She rolled her eyes. “What?”
“That was just a thing. In my head. That slipped out when I got a little, well, excited.”
She nodded. “Fair enough. I can appreciate your honesty with that. And I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions and clocked you in the face.”
“You’ve got a mean left hand. I’d hate to see what would have happened if that had been a punch.”
“Is there any way I can make it up to you?”
He reached over the gear shift and rested his hand on her thigh. “I don’t suppose you have any interest in meeting Tammi…”
She raised her hand as if to slap him but then started laughing. “You are such a jerk! No, I’m not going to meet your fantasy neighbor. Though if you’ll settle for this little kitty cat”—she pointed toward her crotch—“then I’m all yours.”
At once, he did an illegal U-turn and headed down a different street in the direction of his house.
“Where you going?”
“Just going to pet a little pussy if that’s okay with you.”
She grinned and pulled his hand toward her lap. “Meow.”
Thank you!
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Up next: an all new series, starting with Hard to Get, which is available for pre-order now.
About Hard to Get:
Shrimply irresistible…
Lola Quigley can’t believe her good luck when she wins a spot on the Food Channel’s popular Shop till you Drop. The show features amateur foodies competing to produce a prize-winning meal from staples commonly found in food banks, where people often unload their most unwanted pantry items. Having lived on a near poverty-level budget for a few dark years when her life imploded unexpectedly, Lola had grown to love the challenge of creating delicious meals with the cheapest ingredients she could find on the sale shelf of the grocery store, or—in a twist of irony—donated from her local food bank. She just has to win this: the prize money would help her launch the soup kitchen food truck she’s dreamed of starting. It’ll be her way of paying it forward after she managed to dig out of a financial hole she’d doubted she ever could escape.
Levi Patton is pissed. He’s stuck doing penance as a guest chef on an annoying cable reality TV show where overly enthusiastic wannabes try to outdo him with random undesirable ingredients. Will he ever get over the meteoric crash of his career after a food critic found the unmistakable tail of a rat floating atop his bouillabaisse at Levi’s revered Washington, DC, restaurant? Convinced, but unable to prove, that a jealous sous chef sabotaged him, his name is now mud in the food world; he’s drowning in the veritable toilet of the culinary industry: competing on Shop till you Drop. And he’s totally screwed when he ends up pitted against the overly cheerful brunette with the tattoo of Popeye on her bicep, the very woman he’d left at the altar nearly a decade ago.
Read on for a sneak peek of Hard to Get.
Chapter One
LOLA Quigley’s hands trembled against her keyboard as she opened the e-mail from the Food Channel that she’d been waiting months for. Before she opened it, she closed her eyes, sat back in her chair, rain her fingers through her long, brown hair, and then took in a deep, cleansing breath. If the response was negative, then oh well. She’d move on, and surely things would work out some other way. She reminded herself she needed to be at peace with whatever happened since it was all out of her control anyhow. Besides, after all she’d been through over the past handful of years, she’d find another way. She was tough and resilient, so she’d figure it out, one way or another. She always had.
She squinted her hazel eyes as her pointer finger hovered over her inbox before she finally clicked on the email and opened it up.
“It’s only an email,” she whispered like a mantra. “It’s only an email.” And then she drummed up the courage to actually read the damned thing.
Dear Miss Quigley,
Congratulations! You’ve been chosen to compete in an upcoming episode of Shop till you Drop! Our producers loved your demo submission—especially when your cat jumped up on the table when you were eating your finished meal, which they thought was a charming touch. Especially when she started licking that corn smut and prickly pear soup you’d made—very creative side dish, by the way. And clearly delicious enough for a picky cat to enjoy. Please contact me at your earliest convenience and I’ll provide details. We’re excited to have you on the show!
Best,
Amy Ming, Producer
Lola sat for a moment staring in disbelief at what she’d just read. She had been selected as a competitor on one of the most popular cooking shows in the country, in which home cooks raced the clock and each other to shop for and create a prize-winning meal using non-perishable items cast-off from food donated to food banks.
The tall, athletically-built brunette knew she had her work cut out for her, but she’d been preparing for this for years, like it or not. Plenty of times since things went so wrong, back when that jerk Levi did what he did, she’d gotten by on the kindness of donations from food banks and church food pantries. And yeah, a lot of times what was donated were ingredients that perhaps seemed aspirational when the donor purchased them. She was good at making something from nothing. Like when she found in her donation bag a box of make-it-yourself German spaetzle, red curry paste, fish oil, a bag of pork rinds, and a jar of deviled eggs. She turned it into a makeshift German/Thai carbonara-esque dish that didn’t taste half bad after she’d worked her magic.
And now that she’d pulled herself from the pit of despair, where she’d been languishing for far too long, now that she could even splurge every now and again for a half-decent meal out, she was going to test that rumbling-belly-what-am-I-gonna-eat muscle memory so that she could win the hundred thousand dollar prize and the chance to pay it forward by launching a mobile soup kitchen to feed those in the community who struggled to feed themselves.
Now that she’d gotten this far, she just had to win. Whatever it was going to take, she’d do it. She was going to make darn good and sure that the legacy of Levi leaving her at the altar, ultimately so distraught she dropped out of school and then failed at a succession of low-paying jobs for years, was going to be one of vindication. This phoenix’s rise from the ashes would be one for the ages, because she was going to win Shop till You Drop come hell or high water.
Chapter Two
SOMETIMES Levi Patton indulged his less noble side, wondering what he’d done to deserve seeing his life’s work swirling down the crapper in one epic flush.
Because boy, had his career done a sudden one-eighty, going from meteoric success as the boy-genius on the DC food scene to the culinary equivalent of a fifteen-car-pileup on the interstate, after the vaunted food critic for the Washington Chronicle encountered an unmistakable piece of a rat’s tail floating in his Bouillabaisse.
Holy crap, was that a bad day in his life. He’d suspected that the man seated at the table by the window had been the much-anticipated undercover food critic, and had alerted his staff to take care to ensure that his meal was perfect. He oversaw each dish as it left the kitchen, which was why he knew there hadn’t been a rat body part that had randomly found its way into his fine French fusion cuisine when it left the kitchen. Someone had sabotaged him, and he had a good idea who it was, but had never been able to
prove it.
Rumor had it the critic at first thought it was simply an antenna from the langoustine lobster that had fallen into the broth. Butt upon further inspection, there was no doubt that it was, indeed, a rodent tail, complete with a core layer of bone covered by that telltale hairless, circular-ridged skin. Whoever had it out for Levi knew what he was doing, no question about that.
His demise was fast and painful. He quickly lost a restaurant he’d worked years to finally open only months earlier, to rave reviews. But worse still, he lost his reputation, and he’d forever be known as Rat-Boy, the moniker the tabloids found it cute to dub him.
Levi pressed the heels of his hands to his brown eyes, trying to massage the stress of his life away, to no avail. He sat down at the makeshift desk he’d set up in the living room of his mostly empty efficiency apartment, and switched on his computer. He then tried to massage his weary scalp by pressing his fingers through his wavy brown hair, but even that didn’t help. It seemed the headache that had overtaken him months ago had parked itself in his brain and wasn’t planning to depart any time soon.
What had he done to deserve this? Well, at least this in particular? Nothing, really, Had he made some poor decisions in his life, maybe some that led to him hurting people who didn’t deserve it? Yep. No doubt about it. In fact, there were likely people who thought he was the worst person to walk the face of the earth. Like, say, Lola Quigley, his high school sweetheart who he’d planned to meet at the justice of the peace to get married way back when they were young and stupid. The very Lola he blew off, for reasons not even worth mulling over at this point.
And while yeah, that was about the shittiest thing he could have done, the fact was he was a kid. And he screwed up. And he’d sent about a bazillion letters (not to mention e-mails and text messages) of apology—since all of his calls went unanswered. Eventually he stopped trying to persuade Lola that he wasn’t a flaming asshole. Because even he knew that deep down, he had to have been in order to have committed such a hurtful act. Even if it was to save his own self, which was why he did it, it cost Lola dearly, emotionally, and no doubt cost her her self-esteem as well.
Levi rubbed his eyes again. If he had a dollar for every time he’d gone over this in his brain… Yet a whole lotta good it would do him. He scrolled through his emails, seeing if he had gotten any responses to the many job applications he’d submitted. Nothing popped out at him, until he saw something that said it was from the Food Channel. No doubt some investigative reporter wanting to humiliate him even more.
Instead, he found an email from a producer, the contents of which were rather curious.
Greetings—
I am the producer of the popular Shop till you Drop show in which home cooks compete to for prize money by making meals with some of the unusual foods donated to food banks. Normally we pit home cooks against one another, but in light of your unfortunate circumstances, we thought it might be interesting to give you a chance to demonstrate your culinary skills against top-tier home cooks, and see what might unfold. I hope you’ll consider this opportunity to join us in this adventure. I think it could go a long way toward rehabilitating your faltering career and give America the chance to forgive you. I look forward to your reply.
Best,
Amy Ming, Producer
Amy Ming. Why did that name ring a bell? Amy Ming. Ming. Ming. Ming. He held up his finger. She’d been a newly-hired line-cook at his restaurant, hadn’t she? It was like her third week on the job when it all went to crap. Why on earth would she want anything to do with him? Was she going to try to shame him on national television?
He shook his head. Nah. She seemed like too nice of a woman to do that. Weird she’d reach out to him like this, but maybe she had her reasons. Maybe she could help him solve the mystery of what happened that night. At this point, what could it hurt for him to go on there? It’s not as if he would embarrass himself! And not like he was going to have an issue with his competition. Sure, maybe they’ll want to outdo him. And maybe he’d go easy on them, at least at first. Hopefully even if they did recognize him as the Rat-Boy, they’d take a little pity on him, cut him some slack, and give him a tiny chance for redemption.
It was a long shot, for sure. But what he needed was a hail-Mary pass right now, so like it or not, he was going to stand tall and cook his ass off. And win the prize, enough to at least dig him out of some of the financial hole he’d found himself in.
Okay, Amy Ming, Producer. You’re on. Bring it, baby.
Order your copy of Hard to Get now.
ALL BOOKS BY JENNY GARDINER:
Contemporary Romances Available from Jenny Gardiner:
The Hard to Get Series
Book 1: Hard to Get
The Confessions of a Chick Magnet Series
Book 1: Skirt Chaser
Book 2: Boy Toy
Book 3: Cabana Boy
Book 4: Bird Dog
Book 5: Lady Killer
The Falling for Mr. Wrong series:
Book 1: Falling for Mr. Wrong
Book 2: Falling for Mr. Maybe
Book 3: Falling for No Way in Hell
Book 4: Falling for Mr. Sometimes
Book 5: Falling for Mr. Right
The Royal Romeos series
Book 1: Red-Hot Romeo
Book 2: Black Sheep Romeo
Book 3: Red Carpet Romeo
Book 4: Blue Collar Romeo
Book 5: Silver Spoon Romeo
Book 6: Blue-Blooded Romeo
Book 7: Big O Romeo
It’s Reigning Men series:
Book 1: Something in the Heir
Book 2: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
Book 3: Bad to the Throne
Book 4: Love is in the Heir
Book 5: Shame of Thrones
Book 6: Throne for a Loop
Book 7: It’s Getting Hot in Heir
Book 8: A Court Gesture
Other Contemporary Romances:
Accidentally on Purpose
Compromising Positions
Single Titles:
Slim to None
Anywhere but Here
Sleeping with Ward Cleaver
Where the Heart Is
Memoir:
Bite Me: A Parrot, A Family and a Whole Lot of Flesh Wounds
Essay Anthology:
Naked Man on Main Street
Thank you again for your ongoing support!
Jenny Gardiner
About Jenny
Jenny Gardiner is the author of #1 Kindle Bestseller Slim to None and the award-winning novel Sleeping with Ward Cleaver. Her latest works are the It’s Reigning Men series, the Royal Romeos series, the Falling for Mr. Wrong series, the Chick Magnet series and her new Hard to Get series. She also published the memoir Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who's Determined to Kill Me, now re-titled Bite Me: a Parrot, a Family and a Whole Lot of Flesh Wounds; the novels Anywhere but Here; Where the Heart Is; the essay collection Naked Man on Main Street, and Accidentally on Purpose and Compromising Positions (writing as Erin Delany); and is a contributor to the humorous dog anthology I'm Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship.
Her work has been found in Ladies Home Journal, the Washington Post, Marie-Claire.com, and on NPR’s Day to Day. She was also a columnist for Charlottesville’s Daily Progress for over a decade, a food writer for Cville Weekly, and has been the Volunteer Coordinator for the Virginia Film Festival for the past nine years.
She has worked as a professional photographer, an orthodontic assistant (learning quite readily that she was not cut out for a career in polyester), a waitress (probably her highest-paying job), a TV reporter, a pre-obituary writer, as well as a publicist to a United States Senator (where she first learned to write fiction). She's photographed Prince Charles (and her assistant husband got him to chuckle!), Elizabeth Taylor, and the president of Uganda. She and her husband and a menagerie of pets now live a less exotic life in Virginia.
Visit Jenny
at her website and sign up for her newsletter, her blog, or find her on Facebook and Twitter. And she regularly posts adorable pictures of her pets on Instagram as @thejennygardiner.
Lady Killer (Confessions of a Chick Magnet Book 5) Page 8