“You should feel honored,” he said with a haughty lift of his brow. “I don't break out my dance moves for just anyone.”
“Oh, is that what happened? I was thinking seizure.” She took the bag back from him and pulled out the fish, setting it aside on a plate she’d prepared and then dropping another fish into the bag. Holding it out to him, she stared him down she said, “Shake.”
He obediently jostled the bag around, with a grin that made her pulse jump like the oil she was now heating.
They coated the rest of the fish, and then Crystal showed him how to place one in the pan, keeping a close eye on it as it sizzled.
“Don’t you need to take the bones out first?”
Crystal shook her head, smiling. “I have some magic tricks for that.”
“Ah, so your father was a fisherman, and your mother was a sorceress. Got it.”
Crystal flipped the fish over. “Could’ve been. But she died when I was little, so everything I know came from my dad.”
“I'm sorry.” Daniel put a hand on the small of her back, and through it she could feel the sincerity of his apology. “Probably why you were so close?”
Crystal nodded, poking at the fish with a fork. “What about you? Are you close to your dad?”
Daniel pulled his hand away, and Crystal missed the warmth of it immediately. “It was just me and my mom, growing up. We're close enough. She was gone a lot, though, working and stuff. I couldn’t hang out with her at work like you did with your dad.”
Crystal wasn't sure what to say to that. The relationship she and her dad had shared was special, but she didn't want to rub that in Daniel's face by agreeing with him.
Fortunately, the fish was halfway done.
The next few minutes were filled with Crystal showing Daniel how to grab a fish by the tail and ease the meat off, letting it flake away from the bones leaving the skeleton intact.
After she let him do the second fish by himself, Daniel stood, holding the fish bones by the tail and looking at the thin, spiny ribs. “Okay, that was magical. I didn't know they could just come out like that.”
Crystal's hands had fish breading on them, so she bumped him with her hip. “See? What other guide could you have hired who would teach you not just how to capture fish, but how to cook it?”
He hip-checked her back. “I'm even becoming resigned to the fact that I’ll have to eat it.”
“Resigned.” Crystal scoffed and grabbed a chunk of the golden fish she'd moved over to paper towels to cool and popped it into her mouth. Closing her eyes to savor it, she hummed her satisfaction.
“Hey, don't eat all my fish!”
Crystal grabbed another chunk and brought it toward her mouth, but Daniel reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand over to him. His eyes met hers as his lips closed over her fingertips.
Crystal froze, sure that her heartbeat was now the loudest thing in the room.
Daniel didn't release her gaze or her wrist as he chewed and swallowed the small bite. “You're right,” he murmured, “I do like this.”
Crystal’s blood rushed as hot as the oil they'd been cooking with, and she couldn't move, couldn't breathe.
A man walked into the kitchen. “Forgive me, but I smelled fish. I was told Mr. Waltham didn't care for fish, so I have kept it out of my dishes....” His voice trailed off, noticing how close Daniel and Crystal stood, and how Daniel held Crystal’s wrist between them, her fingers still shiny from the fried fish she’d been holding.
Crystal jerked her hand back instinctively and turned to the stove where the most recent fish was burning. Scrambling to get it off the stove, she kept her face turned away from Daniel and his chef, but heard Daniel's words.
“That is correct. I am sampling local cuisine, but no adjustments to the menu are required.” His voice was stuffy and distant—exactly the sort of voice Crystal would have expected from a man who lived in a mansion and had a private chef. How could she have forgotten? Just because he was wearing her dad's t-shirt did not mean he was just a normal guy. It didn't mean anything except that he didn't want grease spot on his fancy clothes.
“I see,” said the chef. “And will the... young lady be staying for dinner?”
Crystal didn’t miss the tiny hesitation before “young lady.” She did manage not to snort, though. She knew as well as anyone that “young ladies” didn't wear baggy, navy blue t-shirts and khaki cargo shorts.
“No,” Daniel said with no hesitation. “Our lesson here is almost finished.” His voice was disinterested and impersonal, and Crystal was glad she faced away from both men, she could feel her face burning.
Yes, it was a good thing their “lesson” was almost over. She'd almost forgotten Daniel was a wealthy client. She'd almost wondered if he had been enjoying today as much as she had. But there was no mistaking that tone.
Crystal turned and smiled brightly. “Actually, we’re finished. I'll be on my way, and you can have your kitchen back. Thank you for letting us borrow it.”
The gray-haired man nodded at her, and Daniel didn't protest as Crystal hurriedly washed her hands and fled for her truck.
Chapter 9
Crystal pointed at the map. “I was thinking we would go here today.” She and Daniel stood in her shop. They’d met at ten this time, so he could see the difference between morning and afternoon fishing.
Daniel grunted and crossed his arms, shifting back and forth. He'd been like this the last couple of days, restless and surly, and Crystal kept hoping he'd snap out of it. She'd started to enjoy their days together, but when he was like this, it was hard to get into a good flow and rhythm.
“Is that caveman speak for, ‘Sure thing, sounds great! Can't wait!’?”
He didn't quite roll his eyes at her, but he stomped over to the window and looked out at his car in the parking lot. “I don't feel like fishing today.”
“Couldn't tell.” When he looked over at her in surprise, it was her turn to roll her eyes. “No one is making you fish, you know. You came to me. I'm just trying to help you get your money's worth.”
He tapped the fingers of one hand against the table top beside him in a rolling motion—tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap. “Change of plans, then. Show me the town.”
“Not my job.”
“I've already paid for your time.”
“You paid for a fishing guide.”
He began to smirk. “I did, didn’t I? Then how about you guide me to the best place to catch something good to eat, or even a movie? I'll buy you some Swedish fish if that will help.”
“Make it a pound of fudge from the Sweete Shoppe instead, and you've got a deal.”
His eyes widened. “A sweetshop sounds promising. What else does this little place have to offer?”
CRYSTAL TOOK HIM ALL over town, visiting places she hadn't been to in years herself—and was occasionally reminded why, like when they visited Le Chapeau and Agnes Bassett desperately tried to get Crystal to abandon her navy ball cap that she usually wore when she wasn't fishing. Crystal was not a lace-and-felt kind of gal, but she liked the look of the old-fashioned newsboy-style caps... which Agnes insisted were all wrong for her, though Daniel’s eyes were appreciative.