Ravenous by Eden Summers

to herself, and clutched her handbag tight. As they passed the serving window she held her breath and stopped dead in her tracks.
    Where was that bottle when she needed it?
    The kitchen was abuzz with life. People in white chef uniforms worked among organised chaos. One chopped, another dished food while one tall man shuffled a pan over open flames on the stove. Then there was Jesse. He sat on a chair at the end of the stainless steel bench that ran down the middle of the room. His eyes were closed as an attractive blonde woman worked her fingers into his shoulders.
    Karen rammed into her from behind, making Erin stumble forward. They both swore, the expletives drawing the attention of the people in the kitchen.
    “Sorry. Didn’t realise you were stopping in the middle of nowhere,” Karen drawled.
    Erin ignored her sister’s sarcasm. Her attention had been captured by Jesse’s gaze. He stared at her while the woman touching him recovered from the shock of the swearing and continued to paw at him.
    “I think it might be too late for that drink,” Karen added.
    Erin’s stomach flipped and roiled as she looked back at her sister in panic. Her mind had decided to shut down and she didn’t know what to say or do, or even how to breathe.
    The swinging door to the kitchen flung open and her gaze shot to the man whose dominant stance overtook the doorway. “Erin?”
    Her head bobbed because she couldn’t form words.
    “And this would be my cue to find the ladies room.” Karen pivoted on her heels and strode away, leaving Erin to drown in a mix of hysteria and nervousness.
    “What are you doing here?” Jesse stepped forward, letting the door swing shut.
    “I…” Her gaze sought Karen, a waitress…anyone that could help give her a few seconds to find the perfect words to fix things between them. When her attention drifted back to him, he was resting against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the polished wood floor. “I need to apologise.”
    He glanced up through thick lashes and raised his eyebrows. “For?”
    She shuffled closer to the serving window, out of the way of a waitress walking past. “For everything…for being selfish. For not trying to compromise when you moved to Sydney. For blaming everything on you, when it was my fault all along.”
    Whispers from the kitchen drew her attention. She found a handsome, tanned man ogling her. Beside him stood the woman who’d been massaging Jesse’s shoulders, her eyebrows raised in question. Both were huddled close, leaning towards the serving window.
    “Umm, is there somewhere we can go to talk?”
    Jesse pushed from the wall and glared into the kitchen. “Get back to work!” He took a step back and pointed toward the stairs. “I’ll take you to my office.”

Chapter 11
    Jesse placed his hand on Erin’s lower back and closed his eyes briefly at the feel of her soft flesh. With his heart in his throat he led her upstairs, past the packed bar and down the darkened hall to his office. When she stepped inside, he closed the door behind them, the soft click of the latch echoing in the silence.
    She didn’t look at him while he moved to the couch and rested against the arm. He needed to sit down before he collapsed, and the possibility of sinking into oblivion didn’t seem too far off.
    “Why are you here?” He swallowed and held his breath waiting for her response. As much as he wanted her, to feel her body in his arms, he needed to know she was here of her own volition–not because Karen dragged her here.
    She glanced at him with a sad smile. “I don’t know. It happened all of a sudden.”
    His heart took a dive into his stomach. “It’s over a five hour drive from Holbrook, Erin. So I gather you didn’t come here for me.” Standing on aching limbs, he moved toward his desk. He needed space between them, a buffer to keep his emotions at bay.
    She stopped him, moving into his path and placed a delicate palm on his chest. Her