By the time she got outside, Shannon and Alice had already flagged down a cab and waited inside. She climbed in and gave the hotel address. She considered trying to drag a more detailed description out of Alice, but most likely even a good physical description wouldn’t tell her who he was or if he intended to profit from the picture.
“What do we do?” Shannon bounced her leg nervously.
“Nothing.” She tried to sound calm. And honestly, she usually didn’t worry about this kind of thing. But the idea that a picture could surface that might hurt Shannon had her more wound up than usual.
“Nothing?”
Maya put her hand on Shannon’s knee to stop the bouncing. She didn’t want to move her hand, but Alice was watching them both closely, so she pulled it back quickly.
“We don’t know who the guy was or if he even realized who we were.” She looked at Alice. “You’re sure he was watching us?”
She nodded, uncharacteristically mute.
“But we don’t know for sure the photo was of us. We weren’t exactly looking around. We may have just caught the flash from someone taking a selfie.”
“And if we didn’t? If some photo of us looking as if—” Shannon stopped, flicking her eyes toward Alice. She rubbed her forehead. “Hugh will have a heart attack. He’ll keel over and die right in front of us. The ambulance will come and carry him off and I’ll feel guilty for—”
“Hey, stop talking. You’re beginning to sound like—” Maya bit her lip and avoided looking at Alice. “Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it. But we can’t do anything but worry until the photo shows up.”
Shannon nodded. They rode the rest of the way to the hotel in silence. When they got out of the cab, Maya wished she could go back to earlier in the evening when they stood in front of the hotel, only this time she would refuse the offer to join them. Chances were Shannon and Alice wouldn’t have been recognized on their own.
When the elevator doors opened on their floor, Shannon and Alice barely looked back as they exited.
“Try not to worry. You need your sleep,” Maya called.
“Yeah, right.” Though Shannon didn’t turn around, she raised her hand and waved behind her.
*
Shannon turned over and punched the pillow next to her head. She flipped off the covers and stared at the ceiling. She’d been pretending she could sleep for the past two hours. She knew it had been two hours because she’d watched the numbers change on her alarm clock for the better part of that time.
She’d managed a few restless hours broken up by strange dreams involving paparazzi chasing Maya and her through the streets of downtown. Maya stumbled and yelled for her to go on, but she went back for her and they were both swallowed up by the mob. As the faces closed in around them she woke up. She didn’t need help interpreting that dream. But then again, her dreams were never very mysterious. Stress always definitively affected her sleep.
Giving up, she got out of bed and headed for the kitchenette. She filled the coffeemaker and sat down to wait for the strongest brew she could handle. She had a feeling she’d need more than one cup to make it through this day.
Maybe she didn’t need to worry. The flash didn’t necessarily mean there was a picture of them out there floating around. People took drunken bar photos all the time. If she got through today and nothing happened, maybe then she could relax.
Alice’s door opened and she stumbled out. “Coffee?”
“Working on it.” Shannon poured two cups and handed her one. “Did I wake you?”
Alice shook her head. “Do you think we’ll get busted for going out?”
“You didn’t seem too worried about that when you talked us into it.” She added just a splash of creamer to make her coffee palatable.
“You don’t think they’ll send us home for that, do you?”
“No. Besides, there’s probably no proof you were even there. And I won’t tell.”
“What will you do if the photo comes out?”
Shannon shrugged. “I guess denial would be out.”
Alice shook her head slowly. “I just don’t know what will happen. I mean, they could send you home. The others might say you only made it this far because of her. It seems like the show would have to make an example of both of you. I’m so glad I’m not a lesbian. I just don’t know what I would do if I got kicked off the show—”
Shannon interrupted with a sharp laugh. “I’m sorry. Did you just say you’re glad you’re not a lesbian?”
“Yes.”
“You know this could as easily have happened between one of you and a male mentor, right?”
“Jacques is married and—well, old, but Wayne is pretty good-looking.” She seemed to be giving the idea further consideration but then shook her head. “He’s not like Maya though.”
“What does that mean?”
“You always see stories about her and all these men and women. From the pictures, she seems pretty friendly. And then there’s the way she was with Greta yesterday. Everyone saw them leave the kitchen together. They were gone the whole time we worked on our cakes. That’s plenty of time to—you know.”
“You know? Are you twelve?” Shannon snapped, then took a calming breath. “Nothing happened between them.”
“She told you that?”
“Yes.”
“And you believe her?”
“Why would she lie?” Shannon resisted the doubts Alice’s words planted in her head.
“To hook up with you. I heard she was sleeping with one of the guys on her season. And that every time she comes back to consult or guest judge, she picks one of the chefs to try to seduce. And she usually succeeds.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“One of the lighting guys told me. And he’s been here since the first season.”
Maya had a reputation as a player, she knew that. So this new information shouldn’t be a surprise. But somehow it didn’t fit with the woman she’d come to know. So was it just gossip? Or was Maya playing her as well? She could certainly point to moments when Maya’s flirtation with her seemed less than sincere—like it was habitual behavior. But there had also been times, when they were alone in the fitness room, when she’d felt as if they truly connected—like they could be just two women getting to know each other. Could she be fooling herself to think someone like Maya could find her interesting? Maybe she was just this season’s conquest, and next season the crew would be gossiping about her?
C
HAPTER
S
IXTEEN
“I’ll be late getting home.” Sawyer pulled the full carafe from the coffeemaker and filled two travel mugs.
“How late?” Jori spread a light layer of butter on her wheat toast.
“I don’t know. Don’t wait up.”
“Are you going in now?”
Sawyer nodded.
Jori gritted her teeth to keep from complaining. She’d been surprised when Sawyer jumped in the shower right after she vacated it. Sawyer never got up this early. Yet, she already knew she would be home so late that Jori shouldn’t wait up.
“Jori—”
Jori raised a hand, palm out, before Sawyer could continue. “It’s fine.”
“You’re obviously not happy—”
“It’s fine. I’m not going to say anything. Because then I’m the asshole who demands too much of your time. And I’ve never been that person, Sawyer. I haven’t. And I’m not.”
“Things are busy right now. But soon the bakery will make enough to hire someone else, and in a few months, our restaurant tourist traffic will slow down—”
“Nothing’s going to change. Stop promising me things will be different.” Frustrated, she rubbed the back of her neck.
She’d been working so hard to stay ahead—in her business and in her life. She kept telling herself they would have time, later, to talk about the future—about kids. Maybe they would even want a wedding someday. But how long would they need before they felt ready? And would it be too late? She’d never heard her biological clock ticking—and she still didn’t—but deep down she knew she would someday.
Years ago, she’d prepared herself for the disappointment of never finding that future. But since Sawyer, she’d let herself believe she could have everything she wanted. So when her dream of owning her bakery was within reach, she never questioned trying. She’d never thought about how it might affect her relationship or their future because she’d had faith that together they could do anything. And though she knew it wasn’t right, on some level, she blamed Sawyer for making her believe she deserved her dreams.
“Jori?” Sawyer touched her shoulder gently and Jori felt guilty for her doubts.
She shook her head. She wanted to reassure Sawyer they would be okay—that she was just stressed. But the words wouldn’t come. Despite all of her hope that they were doing what was right for both of them, she had serious concerns.
Sawyer’s heavy sigh conveyed her frustration as well. “What do you want me to do? This isn’t all on me. The bakery takes as much of your time as Drake’s does mine. It isn’t my fault you had to open a business that requires the exact opposite schedule as mine.”
“So it’s all my fault.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“What did you mean? Because it sounds like you’re saying that your business is more important than mine.”
“No. But I had mine first,” Sawyer blurted out, then quickly sucked in a breath as if she wanted to pull the words back in.
“What?”
“You knew what you were getting into. I’ve worked the same schedule practically since we met. The same schedule you worked when you were at Drake’s and would have continued working if you’d stayed there.”
“Well, now I realize how you really feel. That would have been nice to know when I was actively soliciting your advice while making
life-changing decisions.
”
“I can’t do this right now. I have to get to the restaurant.” Sawyer crossed to her quickly and kissed her cheek, then was out the door before Jori could say anything more. On her way out, Jori heard her say, “I love you.”
Jori dropped into a chair at the kitchen table. Now she had to drop by the restaurant later today and apologize. Yes, she’d picked a fight. But it had been easy to do, given Sawyer’s distraction and short temper of late. Ultimately, Sawyer wasn’t wrong. Since she’d opened the bakery, they’d had precious little time together. Early on in their relationship, Jori would have been angry that Sawyer left without resolving things. But now she understood, Sawyer needed space and work to distract her. Later, they’d make up.
She gathered up her breakfast dishes and had just put them in the sink when her cell phone rang.
“Hello.” Aggravation still colored her tone.
“Bad time?” Shannon asked hesitantly.
“No.” She took a breath, trying to get the edge out of her voice.
“Okay.” Shannon drew out the word, letting Jori know she didn’t believe her.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Sawyer’s acting strange.”
“Strange how?”
“I don’t know exactly. But something is going on, and she just tells me it’s nothing. She hasn’t been this closed off since we first started dating. I’m frustrated and getting short with her over the littlest things.”
“Maybe it’s just Drake’s.”
Jori laughed. “Yeah. When I met her, she didn’t care one bit about Drake’s. But the restaurant and the success of her family have come to mean so much to her I really think this is just a continuation of that. But maybe she’s more worried than I think.”
“Sure, she is. Come on, what else could it be? You two are the most deliriously happy couple I know.”
“You know as well as I do that no one who’s been together more than a year is delirious. But yes, we’re very happy. And you’re right. We’ll get through this and probably be stronger.”
“Right.”
“So what’s going on in your world?”
Shannon sighed. “Nothing I can talk about. I can’t wait until I can go home and watch the episodes.”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d want to see them. We’re recording them so you can catch up on what you’re missing right now.”
“I have so much to tell you.”
“Can you give me any hints?”
“Ah, no. I definitely can’t be breaking any rules right now.” Shannon chuckled.
“Did something happen?”
Shannon was quiet for several seconds. “How’s everything at the bakery? Is New Girl working out?”
Jori smiled. “It’s cute how you keep calling her New Girl so you don’t have to admit that you aren’t coming back.”
“Okay. Is
Mackenzie
working out?”
“She isn’t as talented a decorator as you, but she’s doing well. And she’s a fast learner.” Jori glanced at the clock display on the microwave. “I hate to cut this short, but I need to get to the bakery.”
“Of course. Sorry. I didn’t realize what time it was. I should be getting ready to go in as well.” She paused for a moment, then said, “Jori…”
“Yeah?” Jori said when she didn’t continue.
“I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” Jori smiled, warmed by the sentiment though she knew Shannon wanted to say something more. Whatever it was must have to do with the show. If it was as important as it sounded, she’d find out as soon as Shannon was free to talk.
*
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Maya chanted the word in her head as she left her dressing room and headed toward Hugh’s office. He’d just summoned her via a production assistant, and she didn’t have a good feeling about it. They’d made it through a full day of filming with no mention of a photo showing up. She’d been starting to think they were safe. If anyone had it, and knew what they had, surely they would have done something with it quickly. She got a little worried when Hugh was absent for most of the afternoon. He rarely handed over his duties to another producer, especially this late in the season. But she’d stuffed her concern down and followed the scene instructions of his proxy.
That morning the contestants had gone to the performing-arts center to meet the cast and crew of a popular musical. They watched a matinee performance of the show, then returned to the set to plan a cake commemorating the show’s tenth anniversary on tour. Tomorrow they’d begin to construct their cakes.
After they finished for the day, Maya had escaped to her dressing room. She just needed to make it to the SUV and back to the hotel and she’d be home free, for the day at least. She’d planned to head down to the fitness room and see if Shannon showed up. After a good workout, she could go to her room for a hot shower with thoughts of Shannon still in her head. And she’d been just minutes away when the production assistant knocked on her door.