my life. If I don’t come back with some sort of giant donation, he’ll blame me. And I can’t exactly tell him my sister was bored and decided she wanted to embarrass me with the one guy who is quite literally probably fifty thousand times smarter than I am and who I can’t run away from.’

‘Hey, calm down, Sash. Take a breath.’ Kat tried to pat her arm.

Sasha jerked back. ‘What were you thinking?’

Kat sighed heavily. All pleasantness fell from her features as she answered truthfully, ‘That mom called us and said we had to interfere. She begged me to do something crafty to get you out. So Zoe came up with the dinner idea and I did a little research into your internship project, bought this rich-girl getup from one of the stores Mimi’s already trying to get me to shop at, took the family limo and forced you out of hiding.’

‘I’m not hiding,’ Sasha pouted.

‘Mom said you weren’t coming to family dinner this Sunday,’ Kat said. ‘And that you seemed melancholy when she talked to you the other day.’

‘Because I’m busy and I just broke . . .’ Sasha stopped talking.

‘Omigod, are you saying Mom’s tea leaves were right?’ Kat’s eyes rounded. ‘You did just break up with someone and are about to throw away something great because you’re confused again? I mean, she gets it close, we all know that, but she’s right, right?’

‘I’d been seeing someone for –,’ Sasha hesitated ‘– a while. It’s over now and I don’t want you meddling.’

‘If I knew she was dead on, I wouldn’t have . . .’ Kat threw her arms around Sasha. ‘Honey, I’m so sorry for this. I thought you’d get a laugh out of it and an afternoon off. I didn’t know that this Kevin guy was actually a—’

‘He’s not anything,’ Sasha rushed.

‘Sasha, please don’t shut me out like this and please don’t take your anger at me out on that poor guy in there,’ Kat begged. ‘We can all tell you’re sleeping with him, or at least almost sleeping with him. You should have seen the look on his face when you said you were just his lab partner. He looked like he’d been slapped. Men who are just lab partners don’t get that look.’

Sasha frowned. ‘This is why I don’t tell you these things. You guys are always on my case about who I choose to date, and who I like, and how I behave towards them.’

‘I’m your sister and as such you’re duty bound to listen to me when I tell you you’re being an ass. And, Sash, sweetie, you’re being an ass. I’m not imagining that look I saw on Kevin’s face and I know you. I love you, but I know how you can be. Whether you want more or not with this guy, you need to be nicer and pay attention to the signals you’re giving him. You always over think things and ignore the obvious – like how we’re having this conversation while freezing our asses off.’

‘You could have just called and talked to me,’ Sasha said, pouting a little as she allowed Kat’s walk to prompt her own.

‘Yeah, because that’s worked so well in the past,’ Kat drawled wryly, threading Sasha’s arm with hers. ‘You’re such an open book of emotion letting us all in.’

Sasha sighed. ‘And you’re a pushy bitch. Sometimes.’

‘But I love you,’ Kat said.

‘I know. Me, too.’ Sasha pushed open the restaurant door. The frosty glass against her red fingers made her wish she’d worn gloves.

Annika’s simple wood and muted color palette made for a very relaxed, yet elegant atmosphere. The uncluttered walls held a few darkened paintings of large Viking ships and fierce Nordic warriors. The host promptly greeted them and led them to their table. The rest of the dining party was already seated.

Kat’s advice to be nicer still stung. Sasha didn’t try to come off mean, but apparently there was something in her expression that didn’t translate well. Kat took an empty seat next to Ryan, forcing Sasha between Kevin and Jackson. She managed a smile for Kevin, turning it around the table so the others wouldn’t think she was openly flirting with him.

‘Doesn’t the smell in here remind you of when we were little?’ Sasha asked her sisters.

‘I know,’ Zoe agreed. ‘Grandma making Swedish pancakes for breakfast and then stuffing them with meat, smothering them with cheese and rolling them up for lunch.’

‘Oh, before I forget.’ Kat motioned to Sasha and Kevin. ‘I don’t want you to worry about the donation to the project. Like I said, I have that Richmond special allowances account. Mimi has been pressuring me to pick something to donate to, so that Vincent and my names are mentioned wherever it is they get mentioned. Vincent doesn’t care, bless his absentminded adorable heart, so it falls to me to pick. I figure it might as well be my sister’s project.’

Kevin chuckled. ‘The Project Aztec people thank you for your generosity.’ He reached for his coat. ‘And I think I was supposed to subtly work in these pamphlet things during our discussion.’

The table laughed. Kat reached to take them, sliding them into her purse. ‘So glad business is taken care of.’

‘Just don’t let Prichard know we landed the deal right away and then skipped out on a half day’s work,’ Sasha said, trying to join the lightened mood. Sitting next to Kevin, she became aware of how close their legs were under the table. Odd that she should feel desire while surrounded by other people. Normally she could turn such thoughts off. With Kevin, it seemed the harder she tried not to think of grabbing him beneath the table, the more she wanted to do it. Nervously, she grabbed her cloth napkin and slid it onto her lap, fiddling with the edges as she turned her eyes to the menu lying before her on the table.

‘Everything sounds so good,’ Ryan said, ‘at least the things I can decipher.’

‘What do you think, Zoe?’ Kat asked. ‘Should we smorgasbord it?’

‘Most definitely.’ Zoe nodded.

‘I’m down,’ Ryan answered.

‘Sure,’ Jackson said, ‘but I’m ordering the
köttbullar
with boiled potatoes.’

Kevin leaned close to Sasha’s ear, whispering, ‘Smorgasbord it?’

‘Everyone orders something different and we all share, kind of like a giant sampler platter,’ Sasha responded, turning so that her mouth came close to his cheek. The smell of his cologne erupted a tingling in her lips. She pressed them together tightly, suppressing the sudden desire to pull his mouth to hers and kiss him like Zoe had just done to her husband.

‘Sounds good,’ Kevin agreed, sitting back in his chair. He appeared completely unaware of her inner turmoil.

‘
Köttbullar
?’ Ryan asked.

‘Swedish meatballs,’ Jackson explained. ‘I had the best meatball when I was in Norway last time. Perfect combination of beef, pork and breadcrumbs. I think they might have even snuck in some sort of fish, but I couldn’t get the chef to reveal his secret.’

‘Well, I’m trying the herring,’ Kat announced. ‘I’ve never had herring and leeks.’

‘And you call yourself of Swedish descent,’ Zoe teased.

‘I claim the French side. They have more wine,’ Kat answered.

‘There are Swedish wines,’ Jackson said, ‘but they’re known for being a little on the harsher side because of the cold-climate grapes.’

‘Jackson’s brother is opening a winery,’ Zoe explained. ‘They’ve been studying up on it together.’

‘I don’t even know what a leek is,’ Sasha said. ‘Isn’t it some kind of sprout?’

‘It’s like an onion,’ Zoe answered. ‘Grandma used to cook with them.’

‘All I know is I have to take one.’ Ryan stood. ‘Order whatever for me, Zoe. You know food. I’ll be right back.’

‘You are so classy.’ Kat giggled. ‘You and Megan just sit around scratching body parts when you’re alone, don’t you?’

‘Only each other’s.’ He winked audaciously.

Sasha didn’t hear the rest of Ryan’s teasing answer as Kevin once again leaned into her. Quietly, he said, ‘I really like your family. They don’t take themselves too seriously.’

‘Are you saying I do?’ Sasha inquired just as softly, arching a brow.

‘At this exact moment?’ Kevin chuckled, nodding. ‘Yes.’

‘Sasha?’ Kat’s voice intruded.

Sasha blinked. ‘Huh?’

‘You know what you want?’ Zoe asked.

Sasha kept her eyes on Kevin a moment longer.

‘I’m not on the lunch menu,’ Kevin whispered.

‘Oh, that.’ Sasha pointed at the menu, not really reading what she chose. It didn’t matter anyway. They were all going to sample each other’s and, if she picked something awful, she’d just eat everyone else’s.

‘Horseradish shrimp,’ Kevin read aloud, only to add under his breath, ‘Interesting second choice.’

When the waiter came to take their order, Zoe listed everyone’s selections, including wild mushroom
pyttipanna
and
Västerbotten
pie, before turning expectantly to Kevin. ‘I don’t think you said what you were going to add to the table?’