Into the Fire - Leslie Kelly [61]
"I mean hungry for food." Seeing their breakfast was nearly ready, Lacey gathered some dishes and set the small kitchen table. "I assume we're eating in here this morning?"
"I dunno, I think I liked feasting in the living room last night."
She felt a blush rush into her cheeks again. Yes, he'd definitely feasted—on her.
After placing breakfast on the table, Nate sat opposite her.
"Where'd you learn to cook?" Lacey asked after sampling her eggs. "I can barely manage toast."
"My mother believed in making everyone in the family self-sufficient. We used to have to take turns cooking. Of course, my sister, Kelsey, usually found a way to get out of it on her nights. She could talk her way out of anything." An amused expression crossed his face.
"What?"
"I never thought that one day I'd be so thankful she's got such a big mouth."
She didn't understand. "What do you mean?"
"You remember when you asked me last night if I listen to 'Night Whispers'?"
She nodded. "You said you didn't, which kind of surprised me. I thought every guy in Baltimore was nuts about Lady Love."
Nate snorted. "Not exactly."
"Why not? Those sexy topics, the sultry voice. And I've heard she's gorgeous."
"Well, whenever I hear that sultry voice, all I can picture is it being used to get me into deep trouble. Like when she told my father I'd climbed out my bedroom window and gone to a college party when I was sixteen. She wanted to get even because I wouldn't take her with me."
She stared at him, still not following.
"Lady Love is Kelsey," he explained.
"Your sister?"
"Yes. My rotten, bratty little sister who once painted pink hearts and flowers on my skateboard because I wouldn't let her borrow it."
"Oh! Wow. Your sister does have a cool job," she said, remembering his comment from the day before. She took another bite of breakfast. Thinking of his voice on the tape recorder the night before, and all the other times he'd made her quiver with his evocative whispers, she continued, "Now that I think about it, the two of you have a lot in common. Your voice is as powerful as hers."
"I perform for private audiences only. And only because you make me lose my mind."
"Ditto," she replied, then took another bite of breakfast. She really had worked up an appetite the night before. After sipping juice, she said, "I can see why it might be uncomfortable for you to listen to her show."
"Usually it's fine," Nate replied. "Some nights I laugh about it, imagining what her husband, Mitch, is going through at home with their two kids while she's on the radio titillating half the eastern seaboard. Her show's been syndicated, you know."
She nodded. "Mitch is your friend, right?"
"My best friend. He practically grew up with us. Anyway, I've never listened to the show with a woman before, and I definitely didn't want to be hearing my kid sister while watching you."
She bit her lip as she remembered exactly what he was watching her do. The heat in his expression told her he was remembering, too.
"So," she finally said after nervously taking a few more bites of egg, "your sister ended up becoming a hot radio deejay, and you write sexy relationship stuff in a men's magazine. What do your parents think of that?"
He grinned. "They're very supportive. Now that they know Mitch is around to make sure Kelsey doesn't get hurt by some wacko fan or something, they don't worry about her so much anymore."
"And you?"
"Well, they're still waiting for some woman to come along and show me the error of my ways in the romance department. They haven't given up on me settling down."
Lacey held her breath, but he didn't continue. Finally she said, "I wonder what they'll say when they read our crossover articles."
"What do you mean?"
"When they see you've been firmly convinced by our research that most men are not happier being single and playing the field."
"They're not?"
She glared and considered tossing a piece of toast at his smirking face. "No, they're not."
"So you still believe every guy who drools over the