It was an unanswerable question. Nevertheless, it plagued her all day, distracting her from the lectures at uni. By late afternoon she had decided it was best if Jake didn't call so a choice wasn't even available. She felt so woolly-headed, it was a relief to board the ferry from Circular Quay to Mosman and stand on the outside deck, needing a blast of sea breeze to whip away the fog in her mind.

The ferry was halfway across the harbour when her mobile phone rang. Her heart instantly started hammering. It might not be him, she told herself, plucking the phone out of the side pocket of her bag. He would not have finished work yet. It wasn't quite five o'clock. Her father rarely arrived home before seven.

Gingerly she raised the phone to her ear and said, 'h.e.l.lo.'

'It's Jake, Laura.'

His voice conjured up his image so sharply, her breath stuck in her throat.

'Would you like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?'

Dinner! Her head whirled. To go or not to go...

'I thought we could try Neil Perry's Spice Temple. A new experience for both of us if you haven't been there.'

Neil Perry...one of Sydney's master chefs! His restaurants were famous for their wonderful food. The Rockpool. The Rockpool Bar and Grill. The Spice Temple. She would love, love, love to eat there, but...

'I can't afford it.'

'My treat. You gave me a great meal last Sunday.'

True. He owed her. 'Okay. I'd like that very much,' she said recklessly. A Neil Perry dinner was worth one evening with the man, regardless of what inner turmoil he caused. And maybe that would stop on further acquaintance. 'I'll meet you there,' she quickly added, not wanting her father to know she was seeing Jake Freedman again. 'What time?'

'Will seven o'clock suit?'

'Yes.'

'You know the address?'

'I'll look it up.'

'It's a bas.e.m.e.nt restaurant. Go straight downstairs. I'll wait for you inside.'

'I won't be late. Thanks for the invitation.'

She ended the call, quite pleased with herself for handling it with a fair amount of control. This meeting could be contained at the restaurant...if she wanted it to be. Eddie would let her stay over at his apartment in Paddington on Sat.u.r.day night so being taken home by Jake could be avoided, too.

Excitement buzzed through her...wicked, wanton excitement.

A s.e.xy man, a s.e.xy meal...impossible not to look forward to experiencing both.

Jake steeled himself for the Friday afternoon wrap-up meeting in Alex Costarella's office, suspecting there was only one issue of real interest on the agenda. He was right. After a half-hour chat about the week's work, Costarella leaned back in his executive chair, a smug little man-to-man smile on his face as he asked, 'Will you be seeing Laura this weekend?'

'Yes. We're having dinner together tomorrow night,' he answered, hating this matchmaking farce, but knowing that going along with it was to his advantage, keeping his position in the company ripple-free until he was ready to strike.

'Good! Good!'

Jake smiled back, playing the game to the hilt. 'Thank you for introducing me to her.'

'Pleasure. Laura needs a man to take her in hand and I hope you're the man to do it, Jake.'

The only way he was going to take her in hand was in bed, if she agreed to it. 'She's certainly very attractive.'

It was a noncommittal statement but Costarella found it encouraging enough to let the matter pa.s.s. 'Enjoy your weekend,' he said, and Jake was free to leave.

He'd thought a lot about Laura Costarella since last Sunday. She was hostile to her father, hostile to his wishes, and he'd antic.i.p.ated her saying no to the dinner invitation. Since he very much wanted her to say yes, he'd deliberately used the Neil Perry draw-card, knowing that her interest in cooking had to make her something of a foodie.

Temptation...

The stronger it was, the harder it was to resist.

She wanted him, too. No doubt about that. If she was up for a wild fling with him, Jake would be only too happy to oblige. He'd been itching to oblige all week. Satisfying the l.u.s.t she'd triggered in him was fast becoming a must-do, though he did feel ambivalent about taking on Costarella's daughter. He hadn't counted on liking her and he certainly didn't want to begin caring about her.

Spicy company, spicy food, spicy s.e.x.

That had to be the limit of his involvement with the daughter of his enemy because a line would be driven between them when he brought charges against her father, ensuring that the corrupt insolvency pract.i.tioner could never again bury another struggling business to secure his obscene liquidator's fee.

l.u.s.t always burned out after a while, he a.s.sured himself.

In the meantime, the fire had been lit for tomorrow night and he looked forward to some very spicy heat.

Laura stood in front of the billowing turquoise hologram that gave an exotic curtain illusion to the doorway leading to the Spice Temple. It should have added pleasure to her dressing up for this dinner date. She was wearing her s.e.xiest dress-a short turquoise silk bubble skirt attached to a tightly fitting black silk bodice-and the gorgeous black-and-turquoise high heels her mother had bought her for Christmas. Nothing, however, could dispel the anger festering in her mind and churning through her stomach.

Jake Freedman deserved to be stood up. Only the lure of Neil Perry's food had brought her here and she was owed a dinner. As for her outfit, she hoped it made Jake Freedman want her all the more because he could eat his heart out for s.e.x tonight. No way was he going to get as much as a piece of her.

'Have a nice night with Jake!'

Her teeth gnashed over those words-accompanied by her father's beaming smile of approval. He'd been told about this date. Maybe the two men had plotted it together. Whatever... Tonight was no longer a private and personal meeting. It reeked of other agendas in the wind and she hated the thought of playing a part in either man's scheming.

Determined on focusing on the food and giving Jake Freedman a very cold shoulder, she stepped past the doorway and made her way downstairs. Red dominated the decor of the bas.e.m.e.nt restaurant. The scent of joss-sticks wafted through it. Definitely the hot, in place to be, Laura thought, noting that most of the tables were already occupied, even at this relatively early hour.

Jake had a table for two. He rose from his chair as he saw her being led to it, his gaze swiftly raking over the high points of her femininity, before shooting her a look of sizzling appreciation. Laura sizzled, too, not only with the acute, physical awareness he sparked off, but also with resentment at the sheer animal magnetism that clutched at her heart and turned her insides to jelly.

His clothes were completely nondescript-white shirt, grey slacks. They were irrelevant to the stunning impact of the man, as though it was his natural right to hold centre stage anywhere, in any company without any effort whatsoever. He waited for her with easy confidence and Laura wished she could knock him down and sweep him out of her life as though his existence was of no account.

Somehow she had to make it of no account.

'You look spectacular,' he said in greeting, grinning wickedly as he added, 'Great shoes!'

'They're good man-stomping shoes,' she replied, doing her best to appear cool and collected.

One black eyebrow quirked upwards. 'About to do some stomping?'

She returned a glowering look. 'I'll eat first.'

'Good idea! Work up some energy.'

He was amused.

Laura seethed over his amus.e.m.e.nt as she sat down. They were handed menus by a waitress who offered to help them make choices if they wanted anything explained.

'Not yet,' Laura said firmly. 'I want to salivate over every dish before I start choosing.'

'We'll call you when we're ready,' Jake put in, smiling his charming smile, which, of course, would bring the dazzled waitress running the moment he caught her attention.

Laura fixed her attention on the menu. She read the Spice Temple philosophy first. It described what the restaurant aimed for-unique and special dishes, seasoned by an unmistakable Chinese flavour and driven by a long-fostered pa.s.sion for Asian cuisine, all designed to delight the senses with their contrasting tastes and textures. She hoped they would dominate her senses and block Jake Freedman out.

'Why do you want to stomp on me?'

She set the menu down and glared at the curiosity in his eyes. 'How many brownie points did you get for telling my father we were meeting for dinner tonight?'

'Ah!' He made a rueful grimace. 'I didn't offer the information, Laura. He asked me directly if I was seeing you again. Did you want me to lie about it?'

She was unappeased. 'I bet you knew he would ask. That's why you called me when you did. Before you left work yesterday.'

He c.o.c.ked his head on one side, the dark brown eyes challenging her stance on this issue. 'I thought you were determined on not having your father rule your life.'

'He doesn't.'

'He's influencing your att.i.tude towards me right now.'

'Because you told him.'

He shook his head. 'You should make decisions for yourself, Laura, regardless of what anyone else knows or says. You made yours yesterday. Why let him change what you want? You've brought him here with you instead of moving to your own beat.'

She frowned, realising she had let her father ruin all her pleasure in antic.i.p.ating this date. Although how could she be excited over being used?

'What about you? Are you here for me or for him?' she asked, watching for any shiftiness in his eyes.

He grinned a wickedly s.e.xy grin. 'When I was watching you walk to this table, I can a.s.sure you I was not thinking of your father.'

Heat bloomed in her cheeks at the provocative statement. She lifted her chin, defying the desire he wanted her to share. 'I decided to flaunt what you weren't going to get.'

'Decisions, decisions,' he mocked, gesturing an appeal. 'Can we leave your father out of them for the rest of this evening? Just enjoy all there is to enjoy just between ourselves?'

He was very appealing.

The man had everything-looks, intelligence, the s.e.xiest eyes in the world, and he was undermining her prejudice at a rate of knots. Nevertheless, she couldn't quite set aside an ulterior motive for this date with her. On the other hand, why shouldn't she take pleasure in being with him, move her father to the sidelines, denying him any power to influence the play between her and Jake? After all, she was the one with the power to decide how far she would get involved with this man.

She gave him a hard look of warning. 'As long as it's kept between ourselves, I'm happy to take a more positive att.i.tude towards you.'

'And I'm happy to be your secret lover,' he replied, his eyes dancing with unholy teasing.

Her heart performed a somersault. 'I didn't say anything about becoming lovers.'

'Just a.s.suring you that private moments will be kept private.' He opened up his menu. 'Let's salivate over what's on offer together. Did you see that the hottest dishes are printed in red?'

He was the hottest dish.

Laura dragged her mind off visualising him as her lover and reopened her menu. 'I prefer spicy to hot, hot,' she said, looking at the list of entrees.

'Okay. We cross out the red print ones.'

'You don't have to. Choose whatever you like.'

'There's so much to like, it will be better if we can share, don't you think? Have a taste of each other's choices? Broaden the experience?'

Sharing the taste... Laura's stomach curled. It sounded intimate. It was intimate. And suddenly she didn't care about other agendas. She wanted this experience with him.

'Great idea!' she said, and allowed herself to smile.

His eyes twinkled with pleasure, completely dissipating the anger she had carried to this meeting.

'You're incredibly beautiful when you smile,' he remarked. 'I hope I can make you smile all evening for the sheer pleasure of looking at you.'

She laughed. 'No chance! I'm going to be busy eating.'

'I'll try for in between bites.'

'I'll be drooling over the food.'

He laughed. 'Speaking of which, what entrees would you like to try?'

A smile was still on her face as she read the yummy list. The happy excitement about tonight with Jake had come bouncing back. He was right about making decisions for herself. She should trust her own instincts and go with what instinctively felt right.

CHAPTER FIVE.

THE waitress advised them to choose only one main course with a side dish of vegetables to share since they were ordering two separate entrees. The helpings were large and they would surely want to leave room for dessert.

'Definitely,' Laura agreed. 'I have to try the sesame ice cream with candied popcorn and chocolate.'

'And I want the Dessert c.o.c.ktail,' Jake said with relish. 'Sounds wonderful-caramelized pear, London gin, lillet blanc and creme de cacao shaken and served with the chocolate, sesame and cashew bark.'

It sounded very James Bond to Laura who couldn't help grinning over the thought. Jake might not be 007 but he was certainly tall, dark, handsome and dangerous, especially to any peace of mind. Somehow peace of mind wasn't rating highly at the moment. A thrilling buzz was running through her veins and she was now determined on milking maximum enjoyment out of the night, throwing caution and the Machiavellian shadow of her father to the winds.

'That's a big smile,' Jake commented, his eyes simmering s.e.xily.

'Loving the idea of having a piece of your dessert,' she tossed back, knowing she wanted a piece of him, too.

'Food, glorious food!' he quoted from the musical Oliver, half singing the words and making her laugh.

'We have to decide on which one of our main courses to go for now,' she reminded him.