“No. The diners. There wasn’t one who didn’t talk about the main and how delicious it was. I thought that must be Remy’s dish. Did you make them what you made for me?”
“No,” he said. “That was just for you,ma chère. But I did use the advice you gave me. By talking about food andmemories you reminded me that there is more to cooking than technique.”
Staci smiled. “Given that you won, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.”
“Maybe you should have.”
“I’m glad I didn’t,” she said.
“Why is that?” he asked.
“Now that you’ve upped your game everyone has and the competition feels more unpredictable. These challenges really shake us up and force us to focus on the food. That gets lost in the day-to-day working of the kitchen, you know?”
“I do indeed,” he said.
The three chefs re-entered the kitchen and they were told that Conner had the least favorite dish and was going home.
“They want to see the rest of you,” Conner said. “The cook-off will be between the bottom three on the losing team. Good luck, guys.”
Everyone said goodbye to Conner and then they all went back to the judges room. The comments started out harsh but then ended on an upbeat note. The contestants were given a chance to defend themselves but everyone owned up to their mistakes. The women lost the round and Staci, Kristi and Whit were the bottom three.
STACI WON HERQUICKCOOK with Kristi going home, but the next week was back in the bottom three again. A part of her wanted to blame Remy but he’d kept away from her which was all she’d wanted. They had a free day and Staci knew she should be in the kitchen practicing but she had the feeling her head was getting in her way. It was as if she’d forgotten all the things she really knew about cooking.
Remy walked up to her where she sat in the living room watching Sponge Bob with Dave.
“Pack your bathing suit and meet me out back in ten minutes.”
“Um...why?”
“Because it’s our day off and we need to talk and to get out of this house.”
Remy had won the last two weeks and he was clearly hitting his stride at the right time. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Go get changed. The clock is ticking,” he said.
She wasn’t sure that going out with him was a wise idea but ignoring him hadn’t exactly been working for her either. She pushed to her feet and went to change. Putting on her black bikini and covering it up with a pair of denim shorts. She grabbed her sunglasses and put on a pair of Roxy flipflops before heading out back to meet Remy.
He’d swapped clothes for a pair of blue board shorts and left his shirt off. Oh, the man was ripped. His chest muscles drew her attention and she didn’t want to look away. It was the first time she’d seen his chest. She’d touched him, true enough, but now she knew what he looked like. She understood why he’d said the next time they made love it would be in a bed. She wanted the chance to explore his body, too.
He glanced over at her as she approached, his gaze skimming over her body. “Ready?”
“Yes,” she said. “What are we doing?”
“You’ll see. I arranged for us to go sailing.”
“I’m not really that proficient on a boat.”
“That’s okay. I hired a crew.”
“Can you afford that?” she asked.
“Let me worry about that,” he said. When they got to the beach he directed her toward the pier where there were a number of yachts tied up. Suddenly she was feeling a bitunderdressed in her bikini top and denim shorts but Remy took her hand in his and led the way to a large yacht.
He helped her onboard and directed her to a padded bench in the back of the boat. “I’ll be right with you.”
“Um...where are we going?” she asked.
“Away from the world,” he replied disappearing below deck. She took a seat where he’d directed her and tried to relax. It was harder than she’d expected because she felt unsure of what Remy was up to.
