Since it’s Teaser Tuesday, here’s a little something from my contribution to the Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set.
Teaser from The Perfect Mix – Lucky 7 Bad Boys Boxed Set
The hot sting of the spray beat against Rey’s shoulders, pounding away the soreness from the six straight hours of hard labor he had put in after overseeing all the jobs he had in progress and the meeting with Bianca and Eduardo.
He leaned his hands against the tiled wall and let the massaging stream pulsate against the muscles of his chest. Slowly the heat soaked in and relieved the tension he had been feeling since that afternoon and Bianca.
He had done as he promised and dropped off the blueprints at the local copy center. Luckily they had been relatively quiet and had been able to sneak in the job right on the spot. Normally, he would have tackled the bid immediately, but in the back of his mind was the disturbing thought that he should forget about this project. He was worried it would bring nothing but trouble.
But as he stood there, the steaming water sluicing over his body and easing an assortment of aches and pains, he admitted that it was Bianca and not the project that had him concerned.
The project itself was actually a dream. The building had immense potential and its location was really prime. How many places sat on palisades overlooking one of the best and most coveted views in the world?
From the restaurant, the Manhattan skyline was visible as far as you could see and as he knew from the view from his own home, it was magical at night. He still worried, however, that the location and the chance to work on a really exciting project just wasn’t enough to make up for having to deal with Bianca.
She was just too damn distracting and annoying.
Not that he hadn’t worked for an attractive woman before. He had on dozens of occasions. He could even deal with the fact that she found him attractive. That flare of interest on her end had been impossible to ignore. He had learned to deal with that kind of reaction from women since he had looked in a mirror lately. Not that he usually gave much thought to his physical attributes. He’d done nothing to earn those. They were just a case of genetics.
He’d rather that people judged him by what he had accomplished on his own, like building a successful contracting business.
Plus, he prided himself on being interested in a woman based on more than just her looks. When he got involved with a woman, he wanted someone who appealed to him on a number of levels. Things like a reasonable amount of intelligence, a sense of humor, and a whole bunch of other things he couldn’t name at the moment.
Which was why he needed to stay far far away from Bianca.
To say she was attractive was an understatement. She was of average height, but that was where the use of the word average stopped. Her face was stunning, an exotic blend of seduction and innocence. Today she had been the seductress with her red lipstick and smoky eye makeup. Her rich caramel brown hair had been loose and tousled, almost begging for a man’s hands to tunnel through it and smooth it out. But he could picture Bianca looking all innocent, her face free of makeup with that irresistible girl next door thing going on. Her dark mane of hair up in a ponytail, swinging against the elegant length of her neck. Her green eyes wide and inviting.
Her looks were not the only enigma she presented.
He had called her “princess” for a number of reasons that morning. With her regal bearing, jewelry, and the expensive clothes, she wore her class as well as any royal. But he couldn’t imagine that most princesses liked to get their hands dirty. Still, he knew she used those hands every day as a chef. The one time he had touched her today to shake her hand, the slight roughness of her palm had proven to him she wasn’t above manual labor.
Since it was too easy to imagine that hand touching him again, running all along his body, making him crazy hard and needy, he drove that idea out of his head by blasting on the cold water until he was shivering and all thoughts of Bianca had been cleansed from his mind and body.
Then and only then did he exit the shower and dress, hoping to make it an early night.
Chicken and Rice Recipe
I hope you enjoyed that little teaser! As I’ve mentioned, the heroine in The Perfect Mix is a chef probably because I love to cook as well. Plus, food is a very sensual thing so it’s perfect for getting Rey and Bianca together.
This is my recipe for Chicken and Rice, a must have in any Latin kitchen. I’ve found that the easiest way to make it is in the oven, although you start it on the stove. If you have Corningware, Le Crueset or some other stove to oven cookware, even better. Who wants to spend time cleaning pots!
Ingredients
One fryer chicken, cut into pieces
Olive oil
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 cup chopped red & green peppers
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups white rice
2 cups water
1 cup white wine
1 tsp BIJOL (this is a coloring agent you can find in the Latin cooking section of your market)
1 chorizo (also in the Latin section)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
In your pot, put in a little olive oil and brown the chicken. Remove and set to the side.
In the same pot, add the red and green peppers and saute for about 5 minutes. Then add the chorizo and the onions. Saute for another 5 and add the garlic for just a minute. Then add the tomato sauce, bay leaves, oregano and wine.
Simmer for about 15 minutes to get rid of the raw tomato taste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add the 2 cups water and also, the Bijol. Give it a stir and add the rice. Stir again to mix and then add the chicken pieces. Arrange the chicken pieces so they are spread throughout the pot.
If you don’t have stove to oven cookware, make it in a regular pan and then move it a large enough rectangular aluminum foil pan.
Place the mixture in the oven and cover tightly. Cook for about 30 to 45 minutes until all the water is absorbed.
To serve, fluff the rice and also add canned peas and some sliced roasted red peppers.
If you can’t imagine eating peas straight out of the can, you can add frozen peas to the mixture in the oven during the last ten minutes of cooking.
Hope you enjoy this recipe!
It’s Teaser Tuesday I’ve got a little tease from The Perfect Mix and a tamale recipe!
THE PERFECT MIX will be available in mid-February, but you can also pre-order the Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed set which contains my book as well as six other fabulous novels by my friends Sophia Knightly, Tawny Weber, Nina Bruhns, Susan Hatler, Virna DePaul, and Kristin Miller!