MIKELINA WALKED WITH Selena up to the suite where Anton was staying for moral support. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Of course,” Selena scoffed. Of course not. She was braced to experience a torrent of abuse. She wished she didn’t feel so sick to her stomach about it.
“You want me to stick around?” Mikelina asked.
“No, that’s all right. I’ll call you when it’s all over.”
“No matter what happens, Selena, you are an amazing chef. You’ve cooked for princes, movie stars, musicians, politicians and everyone in between. No one—no one—has ever complained about what you’ve served them.”
“I know that, and you know that, but Anton Koslov doesn’t know that.”
“He doesn’t matter.” Mikelina hugged her. “You are enough.”
“I got this.” Speak it until you believe it.
Mikelina nodded and stepped back.
Selena straightened her shoulders and after a slight knock, walked in. Anton and a woman half his age looked up as she entered the dining area.
“Good evening, my name is Selena and I’ll be your chef for tonight.”
There was a hint of recognition in Anton’s eyes, but then he dismissed her. Anton and his guest sat at what the wellness center called a community table. They were on one side and she, the chef, was on the other. They would watch her prepare their meal in front of them.
Because that wasn’t gut-clenching terrifying.
“I’ll be back momentarily to prepare the Maui Wellness Center’s Christmas Poke.”
“Very well. You don’t need to speak with us to do that, do you?”
“No, chef,” she said, with forced serenity.
His eyes narrowed on her again, but he didn’t say anything.
She went into the refrigerator and pulled out the sushi-grade ahi and the rest of her ingredients. Before she got started Selena wanted to talk to Blaine, just to hear his voice. But she realized in her haste to get all the ingredients here, she didn’t have her purse on her. She must have left it in his penthouse.
Get in. Make the Meal. Serve. Get out.
Blaine had spoiled her by breaking up her routine and allowing her to eat with him and then hang out and having fun afterward. This wasn’t fun. This was a job. She was going to prove to Anton once and for all that she wasn’t the hot mess in the kitchen that he thought she was.
She’d taken care to buy only the freshest ingredients of the highest quality. Her knives were sharpened. She was ready to face the dragon.
It took her two trips from the kitchen back to the table because she didn’t want to risk juggling things and having them fall to the floor. One last trip to wash her hands and grab her knives and she entered the dining room like she was on one of the television food cook-offs.
Mikelina had already asked the housekeepers to set their plates out so all Selena had to do was serve Anton and his guest from the table. She turned on the mini burner so she could warm up their sake and also the rice. No one wanted to sit through rice being boiled, so Selena had made it this afternoon and seasoned it with her furikake flakes.
Earlier, she had also set up the cushioned mat that Blaine had given her in front of the table. It was a comfort to not have to worry about her back complaining while she expertly crosscut the tuna. After making quick work of the fish that was caught this morning, she put the ahi in a large serving bowl with her spicy Japanese sauce to marinate while she worked on the rest of the meal. She had soaked her Maui onion in water and rice wine vinegar so the coarse chop didn’t make anyone cry and it would sweeten the taste of it. She added the onion to the fish and gave the mixture a quick stir.
When the sake was ready, she poured them each a small cupful and left the decanter out so they could help themselves to more. Risking a glance at Anton, she saw he was more interested in his phone than in what she was doing. His friend, however, watched her avidly. Selena gave her a small smile. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to date him and the woman had her deepest sympathies.
In another bowl, Selena dressed the seaweed with her oils and seasonings, then added a handful of scallions that she quick chopped. With a toss, she used her tongs to form wreaths on their plates. The avocados were next. Selena expertly pitted them and then used a special cutter to scoop each side into equal pieces, which she fanned out like the wreath’s bow. Turning the ahi and onion mixture over until it was coated completely in the toban djan, she scooped it on the plates in the center of the seaweed wreath. She lightly salted the edamame and then added that to the dish, as well. She topped it with crushed macadamia nuts and then pushed the plates toward Anton and his guest.
“Bon appétit,” she said.
“That will be all.” Anton dismissed her with a wave.
She gathered up her cooking supplies and returned to the kitchen. Poking her head out, she watched their reaction to her meal. The woman dug in with gusto and made happy noises. Anton poked one ahi cube into his mouth and chewed slowly and contemplatively.
Packing her bag, she wondered what he thought. As she was leaving, she stopped briefly at the table. “Chef Leif Tanaka will be here momentarily to make you his island-famous malasadas.” She looked at the young woman. “You’re in for a treat.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“Please leave us,” Anton said.
Out of habit, she headed toward the door at the command in his voice. But then she remembered he wasn’t her boss, and this wasn’t his kitchen. After opening the door, she turned back one last time.
“Is everything to your liking?” she asked.
“It’s delicious,” his companion said.
“Yes, yes. It’s fine. Now please go away.”
Selena wasn’t sure how to take that, but in the past, he had thrown the food at her and then smashed the dish on the floor to express his displeasure at one of her meals. So she guessed he liked the poke.
With one final glance as the door was closing behind her, Selena saw that Anton had cleared his plate and was sipping on his sake while listening avidly to his companion. Selena left in a hurry wondering if love had mellowed Anton out or if he was only that much of a bastard in his own kitchen.
She did a little dance and a fist pump. She gave Leif a shaka as she passed him and immediately headed up to the penthouse to see Blaine. Except the privacy lock was activated. She couldn’t get up.
What the heck?
She couldn’t even call Mikelina and give her a heads-up because her phone was up in the penthouse. And she didn’t want to risk Titus finding out she didn’t have her phone by using the lobby phone. And without her purse, she couldn’t go back to her apartment and put her things away. Annoyed, she walked around the compound to see if she could find a friendly face who would let her use their phone.
And of course, she ran straight into Titus.
“How did everything go?”
“Great,” she said. “Leif is in there now.”
“I’m glad I ran into you.” He sighed and looked around. “I don’t like doing this. Do you want to go somewhere more private?”
“No,” she said. She definitely did not.
“I realize you were nervous about cooking for Chef Koslov, but your phone has been draining our resources all day with all the phone calls and internet.”
“Is that right,” she said between her teeth. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“I know it won’t. It’s never happened before. I just wanted to make you aware of it so that it doesn’t happen again.”
“Thank you for telling me.” She forced a smile.
“But if it makes you feel better, if we can land Chef Koslov it will all have been worth it.”
“Definitely,” she said.
“Where are you heading off to now?”
“Well, I was going to go cook for Mr. Stephens, but he has his privacy lock on and I’m not sure if I want to disturb him.”
“That’s a good idea. Let me do it. He’s already mad at me.”
Intrigued, Selena followed him over to the front desk. “Why is he angry at you?”
“Long story. But if I don’t like his attitude, you’re not going up there alone.”
“What? Why?”
Titus held up a finger. “Mr. Stephens, I’m so sorry to bother you, but Selena is here with me. Do you require her to cook for you tonight?... Are you sure you’re up for the intrusion?... Very well.” Titus hung up. “He seems better. But if he even raises his voice to you, I want you to come right down.”
“What happened?” Selena said.
“Mr. Stephens had an altercation on the beach today. I can’t say more as it would be a breach of confidentiality. Please don’t mention it to him. And whatever you do, please don’t rile up his temper.”
“Okay,” she said slowly.
“Call me when you’re done,” Titus said.
None of this made sense. But this time when she went to call the elevator it came right down for her and shot her up to the penthouse.
It shouldn’t surprise her that he was on the computer and that her phone was sitting in the center of the table, plugged in. To his credit, he looked up when she walked in. “Sorry about the privacy lock.”
“You need to get the hell off my phone and the internet. I just caught hell from Titus for being on it all day.”
“Sorry,” he said, reaching for the phone.
She got to it before he did and shut down the hot spot. Scrolling through her outgoing calls, she saw they were all Detroit numbers. “What the hell happened today?”
He rubbed his hand over his face. “Later. How did everything go with Chef Dickhead?”
“It was strangely anticlimactic,” she said.
“Is that good?” He stood up and came over to her. Blaine gave her a big hug. She hadn’t realized how much she needed that hug.
“It is now.” Selena buried her face in his neck, breathing in the scent of him.
“Have you eaten anything since breakfast?” he asked.
“No, I was too nervous to eat. Now, I’m like, what was I even worried about. I’m not even sure he remembered me. He didn’t mention anything. You were right. He’s just a jerk from my past. I’m light-years beyond him and his snide remarks.”
“Good,” he said. “We’re going out to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?”
“You faced off against your personal demon and came out victorious. I say that deserves a fancy dinner.”
“There’s only one problem with that,” she said, reluctantly coming out of his embrace.
“What’s that?” He kissed her sweetly and she swayed against him.
He really knew how to scramble her brains, but she liked it. Rubbing his shoulders, she broke off the kiss. “Titus is pacing the lobby waiting for me to come down because he’s expecting you to explode like a grenade for some reason.”
“Oh, that,” he said, resting his forehead against hers.
“Come on,” she said, leading him into the kitchen. “You can tell me about it while I make dinner.”
“Can I at least help with dinner?”
“I’m not letting you anywhere near my knives until I know what’s going on.”
She wound up making a spaghetti dish with a light oil sauce and vegetarian meatballs. Blaine didn’t dare make a comment. As they prepared dinner together, he told her everything that happened after his ukulele lesson.
“Is the car totaled?” she asked.
“It’s spare parts at this point. Production is going to have to work overtime for us to still show it in February.” He gave a shaky sigh. “It doesn’t look good. Our competition is going to beat us to market if we don’t have it at the expo. We’re going to lose a lot of money.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
“That’s why I was on your phone and the internet all day. I’m sorry. If I had known it was going to blow back on you, I would have gone to the Hyatt like I had planned. But I didn’t want to waste the time.”
“Were you able to accomplish anything?”
“Not as much as if I had been there in person.”
“You deserve this vacation. You need to take care of you. It’s just as important as the February expo.”
“I can wait until after February. The car can’t.”
“Can you?” Selena handed him his bowl of pasta. “Maybe. Should you? No.”
“I know you think I’m backsliding, but I’m not. You and I have a date to go zip-lining through the jungle tomorrow.”
“I don’t see how me screaming over a one-hundred-and-fifty-foot drop is going to relax you.”
“What can I say? I like to hear you scream.” He took a deep breath. “Besides, depending on what I hear in the morning, I might be cutting my stay short.”
“You can’t,” she said, clasping his hand.
“Offer still stands to come back to Detroit with me.”
She laughed, but realized he was serious. Whoa. Selena didn’t dare hope he meant that he wanted her as anything other than a chef with benefits.
“You were hired to be my chef, right? I’ll fly you down.”
Figures. “My contract says Maui,” she said quietly.
“I’d like to continue to still see you,” Blaine said. “Even if you’re not my personal chef.”
Wow.
“That’s one heck of a long-distance relationship. Especially when I don’t know where I’m going to be from week to week.” She was stalling and she knew it. She wanted this. She didn’t want whatever this was to end, but she wasn’t sure they had enough to last being apart.
“Are you willing to try?” They held hands across the table as he looked deep in her eyes. She could see the affection and sincerity in them.
“Yes,” she said simply. Of course, she had doubts but she wasn’t going to jinx this.