HeartsAflameCollectionV (2 page)

Two hours later, however, she began to think she
would rather simply go one on one against the lavender-haired heroine instead
of discussing her artistic vision one more time. She was growing dangerously
close to telling them that she chose the materials because they were the least
expensive and the most durable, the colors because she had loved them since she
was a girl and that the symbolism was based on her favorite television show.

Slowly and carefully, Apple made her way to the
buffet tables, where there was a delightful repast laid out. The Hillman Center
spared no expense, but she quickly realized what she had before only feared.
She was a small town girl who loved fast food and boxed
mac
and cheese. If she couldn't eat it out of her hand while drawing plans for a
sculpture, she had never had much use for it.

The table was heavy with beautiful foods, cheeses
she couldn't name and a tray of delicate breads that looked frail enough to
shatter at a touch, and she didn't know how to eat a single bit of it. Apple
glanced around at the dignitaries circulating through the gallery, and she knew
that she couldn't embarrass herself in front of them. Hell, as confused as she
was, she might pick up an inedible table decoration and try to eat it.

Regretfully, she started to turn away from the
table, promising herself a stop at her favorite fast food drive-through as soon
as the event was over, but then her stomach betrayed her with a loud rumble.
Mortified, she looked up to see if anyone had caught her, but instead, all she
heard were two soft giggles.

Apple spun and found herself confronted with two
small girls. They both wore beautiful dresses that likely cost a month of
Apple's rent, but where one girl was simply a pretty
blonde,
the other had soft purple hair pulled back in a French braid.

“
You're hungry,” the purple-haired girl pointed out.
“There's food right there.”

“
It's... it's not that simple,” Apple said, looking
around nervously. Fortunately, they were in a sheltered place by a pillar, and
no one could see her conversing with the two girls. She thought that they were
perhaps six or seven, though they certainly could be no older.

“
Of course it is,” the purple-haired girl insisted.
“If you're hungry, you should get to eat. Everyone knows that!”

The blonde girl tugged her friend's hand, shaking
her head.

“
I don't like to eat when other people are looking,
sometimes,” she said softly, and in that, Apple heard a little bit of her own
anxiety. She herself was on the plump side, and enough rude comments about
bigger girls daring to eat in public along with her anxiety about being able to
manage the exotic cuisine made her cautious.

The purple-haired girl considered, and then nodded
with the decisiveness of a born leader.

“
Right.
My name is
Lynxienna
,
and this is Aurora. We're going find you some food that you'll like.”

With nothing more than that, she seized one hand,
Aurora seized the other, and they were off. Apple thought about fighting
against her tiny kidnappers, but the thought of another circuit of the gallery,
discussing her methods and her vision as she went, made her a willing captive.

They took her away from the main halls of the
gallery, leading her down a few darkened passages. She was just beginning to
get a little nervous about where they were taking her when they opened the door
to reveal a plain kitchen area.

There were still quite a few trays to bring out,
but what caught Apple's eye was the tall man in the tuxedo who was having an
intense discussion with one of the servers. He turned away from the server, and
Apple froze when their eyes met.

He had a pair of the most intense green eyes that
she had ever seen, as clear a green as spring grass, and for a moment, pinned
by his piercing look, she could barely speak. His features were too stern to be
movie-star handsome, but there was a wild kind of beauty to his face. His hair
was a deep chestnut, and when he took a step closer, she realized that he would
tower over her.

“
The kitchen is—”

He broke off when he saw the two little girls who
had led her here.

“
And what are you two scamps doing back here? Did
you decide to see if there was any more
mochi
for
you? I told you before that two
mochi
apiece
was
plenty for you two.”

Lynxienna
scoffed, tossing her head.
“
I could eat a million of them, especially the ones
that are red-bean flavored,” she retorted. “And I know that you gave my dad
more.”

“
Well, your father saved the city a few times, maybe
you'll get more if you do that,” he suggested. “Does he know you're here?”

Aurora shook her head.

“
We'll go right back,” she promised, “only this lady
was hungry...”

The man's eyes snapped back to Apple, who
defensively took a step back.
“
The food looks fine, the food
looks great! I swear
,
I'll just run back and...” She
trailed off as her stomach rumbled again, and the man nodded decisively.

“
All right,” he said, turning to the server. “Henry,
could you please take these two back to their parents?”

As the server took the children away, Apple
resisted the urge to simply follow them. Instead, she stayed right where she
was as the tall man in the tuxedo looked at her carefully.

“
So,” he said finally. “What's wrong with my food?”

“
Your food?” she asked nervously.

He smiled.
“
Yes, my food. Usually The
Hunt doesn't do catering, but Hillman requested us, and well, I like the guy.”

Apple's mouth dropped open. Even she had heard of
The Hunt. It was one of the premier dining establishments in the city, and the
outrageous prices and long wait list only added to its appeal. Now that she
knew that the food was being catered by The Hunt, she knew who the handsome man
speaking to her was.

“
You're Alexius
Bellaron
,”
she said in a small voice.

He waved it away as if it meant nothing.
“
I'm Chef during working hours, but you should call
me
Bellaron
. Now what was this I heard about you
being hungry?”

She fiddled with her hands nervously. How could she
tell a man who was famous throughout the state for his amazing meals that she
wanted nothing more than a frozen pizza and a can of soda?”

“
I... I wasn't sure how to eat any of the food you
had out there...” she muttered, her face turning red with embarrassment. She
expected him to laugh, or worse, to make a joke about how girls her size didn't
seem to have any trouble eating, but he was only nodding sympathetically.

“
It can be a little complicated in a buffet line and
everyone rushing,” he said sympathetically. “And maybe I did decide to go a
little form over function tonight. I'd hate it if anyone attending an event
where I was catering went away hungry, though, so why don't you sit down and
let me put together a plate for you?”

It was on the tip of Apple's tongue to refuse. She
knew that she was needed back in the gallery, and the longer she spent in the
presence of the oddly magnetic chef, the more she felt drawn to him. There was
something about tall dark men who looked with so much concern at her that made
her heart melt, and well, perhaps she had acted too foolishly or too hastily
over it.

By all rights, she should have fled the scene and
consoled herself with a cheeseburger on her way home, but instead, her stomach
rumbled again and she gave up.

 
He
grinned, as if sensing her
capitulation, and gestured at the stool nearby.

“
Have a seat and start talking,” he said.
“Allergies, likes,
dislikes
?”

“
No allergies,” she said with a shrug. “I can eat
just about
anything,
I'm pretty easy going that way.”

He frowned.
“
That's no way to look at food,” he chided. “Come
on,
give me something to go off of. You like Mediterranean,
French,
Southeast
Asian? Love soups, hate salads?”

Apple
shrugged,
a trifle
defensively.
“
I
dunno
,” she
said, shifting uneasily on her stool. “I like… potatoes, and carrots. I like
beef, pork and chicken. I don't know what you're asking...”

He nodded thoughtfully and busied himself at the
food pans. He worked fast enough that Apple barely had a moment to wonder what
he was doing before he slid the plate and a fork across to her on the counter.

“
There you go,” he said. “Tell me what you think. If
you don't like it, I'll get you something else.”

“
You really shouldn't go to the trouble,” she said,
but she was already reaching for the fork. She hadn't eaten all day, and the
food, whatever it was, smelled delicious.

There was a creamy lump of something speckled with
coarse black pepper, and when she put in her mouth, she realized that she
wanted to eat it and nothing else for days.

“
Are these... lemony mashed potatoes?” she asked.

Bellaron
grinned.
“
Skordalia
, actually.
It's a Greek dish, and you're right, it
has lemon and pepper flavoring the mashed potatoes. The olive oil I used for it
was bought specially from Greece.”

There were delicate skewers of meat, bright red and
offering a startling contrast to the cream of the potatoes. Apple delicately
picked one up, certain she would get something on her shirt, but uncaring now
that she was getting fed.
“
This?”

“
Chinese barbecued pork. It's pretty heavy on the
allspice, but it's been slow roasted for two days.”

She popped it in her mouth and nearly groaned at
the burst of succulent flavor on her tongue. It was greasy, salty and sweet all
at once, and despite the heaviness of the meat, there was lovely soft smoky
flavor underneath it.

“
I want to put it in a sandwich,” she said with a
smile, and instead of being offended by the way she was treating his food, he
grinned.

“
On some toasted French bread with just a little bit
of butter? Been there, done that. Try the caviar.”

“
Caviar?”

“
On the cracker, go on. It won't hurt you.”

The caviar was the thing on the plate that had
given her the most
pause
. On a coarse rye cracker,
there was a small pile of shining dark... goo. She knew that caviar was
expensive, but she also knew that it was fish eggs.

“
I don't know if I'll like it.”

“
Take a bite. If you don't like it, I'll eat it.”

Shrugging, she took the most delicate bite
possible, and though it was not as bad as she feared, she still made a face.

“
Ooh, salty,” she said, shaking her head.

 
He
nodded.
“
Not for everyone, though you might prefer other types.
That's beluga caviar, and no one ever said it was mild.
A
shame, though.
That was taken from Russian rivers during the sturgeons'
prime run.”

Apple shook her head in wonder.
“
How in the world do you know so much about food?”

“
It's a gift.” He shrugged easily. “But... well, if
you aren't going to eat that caviar?”

“
Oh, yeah...”

She held the caviar cracker out to him, but instead
of taking it from her the way that she thought he would, he leaned close
instead.

My, what big teeth you have
. Dazed, she was captured by his deep
green eyes again. She felt frozen as he dipped his head down, eyes never
leaving hers, and he brought his mouth down to the cracker she held.

Instead of snapping it up in a single bite, he
nibbled at it gently, and Apple watched, entranced, as his lips and teeth ate
the savory little treat in small neat bites.

Handsome
, she thought in wonder, and when she saw his
tongue lap out, a mere
breath
away from the tender
skin of her palm, a blush rose to her cheeks. She suddenly wanted to see what
that mouth might feel like on her skin, not just her palm but everywhere, and
all over again, she could feel the sheer animal magnetism that drew her in.