It only takes a few days for Ollie D'Angelo to lose his boyfriend, his job, and his home. Instead of mourning what he doesn't have, Ollie celebrates what he does: the freedom to pursue his real passion -- cooking. He begins Dinner at Home, a home-catering business, and it takes off.<br><br>Late one night, Ollie catches Hank Mellinger, a streetwise hood down on his luck, about to rob his car. Ollie soon discovers that appearances aren't necessarily what they seem. Hank isn't a criminal caught red-handed, but a hungry young man trying to make a life for himself and the four-year-old niece he's trying desperately to take care of.<br><br>Instead of calling the cops, Ollie offers Hank a job and a way to pull himself up by his bootstraps. Together, they discover they can really cook ... and that their shared passion for food just might lead to a passion for each other.

Dinner at Home

Taking a deep breath, he finally did sit down with his mom and Addison. For once, Lula was quiet. Hank could feel her watching as he took in his niece. Addison, although only four, seemed older. For one, she was big for her age, tall and lanky. Her reddish brown hair was soft, curly, more like cotton than silk. Lula had tried taming it with a bright teal barrette, but the effort was akin to taming a Bengal tiger with a flyswatter. Addison’s hair practically threatened to explode into a tumbleweed at a moment’s notice. Her skin was a lovely caramel color, her nose broad and flat. Her eyes made him think of brown sugar, melted and simmering with butter. At last, the somber expression she wore disappeared, dispersed like a cloud of smoke by a breeze as the little girl removed her thumb from her mouth and smiled.


Chapter 16