Bachelor at Her Bidding (Bachelor Auction Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

either.
    She shook herself. How ridiculous to be worrying about this. It wasn’t even a proper date; it was a birthday dinner cooked for her by a Parisian-trained chef, bought by her sister and her best friends, with the money going to an important local fundraiser. So she could wear whatever she wanted. It didn’t matter.
    But she remembered the way her skin had felt when Ryan had shaken her hand. The tingle that had gone all the way down her spine. The way her lower lip had suddenly felt sensitive and aching. The way her libido had practically sat up and begged.
    Not good.
    OK, so he wasn’t Nick. And not all men cheated. But making herself vulnerable again, trusting someone with her heart… She wasn’t in the right place to do that. And the attraction was probably one-sided in any case. Women must be queuing up round the block to date someone as gorgeous as Ryan Henderson. Why would he bother looking twice at a woman who had a distinct lack of curves?
    “This is platonic,” she reminded herself, and chose her plainest dress before tying her hair back at the nape with a chiffon scarf.
    There was a knock at her door at five minutes to six. Ryan? Adrenalin fizzed through her veins, but she damped it down and opened the door.
    Ryan was carrying two large lidded plastic boxes; resting on the top of them was a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, a mix of roses and gerberas and carnations. He balanced the boxes on one knee, retrieved the flowers and handed them to her with a smile. “Happy birthday, Miz Cassidy.”
    The unexpected gesture warmed her all through. “Thank you. That’s really kind of you.” Guilt made her add, “Though you didn’t need to do that.” It hadn’t been part of the deal.
    “It’s your birthday,” he said, “and all beautiful women should have flowers on their birthday.”
    The warmth was replaced with a sinking feeling. Rachel knew she wasn’t beautiful – Nick had made that very clear – so it seemed that Ryan Henderson was just another charmer. And besides, weren’t chefs always supposed to schmooze their clients? So this was just patter. He hadn’t meant a single word of it. And she wasn’t going to let herself be taken in by sweet words, ever, ever again.
    “Uh-huh,” she said. “Come in. I need to find a vase and put these lovely flowers in water.” She noticed that he was wearing the white chef’s tunic and pinstriped trousers again, teamed with highly polished shoes and the tall chef’s hat. “Do you wear that in the kitchen at Grey’s?” she asked, suddenly curious. It seemed out of place with the saloon’s rustic air.
    “No. It’s a little more casual there, so I wear a skullcap rather than a toque, and a slightly plainer jacket.” He smiled. “This is what I used to wear in Paris.”
    Obviously he was wearing his Parisian uniform as part of the dating deal. “You don’t have to stand on formality if you’d rather not wear the hat,” she said.
    “Thanks. I have to admit I only wear this for show. The skullcap’s easier and it doesn’t get in the way.” He removed the hat to reveal short dark hair that was slightly curly.
    Her fingertips itched to touch his hair, to find out if it was as silky as it looked – and how stupid was that? This wasn’t a proper date, and she wasn’t going to embarrass herself by making a move on Ryan Henderson. One that he would most definitely rebuff. Hadn’t Nick already made it clear that she wasn’t enough for a real man? How pathetic was she to even think about acting on her attraction to Ryan? She coughed to cover her confusion. “I’ll show you to the kitchen. I’m afraid my apartment’s a bit on the small side.”
    “In Paris, it’d be considered huge,” he said. “The rooms there were seriously tiny by American standards.”
    Safe ground, to her relief. If she could get him to talk about Paris, then they wouldn’t touch on anything personal. Which suited her just fine. “I’ve never been to Europe. It