“No need. Jeff has his own description.”
“No, I don’t. Michele is out, too.” He didn’t want to diagnose why those words were so hard to say. He wanted her to stay, but deep down he knew that was not a reason to keep her. She was the wild card in the deck, too risky for such an important project. Why was he tempted to trust her and rely on her to make his restaurant great when she admitted she wasn’t cooking as well as she should be? Just the fact that he wanted her to stay despite her inconsistencies was a red flag that his head wasn’t on straight when it came to Michele Cox. He walked back to the pool table and lined up to take his shot so that his sister couldn’t see the emotion swirling in his eyes.
Chloe put her hand on his elbow, stopping his shot. “I thought she’d decided to stay.”
He spun around to face them both. “Yes, but I can’t let her. She’s insecure, inconsistent and I heard she’s here for the wrong reasons.”
“Wrong reasons, like...?” Matt motioned with his beer bottle for Jeff to go on.
“Hell if I know. She said something about needing to help her sister. I don’t know what that means.”
“I might,” Chloe said softly. “Dad showed me the report. He did a background check on each of the chefs.”
“Any reason why Dad didn’t show me the report?” Jeff was livid. His father obviously still didn’t respect him. He felt like a kid again, being ignored by the old man.
“Did you ask for the report? I assumed Dad’s team would’ve researched the candidates during the selection process, so I asked. No way Dad went into this thing blind,” Chloe said.
“Oh.” And now Jeff felt like a dumbass because he hadn’t asked for the report when he should have. He could only blame his whole life being upturned for the oversight. Blackmail could mess with a guy’s head.
“What did the report say about Jeff’s Michele?” Matt asked.
“She’s not my anything,” Jeff grumbled but he looked at Chloe and waited for her answer.
“Michele takes care of her sister, who has Down syndrome. Medical costs. Housing. Everything. Her sister lives in an assisted community for adults. That can’t be cheap,” Chloe said.
Jeff had not expected that. When he’d caught Michele with the picture book, he hadn’t imagined she was reading to an adult with neurotypical differences. His heart melted a little.
“Oh, man. I knew I liked her,” Matt said.
Jeff did, too. He more than liked her. But should that matter? No. “This is a business. The restaurant cannot achieve five-star status without a great chef.”
“Miss Sparkle is not as good as the others?” Matt asked.
Jeff exhaled deeply. “That’s the thing. I believe she is the best, or was. Something happened to make her doubt herself. She lost... I don’t know...the passion for it?”
Chloe leaned in. “I’ve worked with artists and actors in my yoga studio in Hollywood who were just like Michele. Something crushes their spirit and it’s hard to recover. Some never do. What happened to her?”
He didn’t know, shouldn’t care. “Not my business.” But that look in Michele’s eyes on the application video—the survivor’s spark—made him want to find out.
Matt patted his back. “My two cents? Don’t quit on Michele so soon. See if she can recover her passion.”
“She quit on me.” Jeff swallowed his frustration with the last sips of beer.
“But she came back. You said it was her insecurity talking, remember? I’m with Matt. Give her another chance,” Chloe said.
The idea of keeping her around another day lit a fire in his chest. It’s what he wanted, even though he knew he shouldn’t. “Fine. I’ll give her one more day in the competition. If she can’t cut it, I’ll have to let her go.”
“Okay, where does that leave us?” Matt asked.
“With three potential candidates. Michele, Freja and Tonia. I’d be cautious of Tonia—she’s got knockout curves and knows how to use them,” Chloe said.
“You can’t fault her because she’s smoking hot,” Matt said.
“We’re trying to improve Jeff’s image. It’s too easy to imagine Tonia faking it in one of Jeff’s elevator videos,” Chloe explained.
Jeff’s head shot up. “Wait! You knew the maid in the GIF was faking it?”
Chloe laughed. “Seriously? Doesn’t everyone? I highly doubt she was a maid, though. Porn star?”
He hadn’t stuck around to ask. “Someone hired her to jump me in the elevator. I’d never seen her before.” Jeff put the cue stick down on the table so they wouldn’t see his hands shaking.
“Jumped? As in a stranger groped you?” Matt asked.
“Don’t...want to...talk about it.” He ground out the words through his clenched teeth.
He’d been the brunt of daily internet jokes, but he cared about what Matt thought and wouldn’t be able to take it if his big brother laughed at him. Jeff’s muscles bunched, ready to throw a punch. If Matt so much as cracked a smile, he’d lose a tooth.
“Some woman just...” Matt shook his head. “Wow. That’s jacked up. Does that happen to you a lot?” His tone was serious, not at all teasing.
Matt believes me. Jeff released the air burning his lungs.
Chloe covered her mouth in horror. Her eyes wide with shock and filling up with tears.
Dammit, he couldn’t do this now.
“Next subject!” he barked.
“I’m sorry, Jeff. I didn’t realize what happened or I wouldn’t have joked about it.” Chloe rubbed his back. “It would do you good to talk to someone about this. If not with us, how about Angel? She’s really helped Dad.”
“I don’t need a therapist.” So what that his heart was pounding and his forehead was sweating? Big deal that he had an urge to snap the cue stick in two. He was fine. Would be fine. “I need to work and put it all behind me.”
A silent look passed between Chloe and Matt.
“Just remember we’re here for you, bro. All the time,” Matt said.
“Fine. Can we get back to the chefs?” Jeff said. “You two are supposed to be helping me choose one, not psychoanalyzing me.”
Chloe nodded. “Sure. We were talking about Tonia. If she’s the one you want, Dad’s image people will do what they can to tone down her sex-kitten vibe a bit for the cameras. It’ll be fine.”
Did he want a toned-down employee working for him? Did he want fake and surface level? With every chef so far, he’d wanted a connection. He wanted real for a change. Michele and her dimples popped into his head. And then her curves, closely followed by her soft lips. Damn, he wanted to kiss her again.
No.
He couldn’t fantasize about the way she sassed him with that pretty mouth of hers. Or how much he wanted to taste the sweet spot below her ear and see if she would shiver with delight. He’d agreed to give her one more chance, but if she couldn’t get her act together, he’d send her home.
“Now Freja is tall, regal, elegant and supermodel gorgeous. She has a stellar reputation in Sweden. Her entrées are supposed to be amazing. But...” Chloe trailed off.
His sister’s assessment was spot-on. Freja was a real looker and her Swedish venison meatballs were both sweet and savory. “But what?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why is she here? She’s famous in her own right in Sweden. Freja has graced more magazine covers than you have, Jeff. Why leave all that to come here to work for you? What’s in it for her?”
“Way to crush a guy’s ego, sis,” Matt said.
“She’s right, though. And before Lily left, she told me to be careful. Maybe someone is here under false pretenses,” Jeff said.
“Did Lily say who to watch out for?” Matt asked.
“No. I wondered if it was Michele, but I guess it could be any of them. Or all of them.”
Chloe leaned
forward. “Why don’t we test each chef to find out their true motives.”
“Test them? How?” he asked.
Chloe sat back on her bar stool. “Leave that to me. I’ll arrange outings for each of them tailored to give you a chance to connect with them personally, to find out why they’re really here.”
Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose. “We already determined that I don’t make real connections.”
“Fake it until you make it. And trust me. This next step in the competition will tell you who you should choose,” Chloe said.
Matt grinned. “Sounds like a dating show.”
Jeff slugged him, just because.
Nine
Michele got up early and called the billing department at Cari’s group home to beg for an extension.
Even with careful fiscal management, she’d come up short. She didn’t have enough for the rent. If she didn’t get the chef job, she’d have to scramble for something else and fast.
But when the bookkeeper told her that all of Cari’s expenses for the month had been paid for by Harper Industries, she gasped. Jeffrey Harper was full of surprises. She had no idea how he knew about Cari’s group home fees but she was grateful.
Rushing downstairs to thank him for his generosity, she ran into Chloe.
“Good morning, Michele. You’re up early. Still on New York time?”
“I’m an early riser.” And a night owl. Working at Alfieri’s meant being the first to arrive and last to leave the kitchen.
“Well, you should relax today. I am organizing individual outings with Jeff so he can get to know each one of you a little better. To see if your personalities mesh. The other two chefs are going to be with him for most of the day. I’m planning something for you that might take place tonight, but that one is still sketchy. I’ll let you know when it’s all settled.”
This was the strangest interview...process? Contest? Competition? “Okay. So, I might not see Jeffrey at all today?”
Chloe cocked her head and studied Michele for a second. “I don’t think so, unless he runs into you like I just did. He’s very busy. You go and enjoy the day. Use the pool. Walk the gardens. Go to the beach. If you get hungry for good Mexican food, I’d suggest visiting Pueblicito and going to Juanita’s Café. Give them Jeff’s name when you order and tell them who you are. We have a tab set up for you ladies in case you want to buy any food in the market or restaurant. As long as you’re here, everything is paid for by Harper Industries.”
Michele teared up and hugged Chloe. “Thank you for my sister’s rent, too.”
Chloe pulled back and smiled. “That wasn’t me. Last night Jeff mentioned he had some online banking to do before he went to bed. He must have paid your sister’s rent then. He comes off cocky and gruff, but there’s a mushy heart under all that muscle. I hope you give him a chance.”
She blinked. Give him a chance? Wasn’t it the other way around?
Somehow, he’d given her a second chance at the opportunity of a lifetime and she was determined not to blow it.
Chloe patted her shoulder. “Enjoy your day off.”
It was her first vacation in the last five years. And here she was in sunny California, staying in a sexy billionaire’s mansion. It was a little mind-blowing. Suddenly she wanted to kiss Jeffrey again and it wasn’t just to thank him for paying for her sister’s fees.
On her way back to her room, Michele saw Suzette dragging her luggage out the front door. Holy moly! Jeffrey had excused the queen of French cuisine. It made no sense that Suzette was going home and Michele was still in the running. Why was Jeffrey keeping her here? She had a sense that she was dangling by one thin rope and had better figure out how to climb.
Tying up her walking shoes and zipping her sweatshirt, she headed out to explore Plunder Cove. She had barely started down the long driveway when a sleek silver car came from the house and pulled up next to her. The driver, a balding older gentleman, rolled down his window. “Want a ride, miss?”
“I’m not sure. How long does it take to walk to the town?”
“For me? It’s a good thirty minutes one-way to Pueblicito since my legs aren’t what they used to be. It is mostly downhill. You’d make it in twenty.”
“I’ll walk, then. The sunlight and sea air might do me some good.”
“May I make a suggestion? If you buy something in town—food and whatnot—call me to come pick you up.” He handed her a business card. “I wouldn’t want a nice lady like you exerting yourself walking back up the hill.”
She read the card. There was a phone number on it, plus a description that made her smile.
Robert Jones, Driver Extraordinary for Harper Industries
For Pickup, Call Alfred’s Batcave
“Thank you, Robert. Or would you prefer to be called Alfred?” she asked.
He seemed very professional, somewhat stiff and formal, but his lips twitched before he answered. “Whichever you prefer, miss. Jeffrey calls me Alfred. But if you do that, you must request the Batmobile.”
Jeffrey was into Batman? She had not expected that. The realization made him even more tempting. She’d loved DC Comics as a kid. She’d pretended she was a superhero who had the powers to save her mother and sister from illness. Michele’s mother had made Halloween costumes for both of her daughters until she was too weak to sew. Man, she was devastated when she’d finally outgrown her Catwoman costume.
“Will do. I’m Michele, by the way.”
“I know, miss.” He saluted her, did a U-turn in the driveway, and drove back to what Michele now knew was the Batcave.
Michele smiled, imagining Jeff and his brother chasing each other through the spacious rooms and running through the gardens playing caped crusaders. It should have been a fun house to play in but then she remembered Jeffrey had said his parents wished they’d never had kids. Maybe this wasn’t such a perfect place to grow up in after all. She was honored he’d confided in her about his childhood. It touched her. She had a sense that he didn’t like to talk about himself much and had surprised himself by opening up. His candidness and kindness made her want to trust him and prove that she could do the job he needed. The more she thought about Jeffrey Harper—his grin, those blue eyes, his wide chest... Okay, maybe she was thinking about him far too much. But the more she did, the more she wanted to stay.
* * *
“What the hell?”
Standing next to his sister, Jeff watched Freja stroll down the boat ramp as if it was a model’s runway. She wore long crepe-like pants, a flowery blouse, a silk scarf, a large hat over her platinum-blond hair and four-inch heels. It was the strangest fishing getup he’d ever seen.
Chloe gave him a tiny elbowing and mumbled, “Not a word. Have fun!”
Untying the rope from the dock, he started up the motor and pushed off. Less than an hour later they returned.
Chloe must have seen them coming into the bay from the house, for she rushed down to greet them on the dock. “That was fast. Did you... Oh, dear, what happened?”
Jeff offered his hand to help Freja off the boat. She pushed it away with a huff. Her hat was soggy, her clothes dripping. His weren’t any better.
To Chloe, Freja said, “A head chef does not hunt for de food. It ees brought to her!” She stomped past them both in her squeaky heels.
“She’s not wrong about that.” He tipped his head to get the water out of his ears. “You owe me a cell phone.”
“What happened?” Chloe asked.
“I’ll put it to you this way, if I ever start acting like a prima donna just because I’ve been on television, slug me.”
She punched him in the arm.
“Ow. Not funny. I mean it. Freja acted as if there were cameras everywhere. She was constantly turning to present her ‘best side’ to the invisible lens. Hell, if she’d just sat still and held the rod l
ike I taught her, she wouldn’t have lost her balance and gone ass-backward into the drink. And I wouldn’t have had to rescue her.”
He could see his sister was trying not to laugh. “Does she think we are secretly filming the chefs?”
They walked back toward the house. “Apparently. I tried to tell her the truth but she doesn’t want to buy it. She thinks she’s the only one in the competition who knows what’s really going on.”
“So...you didn’t get to connect with her on a personal level.”
“I saved her life and her giant floppy hat. Does that count?”
Chloe shook her head. “No, but it does give us a little insight. She’s here for the spotlight. That might not be a bad thing. She knows how to work the cameras to improve your image and promote the restaurant. Her fan base in Europe is substantial already. And she is beautiful. Unless you can’t stand her personality, I don’t think we should count her out yet.”
“I didn’t say I couldn’t stand her,” he grumbled. “It’s hard to communicate with her, though. She doesn’t listen to my stories and she sure as hell didn’t make me laugh.” He flipped his wet hair off his forehead and wanted to slap himself. Since when did those qualities matter in a chef?
Michele Cox was ruining him.
“Get a hot shower. You’re meeting Tonia at the stables at one o’clock,” Chloe said.
Up at dawn at the building site, the morning spent fishing and performing ocean rescue, and horseback riding in the afternoon. Was his sister trying to kill him?
“Fine, as long as I get to soak in the hot tub tonight. I haven’t ridden in so long, I might not be able to sit for a week.”
He had a vision of Michele joining him in the warm bubbles and shook it off. He shouldn’t see her in a bathing suit or he’d never be able to send her home.
“Sure, after the dinner party,” Chloe said. “Dad says he can’t make it to the California Restaurant and Lodging Association legislative meeting and dinner. You’ll have to do it for him.”
He gave Chloe a dark look. “No way, I’m not going to that.” He wasn’t ready to get sliced and diced in public yet. He didn’t have a stellar restaurant to speak for him yet and the hotel was still in the planning phase. It was too soon.
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