Page 34 of A Billionaire for Christmas
Lucca’s face lit up. ‘Absolutely. I’ll get some wine from the cellar. What dessert is it?’
‘It’s a kind of layered caramel turtle cheesecake with pistachio and kunafa.’ Unsurprisingly, she’d gone off the idea of making the panna cotta slippery nipple.
‘Wow. Sounds great. I’ll be back in a minute. You dish up. Get two glasses. I know just the wine to go with it.’
Lucca dashed off, leaving Molly in a bit of a flap. Did this mean Lucca and Levi would be eating dessert, and she would be serving them? She grabbed her apron and quickly got the cream from the fridge to whisk up. She would grate a vanilla pod lightly into it. She needed to quickly make some caramel crunch for decoration. Like lightning, she added brown sugar to a pan of melting butter.
‘Found it!’ Lucca said, brandishing a dusty bottle. ‘Whoa, that smells delicious. I’ll get the bowls, shall I?’
‘That’s okay. This will only take two minutes then I can set the table for you both.’
‘Both?’
‘You and Levi?’
When Lucca didn’t reply, Molly swivelled round to find him opening the wine. He poured two glasses and offered her one. ‘I thought we’d have dessert together. Get to know one another. Cheers.’
Molly felt rude not taking the glass and clinked it to his. ‘Oh, erm, thanks. That’s kind of you. I think.’
Lucca laughed. ‘We don’t all treat our staff like second-class citizens in this family. Unlike my brother, I’ve never been one to judge a book by its cover. I knew that behind that fabulously sexy burlesque costume there was a dowdy chef just screaming to be let out.’
Molly glanced down at her meat-stained apron and baggy sweatpants and let out a huff of laughter as she took a sip. She felt her tastebuds instantly zing.
‘Nice, isn’t it?’ Lucca said, turning the bottle over in his hand. ‘I’ve been dying to try this one. Come and sit down. Let’s finish the bottle.’
Alarm bells started ringing in her head. The last thing she needed was to get caught drunk on the job. ‘I’ll bring the cheesecake over.’
She finished whisking the cream and piped out the cooling caramel onto baking paper. She placed two generous slabs of sumptuous cheesecake onto plates and arranged the caramel crisps, dollops of cream and drizzled caramel, crisscrossing it carefully over the plate.
‘This looks very decadent,’ Lucca said as she placed the two plates down on the large table. He had increased the flames in the fire, lowered the lights and suddenly, she became aware of music softly playing. It was all very unnecessary. ‘Sit,’ he instructed.
Molly perched reluctantly on the chair opposite.
‘This is incredible,’ he said, spooning the creamy filling into his mouth. ‘The best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth. And that’s quite the compliment I assure you.’ He winked at her.
Molly had no words. She rose from her seat.
Lucca put his spoon down. ‘Sorry. I should have warned you. I’m a notorious flirt.’
‘So I see,’ Molly said, hovering by the table. ‘Is there any point in telling you you’re wasting your time? Or would you just carry on regardless?’
Lucca laughed good naturedly, holding up his hands in defeat. ‘Sit back down and tell me all about yourself,’ he said, his eyes twinkling.
Molly marvelled at how alike the brothers were. Very smooth. Very confident. Insanely handsome.
‘Thank you but I’d rather leave you and Levi to enjoy your dessert together.’ She swigged back the wine and placed the empty glass on the table.
‘I told you, he’s not coming.’ Lucca refilled the glass. ‘How long have you been in the employ of my emotionally repressed brother?’
She gingerly sat down. ‘I assume you’re the black sheep of the family?’
Lucca raised his glass. ‘Absolutely. How could you tell?’
They were interrupted by Levi walking towards them. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. He appeared void of emotion. ‘You two seem to be having a lovely evening,’ he said, a slight edge to his voice. He picked up the dusty wine bottle. ‘I’m so glad you found something worth celebrating.’ He put it down with a thump.
‘We’re celebrating this delicious melt-in-your-mouth slice of paradise,’ Lucca said, keeping his eyes trained on Molly. ‘Besides, wine is to be drunk, not collected. Would you like a glass?’
Something was clearly going on between the two brothers, yet Molly couldn’t help the feeling that she was going to come out worst.
