Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Betting on Benny (Kindle Worlds) (Mystic Nights Book 6)

by MJ Nightingale

  “Oh gosh, Benny. How cool is this? You are going to be judged by Paul Wahlberg.”

  Benny smiled indulgently at his sexy wife. When she was excited like this he found her even harder to resist. He felt himself get hard as he turned her towards the exit of the auditorium. He and Jessyka had decided they would go up to their room after they were done here and Skype with the kids, and then afterwards they would go hit the casino and enjoy their afternoon off. But the gambling might have to be put off for a just a bit. He needed to make the ache she had caused go away. He held the door open for his wife and watched as her sexy hips rolled and swayed past him.

  Jessyka had to laugh at her husband. Last night, he’d been insatiable. And she could see his eyes stray to her hips as he held the door open for her. So much for trying her luck on a slot machine. The twenty bucks she’d allowed herself for the afternoon looked like it would be staying in her pocket. But if the glint in her husband’s eye meant anything, she wouldn’t be thinking about slot machines for very long.

  As Benny followed his wife through the hotel lobby, his mind was on one thing and one thing only. Making love to his sexy wife. In fact, he was so into her sexy hips as she walked through the lobby, he didn’t even notice that someone else was noticing both of them.

  * * *

  “Wow, Heidi. Your hair…It looks…So different. Um, nice, I mean.” Heidi gave Betty Sims a polite smile in thanks as she passed by her in the employee locker room. The girl was a snot. She saw right through her off handed compliment, but chose to ignore her. Heidi opened her locker and began to get ready for work. She tucked her purse inside after slipping her phone into her pocket. She glanced at the mirror and took a good look at herself. The burn on her cheek had faded some. Time had healed the wound, and her make-up covered the worst of it. But her hair? Ugh! Fuck! It was blond. She hated blondes. But she had no choice. She preferred her own natural brown hair. But she didn’t want Benny to recognize her. She planned to keep her eyes open and duck out of sight if he appeared in the lobby during one of her shifts while she checked in guests. Plus, she had changed a lot since the last time she’d seen him. She was thinner, by thirty pounds, paler, and now the blond hair. She had also changed her make up. She used to wear more, but now she went for subtle. Apparently that was the rage nowadays. A few years in jail, and the world went to hell in a hand basket. Who knew?

  After she went home last night, Heidi texted the new girl she had been training, Sharon Azmier, who she knew was working that night. She asked her to check to be sure Benny Sawyer’s credit card was on file, that when he checked in his credit card didn’t go in right away, and she didn’t want to get in trouble over it because she had forgotten to check it before her shift ended. She didn’t want her pay docked either, especially if he was staying more than one night. It had been a lie, of course, and she hoped the new girl who she had trained didn’t realize someone else had handled his check in. But what she really wanted to know was how long he was planning on staying.

  When Sharon texted her back fifteen minutes later, she said yes his card was on file, but not to worry; the room had been comped as he was a contestant on The Cook Off. He’d be staying a week, but it was an all-expenses paid kind of thing. That bit of information had initially worried Heidi, but Sharon didn’t put two and two together. Heidi was happy to hear that she had a week. That gave her plenty of time to plan her revenge against the man who had taken everything from her. Everything. His actions had ruined her life. She blamed him. Everything had been fine until he’d shown up in the picture. And that was why he and his wife would have to suffer. But she had to be careful too. There was a chance he could recognize her, and since he was here for the show, that must have been his wife with him. She needed to stay out of their sight as much as possible. The blond hair had been just another precaution while she plotted how to get to them.

  Heidi finished putting on her blazer, the one provided by the casino, to wear over a white blouse. She needed an idea. Something. The man had to pay for what he’d done. Her life had been hell for over five years because of him. He’d destroyed her and never looked back. That would be the biggest mistake he’d ever make. Because she was the one watching now. Watching and waiting for a chance to strike back. She’d be placing no bets on Benny to win The Cook Off. If she had her way, he and that bitch he married wouldn’t survive the week. She smiled to herself at the thought. That would definitely make her one happy camper. Revenge was sweet. And after she got hers, she could resume the new life she started here last year. Here. In Mystic.

  She had gotten so lucky in this casino community. She’d finally felt luck was on her side. She found this job, where no one knew her, where no one could judge her, and she even started dating again. A decent guy who liked to please her. She hoped he liked the blond hair. She’d be stuck with it for a while. She shrugged, patted the blond wisps into place, and slammed her locker closed.

  Benny. This blast from her past could destroy it all. Like a house of cards, what little she had could all come crumbling down. Benny could so easily ruin it all. Not this time. No! He was not getting the chance to destroy her twice. She had enough. She wasn’t running away anymore. It was time Benny and his bitch paid the piper. She pushed the swinging door that led back to the lobby, ignoring Betty and Nancy’s muffled laughter. They thought they were so smart, laughing at her behind their hands. Well, if they didn’t watch it, they’d be next.

  Girls like that were good for only one thing. Spreading their legs and shutting their mouths.

  CHAPTER 7

  Benny was anxious and excited at the same time. He arrived for round one of the competition twenty minutes early. As soon as he got there one of the production assistants grabbed him and brought him over to wardrobe. They gave him a blue shirt to wear instead of the one he had chosen. He hadn’t thought much of it as they would be wearing aprons with the show’s logo on it, and had thought his black t-shirt would have been fine, but the production assistant thought the blue would show up better under the lights and on camera. He hadn’t even thought about that, but that wasn’t his job. He thought the t-shirt would have been more comfortable and would have given him the room to move around quickly in the tight space up on the stage he was being assigned to create his masterpieces. The small floating island with the cook top and built in oven was about six feet long, and identical to what each of the contestants would receive.

  After wardrobe, he and a few of the other contestants who had passed muster with the wardrobe department were escorted to make up. He almost bolted when they told him where he was going, but the production assistant reassured him he wouldn’t need much and just a powder to prevent him from sweating too much under the big lights. He was so glad none of the other guys decided to come with him. This was something they would never let him live down.

  He was also glad his wife wasn’t here to witness this. She would have teased him like crazy about it, too. But Jessyka had decided to stay upstairs and take advantage of the casino’s spa. She had been given the complimentary tickets to watch the afternoon live taping and promised she would be there later. He didn’t blame her for wanting to relax and enjoy herself. She never got the opportunity unless Caroline or Cheyenne dragged her off for a lady’s day retreat. Benny was all for Jessyka pampering herself a little bit. God knows she deserved it.

  She would be here and then they planned to watch it later that evening in bed when it aired on National Television.

  He wasn’t too nervous about cooking in front of a large audience. He didn’t mind that, only when people invaded his space in his own kitchen. But he was used to cooking in front of a lot of people. He cooked for his friends, the guys when they were off an assignment some time, and of course he had done it in front of his peers while in culinary school. It amazed him how they would be filming in front of a live audience this afternoon, and then the show would be quickly edited and cut to fit in the one hour timeframe allotted for the program to air on the Cooking Ch
annel tonight. He’d gotten texts from Dude ad Mozart wishing him well and letting him know the whole gang was headed to Aces Bar & Grill together to watch the show. They were all rooting for him. He was glad to have their support, and just hoped he didn’t make a fool out of himself or worse—burn something.

  He was glad but he knew his friends would be taking notes on any little mess ups he made and it would be fodder for their jokes for the next decade. It didn’t really bother him because he had stuff on them too. It was just fun and games. These men had saved his life countless times and there was nothing they could say that would break their friendship. He knew it was the same for him and the same for all of their women.

  In the make-up chair, Benny put up with the woman who first used a little bit of concealer on him, and then face powder. But when she suggested a little eye liner to make his eyes pop, he almost popped her. He gave her a megawatt smile while he gripped the arms of the chair and pulled off the paper gown covering his blue shirt, “I’ve never hit a woman before, but if you don’t mind me punching you in the nose, go right ahead?” He laughed to take the sting out of his rebuke. The make-up artist laughed but threw up her hands in surrender.

  “Okay, handsome, then I’m all done with you. You can head on over to the area that was shown to you earlier behind the set. Some of the other contestants should be there and I’m sure Dusti is there too. She likes to go over the scripted parts once more before the show starts.”

  Benny smiled but was glad to leave. He crumpled up the paper clipped to his shirt that had shielded his clothes from the fine powder and tossed the mass into the trash on his way out. “Thanks. And don’t worry; I really wouldn’t have decked you.”

  The girl laughed. “Just doing my job. And you weren’t the first to make that threat either.” She winked at him as he walked out the door.

  As soon as he entered the waiting area, he could see all of the other contestants were there. Dusti Hayes was with them and she clapped her hands in glee when Benny walked in. “Perfect. Everyone’s here.” She winked at Benny making it personal, but then turned to the room at large. “Now don’t be nervous. Pretend the cameras aren’t even there. Like we talked about yesterday, just follow the verbal cues that we give you. The editing team will cut and paste everything later anyway. The audience knows this and we will have told them everything ahead of time. The first 10 to 15 minutes, the eight of you will be standing behind the cooking stations that have been set up on the stage. You’ll be in shadows until you are personally announced. When the light comes on over your head, just wave at the crowd and walk to your station. Then the judges will be introduced. They’ll have a few words to say to all of you, and then they’ll give you your directions. Got it?” she asked enthusiastically.

  There were murmurs all around the room, just as the lights flashed once letting them know they had two minutes to get onto the stage and into their positions. “OK everybody; let’s hit it, and good luck.” She let each of the contestants pass her by. “Benny, good luck,” she whispered just for him. Saying nothing, he pressed his lips into a tight smile and passed her by with a quick curt nod. The woman was beautiful, but for goodness sakes, he was a married man. She knew that. He could not believe the audacity of some women.

  Out in the hallway, the four female contestants immediately followed Dusti and the men followed afterwards. He was last. They had arranged it so they were in order of height.

  Once he found his spot, he was surprised at how quickly everything started to happen. Music started and then there was applause. He heard Dusti speaking to the audience giving them the information she had just given the contestants. Their pre-recorded bios began to play. The screens were directly above him so he couldn’t see himself or any of the other contestants on camera. Ashley Moore was introduced first. She was a lady from Cleveland who cooked at her family’s restaurant and had written a cookbook that was getting some notice in her hometown. The next contestant was a woman by the name of Cathy Brister. She was from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and spoke with a charming dialect. Rachel Bromley was next and he was shocked to hear that she had an English accent. In her bio, she explained how she had moved to the United States thirty years ago and how she and her husband had opened up their own little pub and micro-brewery in Boston. Her husband was known for his craft beer making skills and she was the woman behind the man and in charge of the kitchen. The last female contestant’s name was Crystal Brown, and she was from Virginia Beach, Virginia. In her bio she explained her special talents included Southern cuisine and southern hospitality.

  He nodded at each of them showing his support to all of his fellow contestants. The men were introduced next. The first contestant surprised him. He was the oldest in the group. His name was Ricardo Remore, and his specialty was food with a Latin flavor. He surprised the audience when he announced that he was also a doctor before taking up cooking during his retirement. His special dishes and creations were all donated to the Meals on Wheels Program in Chicago where all of the elderly patients clambered to be on his list. Benny laughed to himself when he heard the collective sighs from the audience. He’d definitely gotten sympathy from them and he knew that they would be rooting for him. The second male contestant’s name was Bert Hoffa. He spoke with a New York accent and his bio explained that he was half Irish-half Italian, and when you ate in his restaurant you always left satisfied. He heard the women in the audience laugh while some groaned. He had made the words sound like a double entendre. He looked over at the man who was smoothing back his dark glassy black hair. The audience was in stitches. The man was a throwback from an eighties mobster movie, and looked like John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever. “One porkchop. One,” he imagined Wolf saying while he slapped the man in the back of his perfectly coiffed hair.

  The third contestant was Nathan Rosen and he was a baker as well as a cook from Connecticut. The crowd applauded for the local guy. He owned a cake shop that specialized in cakes and baked goods. He and his wife also owned a deli that served not only the best sandwiches in the area, but fabulous meals that his mother made and her mother before her from their homeland back in Poland. He knew that he had some serious competition on his hands after his bio played. “Our last contestant is Kason aka ‘Benny’ Sawyer, a Navy SEAL still employed by our great military, a husband, a father, and a friend who does more than dabble in the culinary arts. Trained at Boston’s Culinary Institute by top chefs from all over the world, Benny decided that he could do more good for the country he loved by serving in the military instead of the kitchen. But now that he’s home and raising a family, he’s been spending a whole lot more time in the kitchen. It’s hot in there,” Dusti quipped while fanning herself with her well-manicured hand. The audience laughed while he felt like he was under the interrogator’s light. There was applause and then he heard his own voice talking about his friends, his wife and kids, and how his three aunts had inspired his love of cooking. To him, cooking was about spending quality time together with family and friends. For him, good food was about camaraderie and love and sharing. Inside his mind while he heard him say those words, he knew the guys back home were taking notes. Those words would be on their lips for years to come.

  The audience was clapping wildly and eating it up though. He heard a few bars of “If You’re Reading This” by Tim McGraw. He hadn’t said it exactly that way but it was obvious the producers had pieced his bio together in a way that would make the viewers keep tuning in. He knew that in California in just a few hours, his team, his Navy buddies were going to be laughing so hard at the words they heard come out of his mouth that they would fall off their stools at Aces. Benny shut out those thoughts. In less than 10 minutes he had to have his wits about him and begin to cook. He knew there’d be plenty of jokes about kissing the cook, or a man’s place was in the kitchen, but right now it had to be about doing his best in the appetizer portion of the show. It would be about getting the scores he needed to make it into the next round scheduled for tomor
row afternoon.

  When the light overhead came on him, he nodded and waved at the audience like he was told to do, and politely accepted their continued applause as he made his way over to his cooking station behind Nathan Rosen. Like the others, he picked up his white apron and fastened it on while Dusti began to introduce the judges.

  As Dusti spoke about each of the judges, they came onto the stage to thunderous accolades, especially for Paul Wahlberg. His fame far superseded the others on the stage. Benny gazed out at the audience to see if he could spot Jessyka, but because of all the spotlights, it was hard to make anyone out even those seated on the front rows, but eventually he did spot her. He had known the approximate whereabouts of her seat. Each of the family members had been given four complementary tickets. He’d given his to Jessyka of course, and she invited Jewel and Joseph to attend. Joseph wasn’t able to make it as he had to work that afternoon. But Jewel had come and given one of the extra tickets to her sister-in-law, Aliya, who’d just had a baby.

  Jewel confessed to them over lunch that she had to practically drag the new mom away from her two-month-old son. Her mother-in-law, Tawny Sassacus, insisted she go. Aliya needed the break, and Tawny promised to spoil and cuddle the baby for a couple of hours upstairs in her office on the fourth floor for the entire time. The three women were then going to go do a little shopping in Mystic while Benny would be stuck in the production and editing room for an additional two hours. That was if he made it and wasn’t eliminated after the first round. They would need him to do a few more rounds of sound bites from a pre-arranged questionnaire.

  He was glad Jessyka would have the company while he was busy. Their plan was to meet back in the suite around six, call the kids and his aunts and then enjoy an evening out together, just the two of them until the show aired at ten PM. They planned to be in their comfortable suite by then, face timing with their friends back home to see their reaction to the show together.