What Love Tastes Like. Zuri Day

      

      “So it’s you who’s going to run away this time, huh?” Nick asked.

      “Why would I have to run away from you?”

      Nick grabbed Tiffany’s hand and gently rubbed his thumb over the inside of her palm as he answered. “Because you’re trying to deny this almost overwhelming attraction you’re feeling for me, trying to hide the fact that even at this moment you’re getting wet for me.” His eyes darkened as he continued to stare at her lips, wetting his own.

      “Don’t flatter yourself,” Tiffany retorted as she gently but firmly removed her hand from Nick’s, then grabbed her purse. “I’m leaving.”

      Tiffany was fast but Nick was faster. He grabbed her arm before she could run. “I want to go out with you.”

      “Why? You have your pick of any woman at the hotel.”

      “And I’m sure all of those women are special in their own way. But I want you.” Nick released the grip he had on her arm, but did not remove his hand. Instead he stroked the inside of her forearm with his finger. “You’re an incredible woman, Tiffany, and I’m attracted to you. I think we started something beautiful in Italy, and I’d like to see if what we felt there was real or just my imagination.”

      Also by Zuri Day

      Lies Lovers Tell

      Body By Night

      Lessons from a Younger Lover

      Published by Dafina Books

      What Love Tastes Like

      ZURI DAY

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      For all of those who love to cook,

      and who love to eat.

      Acknowledgments

      As always, special thanks to the A Team. You’re the best! To Eden Chuislekuda, for her restaurant and food-industry expertise. To my mother, one of the finest cooks I ever met, who helped inspire my love for the kitchen, and my sister, Dee, who made it look so easy. Finally, to the Food Network, my in-home school for all things culinary! Especially my favorite chefs, the Neelys, Paula Deen, Alton Brown, Rachael Ray, and the irresistible Bobby Flay. Bon appétit!

      Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      Chapter 24

      Chapter 25

      Chapter 26

      Chapter 27

      Chapter 28

      Chapter 29

      Chapter 30

      Chapter 31

      Chapter 32

      Chapter 33

      Chapter 34

      Chapter 35

      Chapter 36

      Chapter 37

      Chapter 38

      Chapter 39

      Chapter 40

      Chapter 41

      Chapter 42

      Chapter 43

      Chapter 44

      Chapter 45

      Chapter 46

      Chapter 47

      Chapter 48

      Chapter 49

      Chapter 50

      Chapter 51

      Chapter 52

      Chapter 53

      Chapter 54

      Chapter 55

      Chapter 56

      Chapter 57

      Chapter 58

      Chapter 59

      Chapter 60

      Chapter 61

      Chapter 62

      Chapter 63

      Chapter 64

      1

      Could anybody possibly be that fine? That’s what Tiffany Matthews asked herself as she fastened her seat belt, took a deep breath, and clutched a teddy bear that looked as frazzled as she felt. The bear had an excuse—it was twenty-three years old. And so did Tiffany—she was exhausted. Graduating from culinary school and preparing for a month-long overseas internship had taken its toll.

      There was yet another draining aspect to consider: Tiffany was terrified of flying. So much so that even after taking the anxiety pill her best friend had given her, she brazenly endured the curious stares of fellow passengers as they watched the naturally attractive, obviously adult woman sit in the airport, enter the jetway, and then board a plane with a raggedy stuffed animal clasped to her chest.

      Tiffany didn’t care. During a childhood where her mother worked long hours and her grandmother loved but didn’t entertain, Tuffy, the teddy bear, had been her constant and sometimes only friend. No matter what happened, Tuffy was there to lend a cushy ear, an eternal smile, and wide, button-eyed support. This stuffed animal was also the first present she remembered her father giving her, when she was five years old. Unfortunately, his gift stayed around longer than Daddy did, a fact that after years of not seeing him still brought Tiffany pain. They were estranged, and while Tiffany would never admit it, having her father’s first gift close by always felt like having him near. Tuffy brought comfort—during her childhood of loneliness, her teenaged years of puppy love and superficial heartbreak, her college years of first love and true pain, and now, while pursuing a dream her parents felt was beneath her. As the plane began its ascent into the magnificently blue May sky, and Tiffany squeezed her eyes shut, praying the pill would stave off an attack, she knew she’d take any help she could get to make it through this flight, even that of a furry friend.

      It wasn’t until the plane leveled off and her heartbeat slowed that she thought of him again—the stranger in first class. Their eyes had met when she passed by him on the way to her seat in coach. Tiffany had assessed him in an instant: fine, classy, rich. And probably married, she concluded, as she finally loosened the death grip she had on Tuffy and laid him on the middle seat next to her. Clearly out of my league…. Still, she couldn’t help but remember how her breath caught when she entered the plane and saw him sitting there, looking like a GQ ad, in the second row, aisle seat. His close-cropped black hair looked