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him now. He had to focus on something in the kitchen other than her ass.
Since their agreement was temporary, he couldn t leave her to explore the kitchen on
her own. Any changes Lila made to his menu would get him through the rest of the
summer and fall, maybe even winter, but he needed to be able to deconstruct her magic
in order to create future menus. Nope, he was going to watch her every move. His father
wouldn t be breathing down his neck for at least a week, and with Lila in the kitchen, his
menu was all but fixed. All he had to do was pay attention.
&
Lila was stalling. She could feel Jack s intent gaze on her. Was he waiting for her to bend
over and pull a new, improved menu out of her ass? It wasn t going to happen. In fact,
she had no clue how to fix his menu.
Because it wasn t broken. In fact, it was brilliant, and she loved it, but she couldn t very
well say that, could she? Not when it was so much fun to let him think she hated it.
She closed the door of the last reach-in and carried her spoons to the dish room. Jack
followed her, of course. Back off, Jack. Don t you have anything better to do?
Not at the moment, since you re doing my job. I don t want to miss all the magic.
Why did he sound pissed off? She was the one who was scrambling to figure out how to
improve a menu that was already perfect.
She heard the back door open and a few seconds later, a stunning forty-something
woman with riotous salt-and-pepper curls and warm brown eyes walked into the kitchen.
Her chef coat was slung over her arm and her black t-shirt proclaimed her love of heavy
metal music.
Lila, this is my pastry chef, Emily. They shook hands. Lila is& This was going to be
fascinating. How was Jack going to explain her presence to his staff without damaging his
enormous ego? She raised an eyebrow and smiled, waiting.
Lila is our secret weapon. She s a wizard with flavor. I want her to put her creative
spin on the Inferno menu before we open. Please treat her as you would my partner.
Anything she says goes.
Lila had to lock her jaws together to keep her mouth from falling open. She had
expected Jack to treat her as his underling, and he d just given her the key to the kitchen.
She hoped her smile looked confident, not terrified.
You got it, boss. The older woman smiled. Welcome to Inferno.
Jack motioned toward the back. Why don t you two get acquainted in the bakeshop,
and I ll introduce Lila to the rest of the guys when everyone is here?
Lila nodded and followed Emily around the corner into the small bakeshop. Lila had
already been through her cooler and tasted everything, a fact Emily wouldn t be able to
miss, since there was one bite out of every dessert except the chocolate cake. Lila had
eaten most of a piece of the airy, flourless confection topped with whipped cream.
Sorry about that, Lila said, pointing to the nibbled on desserts.
Emily shrugged. Either you eat them, the jackals on the line get em, or we take it all
down to the mission. A chocolate lover, huh? Her smile was genuine.
Lila smiled back. Guilty.
Me, too.
I can tell. The desserts were heavy on the chocolate, but Lila wasn t going to start
making suggestions until she got a feel for the dynamic in the kitchen. For all she knew
everyone was going to hate her. Even with Jack s clear support, this could be more
difficult than she had imagined.
So, how long have you known Jack? Emily asked. She looked up to find the pastry
chef giving her a grin that could only be described as naughty.
Excuse me?
When I walked in, you two were standing awfully close to one another. Jack keeps his
distance, so what s the story? You two go way back or what? Her chocolate brown eyes
gleamed with curiosity.
I& uh& Lila had clearly been working in the kitchen by herself for too long. She d
forgotten that gossip was the rule, not the exception. Her natural tendency toward
honesty was not going to serve her well here. We went to culinary school together, she
finally said.
Emily nodded slowly. Interesting. I wouldn t have ever thought Jack would hand over
control of his kitchen to anyone.
Lila blinked hard and took a deep breath, fighting her memories of Jack losing control
on top of her& beneath her& behind her. She felt her cheeks heat and knew she had given
herself away when Emily chuckled.
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