Easy.
Though if it was that easy, why was her hand shaking while she finished the duck? She needed to focus, take her time, and—
“Is everything okay?”
Julie jumped at the sound of Andrew’s voice, almost slicing a finger open in the process.
What was he doing in her kitchen? Had he finally realized who she was? Had he come to gloat?
Or, maybe, to apologize for what he’d done?
Knowing anything she really wanted to say to him would get her instantly fired by Rose, Julie settled for, “I’m not sure you should be in here.”
“No, it’s fine—”
“Julie,” she reminded him, like he hadn’t just been told her name a few minutes ago. “Julie Delgado.”
Was there a flicker of recognition in his eyes? Did he even vaguely remember her name?
Then again, why would he? He was a famous chef. She was a nobody who couldn’t keep her own kitchen open and was now cooking for scraps at a wedding venue.
“I asked Rose before I came in to see the kitchen where the food for the wedding might be prepared.”
“
Might
be?”
“My brother and his fiancé deserve the best. I promised I’d cast my chef’s eye over it as my wedding gift to them. Which is why I’d appreciate it if you could bring the desserts out with the main courses and stay with us as we go through everything.” He flashed that brilliant smile of his. “After all, I’m sure the two of us will have a lot to talk about.”
For a moment, Julie wondered if he meant the review, but those darn dimples of his were turning her brain just enough to mush so that all she could manage was, “Will we?”
“Sure,” Andrew replied, with another smile.
Oh my God, after all he’d done, was he actually flirting with her?
Julie just barely resisted the urge to hit him with the nearest thing on hand, but only because it happened to be a saucepan full of steadily reducing plum sauce. Of all the arrogant…
Again, Julie forced herself to take a deep breath and reminded herself that since she obviously wasn’t important enough for the big star to remember, why
wouldn’t
he try out the charm that had everybody else fooled?
“I’d be happy to bring out everything at once,” Julie said, if only because it seemed like the quickest way to get him out of her kitchen. “Just give me a minute or two.”
Actually, it was more like ten, but at least for those blissful minutes, Julie didn’t have to worry about anything more serious than whether her gateaux had set properly, and how she was possibly going to balance everything. As fun as it might be to dream of ‘accidentally’ tripping and covering Andrew Kyle with food, Julie knew perfectly well that she wasn’t going to do it.
In the end, she was surprised when Andrew got up to help her with the plates and even made a trip to the kitchen to carry out the desserts.
Once they sat back down, Andrew examined the plates with a critical eye. Beside him, Rose’s expression was indecipherable. Of course, she was probably as concerned as Julie was that this should go well, and if she’d ever watched
Edgy Eats
–or read one of Andrew’s restaurant reviews–
Rose would know how harsh his judgments could be.
Taking a spare seat at the table, Julie looked at the plates that held the first course. What reception had Andrew given them?
Watching Andrew Kyle eat was an experience. He didn’t talk between bites, as though that would in some way spoil his concentration. Instead he assembled the food carefully on his fork, closing his eyes and letting his nose take in the scent of it for a moment before he finally pushed it into that sensuous mouth.
Julie found herself briefly entranced by the way he clearly wanted to involve as many of his senses as possible, by the fact that he seemed to treat food as something truly important.
Of course, that didn’t make up for the way he kept Julie and Rose waiting while he tasted everything. In fact, the only time he spoke at all was about halfway through, when he glanced up and raised an eyebrow.
“Aren’t you going to join in, Julie?”
“Worried I might have done something to the food?”
Andrew laughed at that although Rose was clearly less than pleased by the barely veiled testiness in Julie’s question.
“Come on, join me. I always feel weird tasting things alone. Rose?”
Rose held up her hands. “I just had lunch.”
Andrew returned his gaze to Julie. “Looks like it’s just you and me, then.”
It was clearly a challenge. Besides, Julie knew she was never going to get away with the same excuse as Rose.
She picked up a fork and attacked the sample dishes she had produced as best she could. She’d always eaten like that; Aunt Evie sometimes laughingly asked if she thought her food was going to be snatched away in a minute.
Julie worked to concentrate on the taste of everything, looking for anything that the celebrity chef might try to pick up on. Were the scallops perfectly seared? Was the texture of the cake right? Was there any little mistake at all that was going to cause a problem?
She almost sighed with relief as she tasted the results of her efforts. As far as she could tell, everything had come out without any problems at all.
Poke holes in that, Andrew Kyle.
Apparently, Rose was as eager to know the outcome as Julie was. “What do you think?” she asked Andrew.
Julie couldn’t help noticing the way Rose’s tone became so much more formal around an important client.
“Is everything to your satisfaction?”
Andrew put his fork down carefully. “It’s all well cooked,” he said. “The scallops are nicely done and the fish goes well with them. The salad is crisp and fresh. The plum sauce with the duck is just right, and I like the richness of the gateaux.”
“Well, that’s great,” Rose said. “I’m sure that Julie can produce everything to exactly the same standards come the actual wedding day.”
“I’m sure of that too,” Andrew said.
But, somehow, the compliment didn’t make Julie feel as warm and fuzzy inside as it should have. Maybe it was the tone in which he said it.
Rose seemed determined to ignore his less than thrilled tone. Or maybe she just hoped that if she pressed on, everything would be fine. “Why don’t you sign off on the menu, then, Mr. Kyle, and we’ll—”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” Andrew said, shaking his head.
“But you just said—”
“The food is well prepared,” he said, “but, unfortunately, it’s too bland.”
Bland.
It was the same word he’d used about her restaurant.
Julie’s hands closed on the tablecloth. “Bland?” she repeated.
Andrew nodded. “As I said, it’s fine, it’s just…frankly, it’s wedding food.”
“That’s what this food is for,” Julie had to point out. “A
wedding.
”
“Yes, but it’s for my brother’s wedding, and I’m sorry, this menu won’t work. It’s been done. There’s nothing exciting here. There’s no twist on any of the classic dishes, and there isn’t anything innovative, either. This is my wedding gift to my brother and his fiancée. It needs to be special. But nothing about this menu makes it clear that their wedding is a really special occasion.”
Julie thought the part where there would be a bride and groom saying “I do” in front of a few hundred people might be a clue as to the specialness of the occasion, but, of course, she wasn’t going to say that. Besides, just then, she was too busy remembering the first time Andrew Kyle had made these comments about her food. Remembering how much it had hurt.
About as much as it hurt right now, come to think of it.
“So what is it you want?” Julie asked. She very carefully kept her voice level. Completely devoid of emotion.
Even so, Rose shot her a look before taking over the negotiations. “Yes, perhaps if you describe exactly what it is you do want, we will be better able to provide it.”
Andrew smiled at them, actually had the nerve to pull those gorgeous lips of his up at the corners as if nothing was wrong. “Something special. Something different. Something with a bit of imagination to it.”
He focused his gaze on Julie and she refused to let her heart go pitter-patter, darn it.
“Something you couldn’t cook in your sleep, Julie.” Another smile. “This wedding is a big deal for our family and I
know
you can come up with something better than what you’ve served me today.”
Thank God at least one of them knew it, Julie thought as Rose dove in to try to salvage the situation.
“Are you sure we can’t—”
Andrew raised a hand to cut her off. “I’m sorry, but I’ll need to see a completely revised menu before I can agree to sign off on anything.”
“I see,” Rose said. She didn’t sound happy about it.
Julie didn’t blame her, especially since right then she was undecided between slipping out the back door and making for the border, or sticking pins in a doll with Andrew Kyle’s “perfect” features—maybe adding a few new dimples while she was at it.
“Look,” Andrew said, “I’d like to come back so that we can throw a few ideas around. Between Julie and myself, I suspect we can come up with something that’s perfect for the wedding.”
He’d just demolished her cooking for the second time in a few short months, and he thinks she would want him around?
“What a wonderful idea,” Rose said before Julie could flat-out refuse to ever see Andrew Kyle again. “Our aim at the Rose Chalet is to make sure the day goes exactly the way the happy couple wants it. Julie would be happy to brainstorm menus with you, wouldn’t you, Julie?”
Since the question was obviously rhetorical, Julie mumbled something that could be taken as a yes.
Rose stood. “Andrew, if you have a few more minutes, I’d like to take you for a walk around the Chalet to get a feel for the place. My full staff isn’t here at the moment, but we can start to discuss a few options.”
Julie had never been so grateful for anything as when Andrew agreed. Ordinarily, with a guy like him, she would have watched him go just because she couldn’t
not
stare. Today, however, it was simply to make sure he was well and truly gone before she let out a sigh and slumped down in her seat.
What had she gotten herself into?
...Excerpt from THE WEDDING GIFT by Lucy Kevin ©2012.
* * *
THE WEDDING DANCE
Book #2 in the Four Weddings and a Fiasco Series
© 2012 Lucy Kevin
Phoebe, the Rose Chalet’s florist, knows nothing is permanent—not the floral arrangements she creates, not the weddings she helps produce, and certainly not her parents’ marriage which ended in a bitter divorce. Certain that all relationships come with strings attached, she has always worked to live for the moment and not to have any ties…ever.
Risking big is how Patrick left the family landscaping business, was the first Knight to graduate from college, and became an in demand architect. In California for a short while to work on a new home, from the very first moment he holds Phoebe in his arms, he knows he’s found his perfect match in the adventurous, alluring and intelligent florist.
But will Phoebe dare let herself risk her heart on the most fragile and precious bloom of all? Especially when one dance with Patrick Knight is all it takes for her to start rethinking everything she’s ever believed to be true about love…
* * *
THE WEDDING SONG
Book #3 in the Four Weddings and a Fiasco Series
© 2012 Lucy Kevin
Tyce Smith, the DJ and band leader for the top wedding venue in San Francisco, hasn’t written a new song in five years. Not since the fateful night he kissed the woman of his dreams, and she left him with nothing but a first name and no way to find her. When fate steps in a second time, he can’t make the mistake of letting her run again…even if the hurdles in the way of true love seem bigger than ever.
After Whitney Banning comes face to face with the man she’s never forgotten and knows she never will—how is she supposed to stop herself from dreaming again? Especially when the desires she buried so long ago are sparked back to life by one dance, one smile, one more forbidden kiss…and a brand new song about a love that will last forever.
* * *
THE WEDDING DRESS
Book #4 in the Four Weddings and a Fiasco Series
© 2012 Lucy Kevin
Anne Farleigh's stunning dress designs are a large part of what makes a wedding at the Rose Chalet so coveted. Just when she is about to create the most important dress of her career, Anne finds out shocking news about her father's past. She's spent her entire life believing that her parents shared the perfect love story. But did they? Or was it all just a lie...
Gareth Cavendish runs both his Private Investigation firm and his life by the book. But when he serves Anne with papers relating to her father's alleged affair two decades earlier—and the illegitimate daughter that resulted from it—he finds it impossible to remain strictly professional. Anne is simply the most beautiful, sweet, and open-hearted person he's ever met. Only, how many rules will Gareth have to break to help her learn how to believe in love again?
* * *
SPARKS FLY
© 2011 Lucy Kevin
Angelina Morgan is a beautiful consultant who practices an ancient art form called Feng Shui. Will Scott is an all-business CEO who doesn’t believe anything he can’t see and touch. With the help of a meddling ex-wife, a well-meaning best friend, and a matchmaking mother, Angelina and Will are about to find out what happens when opposites attract...and sparks fly.