As she rounded the corner and headed toward the kitchen she heard Joey laughing again. Ritchie joined in, and a light feminine laugh blended with his. Jillian. She was leaning forward with her hand on his shoulder as they both looked at something Joey was showing them on Ritchie's iPad.

Ritchie looked up as she stepped into the kitchen and their eyes met and held. His were so intense and she felt the air heating between them, and blushed. It was ridiculous. There was no way he could know what she'd been doing in the shower. He couldn't look right through her and read her thoughts.

She broke eye contact and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Can I fix you an omelet?" Jillian turned her perfect face toward Maria.

At least if she was cooking, she wouldn't be standing so close to Ritchie. Maria knew she shouldn't be jealous. It was none of her business what sort of relationship Ritchie might have had with the picture-perfect personal chef in the past.

"Thank, you," Maria said. "That would be great."

"Any special requests?" Jillian asked, as she moved toward the array of chopped vegetables, fresh herbs, and cheeses spread across the cutting board in neat little piles.

Stay away from Ritchie, Maria wanted to say, that's my special request. Instead, she said all of it looked great, so whatever Jillian added to the omelet would be fine.

When Jillian slid it onto her plate a few minutes later, garnished with a generous helping of fresh tropical fruit, Maria had to admit that it was probably the best omelet she'd ever eaten.

"This is delicious."

"Thank you." Jillian smiled and ruffled Joey's hair. "You want seconds, Joey?"

"Sure. Can I help you?"

"Come on over." Maria watched in amazement as Joey the junk food addict sorted through the selection of chopped mushrooms, peppers, and other fresh vegetables and piled them onto a plate for Jillian to slide into his omelet as soon as she flipped the eggs – and by flipped the eggs, she meant casually and literally tossing them into the air. If Maria did that, the omelet would either land on the floor or be stuck to the ceiling.

"Hey," Joey said, "can you teach me how to do that?"

"Sure," Jillian said. "Go talk Ritchie into a second omelet and you can be the chef."

"Cool."

"But first," Jillian said, as she added some cheddar cheese and folded the omelet over, "you have to eat this one before it gets cold."

Joey, of course, didn't even think about giving Jillian an argument. He just hopped back on his stool at the bar and waited for Jillian to slip his second helping of fluffy omelet perfection onto his plate and fill his glass from a frosty carafe of almond milk.

"I try to limit the amount of dairy. Organic almond milk has more protein and less allergens," Jillian explained.

Joey just nodded, like it made perfect sense to him, and took a big gulp of his drink. Maybe Maria could get Jillian to start making observations about how doing your homework without complaining was good for the soul, and sneaking out of the house at night was seriously uncool.

Maria finished eating and poured another cup of coffee to sip outside on the terrace. She felt like she could never tire of the amazing view. The water seemed impossibly blue, the sky impossibly clear. Reality would be waiting for them when they got back to Miami, but for now, she just wanted to let go of all the worries and strains of her everyday life and just be.

Ritchie wandered out with his own cup of coffee and sat down on the end of the chaise she was reclining on. He reached over and casually ran his hand over the top of her foot, and she felt tingles run the length of her body. In the background, she could hear Joey's excited voice as he attempted the feat of omelet flipping.

Ritchie left his hand resting casually on her ankle, and she tried not to squirm. Did he have any idea the heat he was generating from that simple touch?

"So, what are your plans for the day?" he asked, shifting in his seat to face her, his hand moving slightly higher on her leg. Every coherent thought drained out of her brain.

"Um. . ." What had she been planning to do with her day? Focus. "I might go into town awhile. Check out the shops."

He nodded and seemed completely unaware that his fingers were now absently tracing a pattern on the calf of her leg. She felt her muscles tense instinctively and forced herself to relax. Jillian probably wouldn't become this flustered from such a casual touch. Jillian never  seemed flustered around Ritchie. To the contrary, she seemed relaxed, friendly, just a little too friendly, in Maria's opinion, crossing that fine line between employer and employee. But who was she to judge? She had no hold on Ritchie.

How could Ritchie not realize what his touch was doing to her? He looked at her then and reached up to remove the sunglasses shielding her eyes. All of a sudden he seemed very aware of his hand idly stroking her leg. He moved it to the back of her knee, and she caught her breath. Ritchie shifted on the side of the chaise and leaned his head closer to hers as his hand slid higher. He was now gently stroking the inside of her thigh, and she felt her nipples tingling under the thin cotton blouse. He was going to kiss her. She parted her lips slightly and started to lean forward, when she sensed a movement in the doorway.

"Ritchie, your omelet's ready," Jillian said, and Maria turned and saw the chef watching her, speculation in her eyes.

Joey burst through the doorway behind Jillian. "Ritchie, come on, I made it myself, I flipped it and everything! Jillian taught me how."

"I'll be right there, Sport," Ritchie said, standing up as Maria eased back against the pillow on the chaise and put her sunglasses back in place.

"Cool," Joey said and raced back toward the kitchen, Jillian following behind him.

Ritchie stopped in the doorway, and Maria could feel him looking at her, waiting for her to turn her head and look back at him. When she did, she was glad the sunglasses shielded her eyes, because she didn't want to reveal how affected she had been by the little interlude that really amounted to...nothing. Did it?

The look in Ritchie's eyes was both heated and determined. "Later," he said simply, holding her gaze for a long moment before turning and going into the house.

All Maria could think was that it was only a matter of time until those strong hands were on her again. And once Ritchie had her alone, she wouldn't have the will or the desire to stop.

* * *

It was only two days until Christmas, and Joey was more excited than Ritchie had ever seen him. The stubborn kid with a chip on his shoulder that he'd first met at St. Theresa's seemed to have disappeared altogether. Which proved his point. Joey was a good kid, thanks to all the sacrifices Maria had made raising him on her own. All the kid had needed to get him through a rough period was a strong male influence taking an interest in him, someone who'd both give him opportunities and also hold him accountable.

Ritchie had pulled a top of the line artificial tree out of storage and taken Maria and Joey shopping for crazy beach souvenirs and shells in place of traditional ornaments. Now, he was enjoying sitting back, having a cold beer, and watching them decorate. Jillian had left an impressive array of snacks for the occasion. For some reason, Maria seemed uncomfortable when Jillian was around, and had offered again to cook Christmas Eve dinner herself. But the last thing Ritchie wanted was for Maria – who worked too hard already – to spend the holiday in the kitchen. Maria probably just wasn't used to having someone wait on her.

"This is so good!" Joey shoved a handful of the popcorn Jillian had drizzled with caramel into his mouth. "You need to find out how to make this, Maria! I'll ask Jillian."

Maria made a face. "You don't like my popcorn?"

Joey laughed. "You just put a bag in the microwave. This is real popcorn. I saw her make it."

He turned to Ritchie. "She put the kernels in a big pot on the stove in some oil. When it started popping, it was like the whole pot was going to explode! And she melted butter and everything. Then when it was in the bowl, she dumped salt on it, and then she poured this stuff off a pan on the stove, and she let me stir it all up with my hands."

"I hope you washed them first," Maria said, glancing over at him while she hung a starfish on the tree.

"Jillian says it's really important to have clean hands when you're working with food preparation," Joey said solemnly, and Ritchie had to stifle a laugh.

"I'm sure," Maria said.

Ritchie reached for a deviled egg – another of Jillian's specialties –and grinned. She'd infused the egg mixture with some kind of seafood, and there was a bite to the flavor that could be hot sauce or could be vinegar. All Ritchie knew was that he liked it.

"You should try these, Maria."

"I'm baking cookies later," she said.

He nodded. "Good. Do you need any cookie recipes? I think Jillian – "

She turned around with her hands on her hips. "I have my own recipe, thank you very much."

"Ok." Ritchie lifted his hand palms up.

"In fact," she said, "maybe I'll just check the pantry now and see if I have to pick up any ingredients."

Maria walked briskly toward the kitchen, and Ritchie turned to Joey.

"What's up with your sister?"

Joey shrugged. "I don't know. She gets all goofy whenever I say anything about Jillian. And man, when you and Jillian were out on the porch laughing yesterday she looked" — he shot a quick glance toward the kitchen and lowered her voice — "really pissed."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hey, you don't have anything going on with Jillian, do you?"

"With Jillian? No, of course not. Why?"

Joey lowered his voice again. "Because I think Maria's jealous."

"You don't say. Why would she be jealous of Jillian?"

Joey shrugged. "Well, duh, Maria likes you. And Jillian's pretty hot. Besides, girls are weird. You haven't figured that out yet, dude?"

Could that really be what was going on? Ritchie decided he might just put Joey's theory to the test. And have a little fun while he was doing it. As long as he made sure Maria figured out that, despite their complications, she was the only woman he was interested in. 

Author's Note:

Maria really seems a little worried about Jillian.  Do you think she has anything to worry about? 

Now that Ritchie has figured it out, what do you think about him deciding to "have a little fun" with Maria's jealousy? 

Music:  Colbie Caillat - Christmas on the Sand