“I gathered as much. Listen, Staci, I want to learn more about you. I like?—”
“For the contest?” she asked.
He shook his head. “For me. I...I like you.”
She backed away from him. “Not now. I said I don’t want to talk about anything personal while we’re here. I need to stay focused on what I’m doing. Last night proved it to me. And I’m here to cook.”
She wondered what he was hoping to find in her expression and then if he found it because he seemed to nod and take a step away. “All right, but when we get back to the house I want you to go for a walk on the beach with me.”
She didn’t want to commit to doing anything with him. She wanted to put distance between them but then remembered her dream last night. Remy was tied to her cooking now and she knew it. That passion he’d kindled in her last night was the fire that drove her whether she wanted to admit it or not.
“Fine. Let’s get back to the others,” she said.
They soon found out that Vivian was right. It was an Off-Site Challenge and they were headed to the UCLA college campus to serve lunch for the hungry students. They’d have to shop for their ingredients and then prepare them in two hours.
Staci tried to think of what she could make that would please the college students and the judges. But her mind was blank. She was thinking about Remy again and she had to wonder if that was his strategy. He’d certainly done a good jobof distracting her. Ugh, she thought. She had to stay away from him. From now on when he walked over to her, she’d walk away.
They were driven to Whole Foods and everyone was shouting and running around like crazy people trying to find what they would need to create their dishes. Staci felt lost and she knew that after her win she was the one to watch so she took a second and pushed her trolley away from the crowds. She closed her eyes and thought about her grandmother, Alysse and all her friends back home in San Diego. She concentrated on them, but it wasn’t calming her down.
“You okay,chère?” Remy asked coming up behind her with his buggy.
Suddenly she had an idea of what to cook and a new fire in her belly. She wasn’t going to collapse in on herself. She was determined to win and to beat Remy again. She wanted him to see her, to know she was a good chef and she needed him to know that she was strong in the kitchen and out of it.
She gave him her sexiest grin. “I am now.”
“Good. I’d hate to beat you if you aren’t on your A game,” he said.
“Ah, Southern Man, you’re going to have a hard time beating me,” she said. “That’s a promise.”
“Sounds more like a challenge,” he said. “One I’m happy to accept. Whoever does better this afternoon—the loser has to cook dinner for them.”
“Deal,” she said. “I’m ready for you to have to cook for me.”
“Pride goes before the fall,” he said, pushing his trolley away.
And she just laughed as the dish finally coalesced in her mind. She didn’t want to assign too much importance to Remy and instead decided that like a secret spice he was thekey to her cooking. She realized that wanting to beat him and prove herself worthy in his eyes made the competition personal and that was what she needed.
Chapter Six
SHEWONAGAINANDASSHE sat in the Escalade for the return trip to the Malibu house she was in a sort of stunned shock. While Staci knew she was capable of cooking, the win was confirmation that she had a real talent like her grandmother used to say. It was bittersweet though because she realized what she’d thrown away for “love”.
“Congrats,” Vivian offered. “I thought I had you at the last minute there when that pork you took off the grill was a little pink.”
“Same here. I mean Austin barbecue is hard to beat. Everything was just flowing for me today,” she said.
“I could tell. I tasted your dish and as much as it pains me to admit this, it was delicious.”
“Thanks, Viv. Yours was good too,” Staci said.
“I’m surprised Dave was in the top three,” Vivian said. “Someone sure helped him with his butchering skills or he was sand-bagging last night...do you think he’s clever enough to do that?”
Staci didn’t know. She shrugged and pulled out her food journal to make a few notes about the dish she’d prepared. Because of the nature of the show she hadn’t had time to make notes as she was cooking. With only an hour to cook there just wasn’t time to analyze as she went along. One thing she had observed was that Remy had fallen back on another New Orleans taste that had cost him points in the final round according to the judges. She’d made an Italian flavored dish, which was very different from the food she’d been putting up before.
Beating Remy felt good of course because he challenged her and she wanted him to notice her and see her as the one to beat. But he’d looked angry and upset with himself after they’d announced she was the winner. That was something she didn’t want for him.
Losing was hard. She’d certainly done it enough times when she and Alysse had been competing against each other in bake-offs. Staci would never have thought so at the time but that rivalry with Alysse had helped prepare her for this moment.
“I can’t believe Quinn is in the bottom three. That was a shock,” Vivian said. “Last night he put up a great dish.”
