Can't Stand the Heat (Corporate Chaos Series Book 2)

by Leighann Dobbs

  “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

  Raffe looked at Sarah. The panicked look on her face mirrored how he felt. Their smiles froze.

  They must look like idiots just standing there. They needed to act like a real engaged couple. Maybe just a quick peck wouldn’t hurt.

  He leaned down, maybe a bit too fast, just as Sarah, who must have been thinking along the same lines, launched up on her toes. The top of her head crashed into his chin, sending a jolt of pain along his jaw.

  They pulled back, then kissed awkwardly on the cheeks and backed away from each other, him rubbing his chin, she rubbing her head as the audience erupted in laughter.

  “It looks like maybe you need to practice that approach a bit more,” Landon joked.

  The audience filtered out while the contestants cleaned their stations. Brenda and Dick were stone faced as they gave their area a perfunctory cleaning. Brenda slowed as she passed Raffe and Sarah, her eyes shooting daggers at them both.

  “Sorry about your loss,” Sarah said. Brenda just glared.

  After Brenda was out of sight, Raffe exchanged looks with Sarah, and they both broke into a smile. She held up her fist for a bump. “Hopefully we won’t have to field anymore accusations now that Brenda is gone.”

  “One can only hope.” Raffe slid his chef’s knives into their sleeves and threw the rag on the counter. Their area was spotless except for the pots and pans in the sink, which the staff would remove and scour in the back kitchen.

  They headed to the bungalow, Raffe’s heart a little lighter. Another challenge under their belt and a nasty competitor gone. As they walked past Brenda and Dick’s bungalow, Brenda came charging out at them with Dick right behind her.

  “I know you two are cheating! And I don’t care that we just lost, I will make sure you two cheaters don’t win! And I’m petitioning for a redo!” Brenda screeched, her arms flailing.

  “We aren’t cheaters!” Sarah yelled back. Raffe was surprised at how loud her voice could be. She didn’t usually yell, but apparently Brenda had gotten on her last nerve.

  “Brenda, let’s go! Get inside!” Dick pulled on one of Brenda’s arms to get her back inside the bungalow, all the time Brenda still yelling, even as the door closed on her shrieks.

  “What was that all about?”

  Raffe turned to see Dave and Kim.

  “Oh, just Brenda going off the deep end, I guess,” he replied, shaking his head.

  “They accused us of cheating!” Sarah blurted to Kim as the two women started to walk ahead of Raffe and Dave along the path.

  “That’s ridiculous. You two won fair and square. Great idea on how to cook that octopus, by the way, Raffe.”

  “Thanks. The searing was Sarah’s idea. We make a good team.” Raffe had been pretty pleased with the dish.

  “Raffe, care to grab a drink?” Dave asked him, nodding toward the beach bar.

  Raffe accepted his invitation, and they left the two women sitting on the beach.

  The beach bar served the whole resort, but it was fairly empty for late afternoon. They ordered beers in frosty mugs and sat at a bamboo table under a palm tree. The breeze rustled the large palm fronds lazily, and Raffe relaxed into his seat, running his finger down the condensation on his mug.

  “So, things are moving fast, huh?” Dave took a sip of his beer.

  “Very. It’s good, though, I guess. Though the constant anxiety is starting to kill me.” Raffe said it jokingly, but it was partly true. He was usually cool under pressure, but the constant daily stress of the challenges plus the sabotage and Brenda’s accusations was starting to pile up. Not to mention the kissing.

  “Ha! Anxiety! Tell me about it. Try having your entire future riding on this contest!”

  Raffe’s heart twisted. He didn’t know what to say. Dave and Kim had nothing. For them, everything was riding on winning the contest. He had never really thought about the fact that after the show ended they had no home to which they could return.

  “What are your plans? For after the show, I mean,” he asked, hoping that he wasn’t offending Dave.

  Dave sighed. “Well, if we don’t win, then I guess we just go back to the real world, you know. No more beachfront bungalow. We have a tent on the beach and can stay there. The weather here is amenable to that, well, except during the rainy season. I’ve been thinking about applying at the resort for a job because they’ve seen my work now, or at least heard about it. Maybe the fact that I don’t have an actual home won’t prevent them from hiring me this time.”

  “This time?” Raffe sipped his beer, the liquid cooling his throat and the tang of hops lingering on his tongue.

  “Yeah. I applied for a job here after I was fired from the restaurant. I would have had the job if it wasn’t for the fact I didn’t have a permanent address here on the island. It’s a catch twenty-two. I can’t afford an apartment without a job, and I can’t get a job without an apartment.”

  Raffe couldn’t begin to pretend that he knew how Dave felt. The fact that Dave and Kim had so much riding on winning the contest made him feel like a jerk. Whether he won or lost, he’d return to his fancy apartment in New York.

  “Now, if we win, that’s a life changer right there.” Dave took another sip. “Kim and I want to open our own restaurant here on the island. Just a small one, nothing big or fancy. We don’t need it to make a ton of money. Just enough for us to pay the bills and get by is fine. We love cooking so much, and love this island so much. It would be a dream come true for the both of us. But enough about me, what about you?”

  Raffe told him about his restaurants and his love of the food business. But his usual enthusiasm was dampened by Dave’s circumstances. He wanted to offer him a job on the spot, but he got the impression Dave would see that as charity, and he didn’t think a guy like Dave would accept charity. The least he could do was pay the bar tab, which he did after another beer and forty-five minutes of good conversation.

  As Raffe and Dave parted ways, Raffe began to wonder if his priorities weren’t all screwed up.

  Veronica sat in her tiny office at her tiny desk beneath the air conditioning vent. It was freezing, but she wasn’t cold. In fact, she was a bit heated because of the phone conversation with Tanner. She swung around in her chair, tapping her foot on the floor as she listened to Tanner drone.

  “Yes, Tanner, I know how important this is,” Veronica said dryly. Did he think she was stupid? I mean, after all, this whole plan had been half her idea. She didn’t like being treated like a child, and she didn’t need Tanner calling and texting her nonstop, asking what was going on.

  “Maybe this just isn’t going to happen; the timing is wrong.” Veronica made a face as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Had she said that? What was wrong with her? It was that old bag, Gertie. All her talk about karma and her words about being nice were starting to turn Veronica soft!

  The thing was, Veronica didn’t have the same gusto for ruining lives she’d had a few weeks ago. Maybe that was because her efforts kept being thwarted. But something about Gertie’s words rang true, and she really did like the old lady.

  She respected Gertie, and Gertie understood where Veronica was coming from. She’d been where Veronica was but had persevered and ended up with a great career. Veronica, on the other hand, didn’t have any idea what she would do after this show. She wasn’t going to be a CEO’s assistant anymore, that was for sure, but what else was she qualified to do?

  Maybe she should stop trying to ruin people’s lives and hers would get better. Maybe Gertie had a point about karma.

  She rubbed the bandage-covered scratch on her arm absently. It was hot and itchy. She hoped she wasn’t getting an infection, as the dishwasher had said. Maybe the scratch was some sort of bad karma for the things she’d been doing to Sarah and Raffe.

  But it wasn’t fair! She had done something good the other day, so why was karma kicking her ass now?

  “Nonsense!” Tanner bellowed. “The timing could
n’t be better! We’ve got them right where we want them, in a place to be humiliated. In public! Are you forgetting that thanks to Sarah and her sidekick Marly we both were screwed over? And don’t even think of backing out on me. I have proof it was you who switched the dessert, and you won’t get a referral if you are fired! And I think we both know Jasper Kenney won’t be giving you a good referral from your last job, will he? Do you want to sit in your apartment with no job, gorging on M&Ms again?”

  Tanner’s smarmy voice made Veronica cringe, but he did have a point. Marly and Sarah had gotten her fired, and she had loved that job. Word had traveled fast within the fashion industry about the fact she had been fired, and finding a new job had been nearly impossible.

  But she didn’t want a job in that industry anymore. Even though she’d only taken the job here so that she could mess up the contest for Sarah, she found herself actually beginning to like it. She enjoyed organizing and keeping things running on time. And she was good at it. The producer had already complimented her several times.

  When the contest was done, she hoped to get a similar job. But that wouldn’t happen if Tanner ratted her out.

  His remark about her weight stung, but she had gained a ton of weight in between jobs. In fact, she was almost as heavy as she had been growing up. But now that she was busy all day running around, the weight was starting to drop off. Another benefit of an active job like this.

  “Fine. I’ll see what I can do,” Veronica said to placate him.

  “I know what you can do. Use that secret weapon and be done with it.” Tanner hung up before she could say another word.

  Veronica unlocked the top right drawer of her desk. That was where she locked her purse. Not because she had anything of value but because the “secret weapon” was in there.

  She reached in and pulled out a small glass vial. Holding it up to the light, she peered through the clear liquid. Who knew such a strange concoction could exist in a tiny vial like that? It looked as harmless as water.

  But it wasn’t harmless. It was some kind of mixture that when poured over any type of food would make it taste absolutely rancid.

  The problem was getting the chance to pour it over the food without being seen. She should have done it during the favorite meal challenge, but she’d switched the dessert instead, hoping that would be enough to send Raffe and Sarah home and she wouldn’t have to resort to such drastic measures.

  Too bad the rest of the challenges didn’t really allow for the food to be placed anywhere that she could access without being seen.

  The meals cooked went directly from the teams’ kitchens to the judges table, and all under the eye of multiple cameras. She’d have to use some major sleight of hand to drop the liquid onto the food after Raffe and Sarah had tasted and plated their dishes and before it got to the judges.

  If she were caught, she’d be fired and lose any hope of a good reference. She placed the vial back into her purse. That would have to be used as a last resort. There was still another contest to go. She’d just have to figure out a way to ensure they lost without having to resort to the secret weapon.

  14

  Raffe was still thinking about Dave and Kim when he got back to the bungalow. The excitement he’d felt about the contest up until now had been tarnished by his talk with Dave. Sure, it was exciting to win, but was this really the right way?

  Sarah was at the kitchen sink, her golden hair flowing over her shoulders as she sliced limes on a cutting board. Beside her, two ice-filled glasses of soda water fizzed, their bubbles clinging to the sides of the glasses. The air was spiced with the pungent citrus smell. She appeared to be immersed in her task.

  Raffe paused to watch her for a second. There was another reason for him to win the contest now—Sarah. Winning would go a long way toward securing her future as a chef. Unlike Raffe, the money mattered to her. And somehow what mattered to Sarah had started to matter to Raffe.

  Sarah turned to look at him, her smile lighting her face. “Thank you for sticking up for me earlier, I really appreciate it.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. That’s what being a team is all about,” Raffe said.

  Sarah turned back to the limes, avoiding his gaze. “I’m making lime soda. You want one?”

  She tossed several of the limes into one of the glasses, squeezing the juice of a few of the wedges, and held the glass out to him.

  Raffe stepped over to take the glass. His hand brushed hers, sending a jolt through him. He looked from the glass to Sarah. She looked up at him, a half smile on her lips. The sun shining through the window highlighted the gold flecks in her amber eyes.

  “I’ve never had anyone watch my back before,” she said.

  And then, before Raffe even knew what was happening, she stood up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips against his. It was a whisper of a kiss, so quick he didn’t have time to react. Didn’t have time to pull her close and make it last longer. By the time he realized it had happened, she’d already bounced back down on her heels and turned back to the limes.

  What was that? Probably just a friendly peck, a gesture of her appreciation. Friends did that, right? Sarah had returned to cutting the limes as if it hadn’t been important. So clearly she thought the kiss meant nothing.

  Raffe was still clutching the drink. He shoved his other hand in his pocket to keep from reaching for her and giving her a proper kiss.

  “Well, um, was that practice so we don’t knock heads the next time on the show?” Raffe joked.

  Sarah laughed and looked up at him, her cheeks flushed. “Just a little thank-you kiss. I feel like we’re becoming partners here. Friends.”

  Right. Friends. The kiss had been simply a friendly kiss. Which made sense, because she was probably still with this Tommy guy. She’d go back to him after this was all over and their fake engagement was dissolved.

  His throat suddenly dry, Raffe chugged the drink, the prickly fizz of the soda water tickling his tongue.

  “I was thinking you might like to grill some food tonight for supper.” Raffe put his glass in the sink, careful not to step too close to Sarah.

  “That sounds great.” She didn’t look up from the limes.

  “Great. I’ll grab something from the community kitchen and meet you down at the grills.”

  “Okay.”

  Raffe turned and made a beeline for the door.

  Sarah watched from her spot at the kitchen window as Raffe’s broad shoulders disappeared down the path. She sliced into the last lime, the knife slipping and cutting her finger.

  Damn! That stings!

  She sucked on her finger as she walked to the bathroom in search of a bandage, her mind still on the fact that she’d kissed Raffe.

  Why had she done that? It had been totally spur of the moment. But in that moment she’d felt so close to him. Maybe it was all his talk about being a team. She’d never been a team with anyone. Certainly not Harley. Maybe Tommy. He’d been the only one to stick up for her until now. Until Raffe.

  But it had been a dumb thing to do, and when he didn’t respond, she’d had to make light of it. Pretend it was a friendly peck. She’d turned away to chop the lime so he wouldn’t see her disappointment. And he’d graciously made that comment about “practicing” to help ease her embarrassment.

  Just as well. Things might have gotten out of hand. Once the contest was over, their fake engagement would be over, and the next time she saw Raffe Washburn he’d probably have a gorgeous model on his arm.

  Her heart weighed heavy with thoughts of Tommy as she rinsed the small nick in her finger then wrapped it in the bandage. Was Tommy on the island? If so, why couldn’t she find him? And then there was her mother’s hopeful texts. She hadn’t the heart to tell her mother that she’d not heard from Tommy in almost a year. Her mother still thought she could pass messages along. Maybe the new leads she’d gotten from Kim would pan out. In fact, now was a good time to try them.

  Her finger properly wrapp
ed and the sting abating, she headed toward the living room, where her phone sat on the side table. It rang just as she reached for it. Marly.

  “I just wanted to check in. I know you had another contest today. Did you guys make it?” Marly asked.

  “We did. Actually, we won.” She probably shouldn’t have been telling Marly this information. They weren’t supposed to tell anyone the results of the challenges because the show wouldn’t air until a few months after the contest ended. The studio didn’t want any of it leaking out. But Marly was her best friend, and she knew she wouldn’t blab.

  “That’s great. But why do you sound so preoccupied? Wait a minute, did you and Raffe kiss again?” Marly’s voice rose in excitement at the word “kiss.”

  Sarah’s heart jerked. How did Marly know? Then she realized Marly was referring to the kiss Landon had forced on them after they won the bacon contest, not the one she’d just given him in the kitchen. Marly probably assumed that would happen every time they won.

  “No. I mean the audience was calling for us to kiss, but it wasn’t really a kiss. We kind of just clonked our faces into each other,” Sarah explained.

  No way was she going to tell Marly about the other kiss in the kitchen. That would only encourage her to keep trying to fix them up.

  “Oh, well, that’s a start anyway,” Marly said. “So are things going good otherwise?”

  “Sure. That crab that kept accusing us of cheating went home today, so things should be smooth sailing from here on out,” Sarah said.

  “What about Veronica?”

  Sarah’s gut clenched. Yeah, can’t forget about Veronica. Brenda had been a pain in the butt, but Veronica was dangerous. “There hasn’t been any funny business in the last two contests. Maybe she’s turned over a new leaf.”

  Marly snorted. “Yeah, right and I’m Coco Chanel. You better watch out for her. The fact that she hasn’t pulled something in a while probably just means that she’s gearing up for something really big.”