The Devil Served Desire Read Online Free PDF Page A

your willpower. Season with salt and pepper, then mix the eggs quickly with the other ingredients.
    Now, the hard part. Leave it all alone. I know, I know. Letting something sit is not part of your nature, but this time it will all be the better for your lack of input Let cook for five or six minutes, until it's puffy and golden brown.
    Then, using a plate and some dexterity (this is not something to do when you've been drinking heavily, trust me), flip the frittata onto the plate, then slide it back into the pan to cook on the other side for three to four more minutes.
    Sprinkle with cheese and place under the broiler until cheese is melted and gooey, like the personal life mess you are trying to avoid. By now, hopefully your problems have gone home—or back to his restaurant—and your frittata is a lot more solid than your resolve.

Chapter Four
     
     
    She'd managed to escape without having to classify herself as either a mammal or crustacean, thank God and all the saints. Maria slipped her arms into her coat, ignored the growling in her belly that told her she should have at least taken the time to eat before she made her mad dash from Arnold, and picked up the pace. At home, there was a fork waiting for her. And in her hands, her leftovers.
    Who needed men when she had that combination in her kitchen?
    "Maria, wait!"
    That was not Arnold's voice—it was Dante's. She'd do well to keep on walking and not turn around. That man had "linguine in bed" written all over him.
    Well... maybe stopping was a better idea than trying to outrun him. She was, after all, in heels. And linguine in bed wasn't always a bad idea.
    Maria spun around, the Styrofoam to-go box from Vita in her hand. "I'm on my way home."
    "I gathered that. But I couldn't let you leave, not yet."
    "Don't you have a customer to attend to?"
    "He's eating. I have a few minutes. Besides, if I stayed in the restaurant, I'd hover over the guy and if there's anything that's sure to piss him off again, it's a hovering chef."
    She laughed. "I bet you're right."
    "So why don't you help me pass the time?"
    Damn, he had nice eyes. The kind that seemed to bore into a woman and read every thought she'd ever had. He'd be the type—she knew—to anticipate what she wanted in bed, just by reading the signals in her gaze.
    The volcano in her pelvis began to stir.
    Dante took a step forward, his gaze never leaving hers. "I'm sure we could find something to while away the minutes."
    Antonio was the man she was supposed to be focused on. Antonio was the man she was starving herself half to death for. Antonio was expecting her to be ready and waiting, pom-poms in hand, when he arrived for the reunion.
    But right now, she couldn't even remember what Antonio looked like.
    From somewhere beside them, violin music began to play, an old Italian love song Maria had heard her grandfather sing to Nonna after a few too many grappas.
    "See? They're even setting the mood for us."
    She smirked. "I bet you planned that"
    "Wish I could take the credit, but it's Crazy Carlo. He opens his window, year-round, and practices his violin. Damned good thing he's got some talent or I think the neighbors would kill him."
    "Why the open window?"
    "He says it lets in his creativity." Dante shrugged. "I think he just likes to put on a performance, whether it's eighty degrees out or eight."
    Maria shivered in the chilly March night air and drew her coat closer around her body. "Dedicated, or insane."
    Dante laughed. "Maybe a little of both. Most people with a passion for something usually are." He took a second step closer, bringing him within inches of touching her. His eyes met hers, connecting across the short divide between them, increasing the heat in the small space. "Don't you agree?"
    "Yes," she said, exhaling the word more than speaking it.
    What were the objections she'd had to Dante again? Something about another man? A man far, far away, who was probably out with another woman right now, not even