by Robyn Amos
The phone in her room rang and Ronnie didn’t answer it. It was probably Ace again, and she had nothing to say to him. Seconds later, her cell phone rang. She saw Cara’s picture and tapped the answer button.
“Hi, Cara.”
“Ronnie,” her friend said. “You’ve got to go online. There’s something you’ve got to see.”
Cara had always been a computer geek, but Ronnie had never gotten too involved with them herself. “Girl, you know I don’t have a computer here. Why don’t you just describe it to me? What is it—dancing babies or some talking animals on YouTube?”
“I can’t describe it. You have to see it for yourself. Andtrust me, you don’t want to miss this. Just go look. Your phone has internet access.”
Confused but curious, Ronnie sat down and let her friend talk her through the process of pulling up an internet video on her phone.
“Okay, now we have to hang up while you watch it,” Cara instructed. “But call me when you’re done.”
Ronnie navigated to the link Cara had told her to and found herself watching streaming video on the Entertainment News channel. A reporter was holding a microphone out to Ace, and Ronnie caught her breath.
“This can’t be good,” she muttered.
“There’s been a lot of buzz in the last few days about a budding romance between you and one of the chefs you’re competing with on Gourmet TV’s All-Star Food Fight. Are you finally ready to comment on this?”
“Yes, actually, I have a lot to say on this topic because the press and my overzealous publicist have joined together to get me in trouble with my lady. She seems to think our romance is just an elaborate publicity stunt. Right now, I want to tell her, and the world, that I’m in love with her. My feelings for her are real, and I’m hoping that she’ll talk to me and give me a chance to explain things in person.”
Unsure what to make of this spontaneous confession, all Ronnie could do was stare at the screen and blink. He loved her? Then why had he thought doing an online interview would be the appropriate way to tell her? Wasn’t this just more promotion for his book?
Apparently, the reporter thought so. “You do have a new cookbook coming out soon, don’t you?”
Ace shrugged. “Actually, I’ve said all I came to say. Thanks for your time.” Then he walked off camera.
As Ronnie sat, shaking her head in disbelief, there wasa knock at the door. Still deep in her thoughts, she absently stood to open the door.
“Can we talk?” Ace said, from the hallway.
Ronnie frowned, looking back at the phone. “I thought you were online.”
“I taped that in the hotel lobby two hours ago,” he said, walking over to her.
Ace pushed her open suitcase aside and sat down on the edge of her bed. “Look. When you disappeared last night and wouldn’t return my calls, I realized you must have overheard me talking to Garett in the hallway last night. Is that right?”
Ronnie nodded. “That’s right. I heard him admit that you got involved with me just for the publicity.”
“That conversation was out of context. From the beginning he could see that I was attracted to you. He started joking, I thought, that a showmance would be a great press angle. I kept telling him to forget about it, but Garett is headstrong, and because he’s a friend, I guess I’ve always given him too much freedom when it comes to my career. Once we got together, he started leaking it to the press. I didn’t even know what he was doing until it was too late.”
Ronnie sighed. “And when was that? When you didn’t say anything to me about it in Las Vegas? Or when you didn’t say anything about it to me at the lagoon?”
“You’re right,” he said, running his hands over his bald head. “I should have told you what was going on when I figured out what Garett was up to. But I wanted to set him straight first. We started playing telephone tag and then I finally tracked him down last night. That’s why I left you to go meet him. When I came back, I was going to tell you everything. Unfortunately, you were already gone.”
Ronnie shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Whatever?” He frowned at her. “Is that all you have to say?”
“Yeah. Whatever. There’s nothing more for me to say.”
“I meant what I said today, Ronnie. I love you. My feelings for you are real. They always have been.”
Ronnie looked into his eyes, and she wanted to believe him. “You sound convincing, but the truth is, all along you’ve been trying to make me into something that I’m not. The real me was never good enough for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ve been dressing me up like some doll, picking out sexy outfits and skimpy bikinis, so I’ll be more like the girls you usually date. Maybe that’s just not who I am. What about that?”
Ace threw up his hands. “That’s crazy. I wasn’t trying to make you over. Picking those clothes was an innocent gesture.”
“Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but until this competition is over, I can’t continue to worry about this.”
He rolled his eyes. “This competition is really all you care about, isn’t it. Is winning really the only thing that matters? I can’t help wondering what you wouldn’t do to win this thing.”
Ronnie’s spine snapped straight. “What are you implying?”
“Oh, nothing. Just that maybe all the mishaps in the kitchen ultimately worked to your advantage today.”
“Are you accusing me of sabotage?” she scoffed. “That’s funny, since you’re the one who ended up with two proteins. You didn’t even speak up about it until I complained. Maybe you were hoping to keep your advantage.”
“That wasn’t an advantage, and I was going to speak up when the judges got to my table.”
“By then it may have been too late to make adjustments. Were you also the one who switched the salt and sugar in my station?”
“Listen, I don’t need to stoop to petty tricks to beat you in this competition, Ronnie. I’ve proven that many times over. Maybe you’re the one who broke the stand for our fruit carving. It wasn’t damaged until today.”
Ronnie was so angry all she could do was stare daggers in Ace’s direction. “This conversation isn’t getting us anywhere. But one thing is clear. We don’t trust each other. And that’s certainly not a foundation for any kind of relationship. I think you should leave now.”
Ace stared at her in openmouthed silence as if waiting for something to change. Finally, when nothing did, he stood and walked out the door.
Chapter 15
Ace felt like a caged animal. In a few minutes, their plane from Kauai to California would be taking off, and he had nowhere to run. He was in a left aisle seat and Ronnie was across the aisle in the right window seat.
Of course he was seated near the last person he wanted to see. That’s how his luck was going these days.
He refused to look in her direction. He didn’t have to look to know she was going out of her way to ignore his existence. Their argument last night had been one of the worst he’d ever had with anyone. And after watching his parents bicker and take petty shots at each other when he was young, he’d made it a point to avoid that kind of bitter confrontation.
Picking up the in-flight magazine, Ace blindly flipped through the pages. Maybe this failed attempt at a real relationship was just confirmation that he wasn’t cut out for one.
His grand gesture, confessing his love for her on the internet, had backfired. She’d rejected him outright. Ronnie was so focused on winning the Food Fight that she hadn’t wanted to work things out.
Now, for his trouble, he had fallen into last place in the competition. Did he really believe that she’d tried to sabotage his kitchen? No. But it had been the only thing he could say to lash out at her. It hurt that she cared more about winning than she cared about him.
For all he knew, she really believed he was capable of the things she’d accused him of. But they’d been friends for years—she should know him better than that.
>
Friends. Now they didn’t even have that between them. How had things gone so terribly wrong?
Ace closed his eyes, wishing this plane was headed home to New York.
Normally, Ronnie would have been completely preoccupied with the fact that Ace was sitting just a couple of feet away. But, as the plane began to taxi down the runway, she realized she had a much bigger problem to deal with.
Somewhere between Washington, D.C., and Hawaii, she’d developed a very real fear of flying. She’d never been comfortable with air travel, but now she was facing full-on panic.
The businessman in the seat next to her had taken the armrest, and while Ronnie wasn’t normally rude, this was an emergency.
She moved her arm over until she could clutch the armrest as tight as possible. The man turned his head sharply to stare at her, but she ignored him. He should have been glad she hadn’t grabbed his arm for support. In a crisis, personal boundaries were null and void.
She heard the roar of the engine and knew the planewas about to take off. Ronnie could feel the sweat beading on her forehead, and she suddenly felt as though it was a struggle to breathe. Her chest constricted in pain as though someone were stabbing her. Anxiety attack, her mind told her. She’d had a roommate in college who’d had them all the time.
Not wanting to start screaming hysterically, she pressed her eyes closed and began repeating reassuring thoughts in her head.
Ronnie hadn’t realized that she’d been mumbling “You’re not going to die,” out loud until she felt a hand cover hers on the armrest and a deep voice whispering, “It’s going to be okay.”
Startled, Ronnie looked up and found herself staring at Ace. Looking across the aisle she saw the businessman sitting in the seat Ace had vacated.
Ace squeezed her fingers, “I know you’re afraid of flying. I’ll help you through this … if you want me to.”
Too scared for pride, Ronnie swallowed hard and nodded. The plane was still angled upward into the sky. This was always the worst part for her. It was like the painstakingly slow climb up the incline on a roller coaster. Once they leveled out, and the ride was underway, she’d be fine. At least she hoped so.
“Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to go wrong. And just think, even in the unlikely event that the plane did go down, the three of us are all here together,” he said, nodding to the front row where Etta Foster and her grandson and sous chef, Adrian, were seated. “Nobody could win the Food Fight.”
It shouldn’t have made her laugh, but it did. Ace continued to talk to her, never letting go of her hand. Half the time, Ronnie didn’t even know what he was saying. She just focused on his voice and the firm grip of his fingers.
A few moments later, the pilot told them they’d reached their cruising altitude, and Ronnie began to relax. Realizing that she was doing better, Ace let go of her hand.
Ronnie immediately missed his touch. It was an overwhelmingly kind gesture for him to come to her when she needed him. Especially after the horrible things they’d said to each other the night before.
“Ace, thank you for—”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“No, really, I do. I was seconds away from having a complete breakdown.”
“No problem. I wouldn’t sit by and watch you suffer—no matter what kind of person you think I am.” He tried to lighten his tone with a laugh, but it fell short of the mark.
Heat spread over Ronnie’s face. Now she regretted some of the things she’d said. They’d been friends for many years. He’d deserved the benefit of the doubt.
“I’m sorry. Last night, I didn’t mean to say—”
He held up his hand. “We both said things that we regret. I think the pressure of the competition has gotten the best of both of us.”
Reaching up, she took his hand just as he’d done when she was having her panic attack. She squeezed his fingers gently until he finally turned to look at her.
“I hate the idea of us not being friends anymore. Is it too late to go back?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard not to think of you as more than a friend.”
“I was scared,” she whispered. “Too scared to believe you when you said you loved me. Too scared to trust you. But, most of all, too scared to trust myself. I’m starting to fall for you, too, but with my track record, that can only mean one thing. And that’s to run as fast as I can in the opposite direction.”
Ace’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry if I was rushing you. I guess I felt I had to step things up because I felt you slipping away. Maybe cooling things off is best for both of us. I do still want to be your friend.”
Ronnie sighed with relief. “I’m so glad to hear that. Maybe, after the competition—”
“You don’t have to say any more. After I came in last in the second round, I had to promise Marcel and Garett that I’d keep my head in the game. No more getting distracted by my beautiful competition.”
She smiled, then hesitated. There was still one more thing she needed to know before the air would be clear between them.
“At the risk of ruining things again, there’s still something bothering me.”
Ace sighed. “Go ahead. Get it off your chest.”
After their difficult conversation, Ronnie found it even harder to get the words out. She hoped asking wouldn’t make things worse. “LQ told me that you used to date one of her model friends from New York. She says that you used her fame to get free publicity for your restaurant, and then, after your opening, you dumped her. Is that true?”
Ace snorted. “You must be talking about Mariah. What actually happened was that GTV was hiring models as background for my show. She thought I had some influence in who they chose. When she found out that I didn’t, she dumped me.”
Ronnie frowned. “Then why would she tell LQ that you dumped her?”
Ace shrugged. “If I knew why women did anything, I’d be a rich man. You may not believe me, but The Sexy Chef was just getting ready to air when my second restaurant was opening. I really didn’t need the reputation of a model to promote it.”
She nodded. His explanation made perfect sense. Now she was sorry she’d even asked. But it was too late for her to take it back. And so much had gone on between them over the last two weeks.
Ronnie hoped that they’d be able to salvage some sort of friendship from the wreckage, but as Ace put headphones in his ears and closed his eyes, she couldn’t help wondering if it was too late for that, too.
Chapter 16
After the studio taping in California, the chefs had a couple of days off before traveling to Paris for the final round in the Food Fight competition.
Ronnie had never been to Paris, so she planned to fly over early with Cara and do some sightseeing. But first she went home for two days to play with her dog, Baxter, check in on Crave and visit her family.
On her last day home, Ronnie drove to her mother’s house in Maryland where she’d grown up. Her mother, Sadie, and her 87-year-old grandma, Patsy, lived there. Ronnie often worried about the two of them alone there together, but somehow they managed.
As soon as she let herself into the house she could smell fresh-baked cherry pie, her favorite, fried chicken and corn bread. Her stomach growled in excitement. Coming home was hands-down the toughest part of maintaining her diet.
Ronnie walked through the house toward the kitchen, calling, “Mom? Grandma? I’m home.”
When she entered the kitchen she found the two little old ladies sitting at the table peeling potatoes. Her mother eyed her from across the table. “Veronica, it’s about time you came home. Nowadays we have to turn on the TV if we want to see you.”
Ronnie leaned over to kiss her grandma on the cheek and the woman grabbed her wrist. “Child, you’re skin and bones. You can’t let yourself waste away to nothing. Now sit down and eat.”
The Howard women were traditionally full-figured, and ever since Ronnie had lost weight her mother and grandmother had never let her hear the end o
f it.
“Actually, Grandma, I think I gained five pounds while I was traveling. I have to be very strict with my diet while I’m here.”
“Five pounds,” her mother scoffed. “I’ve never heard such nonsense. The mashed potatoes aren’t ready yet, but there’s plenty of chicken and corn bread. Grab yourself a plate.”
It was futile to argue, so Ronnie put a sliver of corn bread and one drumstick on her plate. Grandma Patsy pulled down her glasses to stare at Ronnie’s portion. “We don’t keep any birds in here, Veronica. Go back and get yourself a human-size portion.”
Laughing, Ronnie shook her head. They went around and around like this every time. “Human-size? Look at all those potatoes you two are peeling. I hope you all are expecting more company because you’ve got enough to feed an army.”
“Give up, Ma,” Sadie told her mother. “Veronica’s one of those modern women now that don’t believe in eating.
At least we can be sure that we taught her to cook properly. Tell us about the competition, sweetie.”
As Ronnie peeled the skin off her drumstick under the glaring eyes of the two women, she described the whirlwind of activity surrounding the first two rounds. She purposely left out the parts involving Ace, which made Ronnie realize just how much he’d become a part of her life. She studied her two mentors sitting across the table from her.
“Mom? Grandma? Do you two ever regret not remarrying after your husbands left?”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “Lord, no. I can do bad all by myself. I don’t need the help of a man.”
Grandma Patsy nodded. “That’s right. They’re all liars and cheaters.”
Ronnie nodded, staring down at her hands. “I guess it is easier to be on your own. A strong woman doesn’t need a man.”