Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Nikki
The heat has been turned up with only three days left of the competition. The air is humming with anticipation, the sort that gets under your skin, that give you hope, that tells you the end’s in sight. I’ve got this.
The cooking competition has certainly stolen the show of the entire festival, by far drawing in the biggest crowds, and Carol tells Victor and me it’s all because of us. I’m starting to not hate sharing the spotlight with him. I have noticed our booths seem to inch a bit closer together each night. At first I thought I was imagining this, but today it’s more than clear they’re at least a foot closer. I can hear him far too clearly now.
This competition has been neck and neck so far and the entire community of Seaville is here to watch. They’re eating all of this up, both literally and figuratively. I’m feeling the heat this afternoon, and not just from the grills. My time with Victor yesterday at the shop threw me for a loop. I enjoyed it and was very impressed with his restaurant plans. It scares me. I don’t want to develop any feelings for him other than disgust.
I’m prepping my station when I see Eileen, Vivian, and Martha heading toward me. I’m always nervous when the three matchmakers approach looking like they’re up to no good. They stop out of hearing range as they whisper, their gazes going back and forth between Victor and me. Mischief is certainly brewing. What are they up to now?
Before I can figure it out, Carol approaches them and grins. She then moves to the stage in the center of all of the cooking competitors and claps her hands as she leans into the microphone. We all look her way.
“All right ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got a special treat for you today,” she announces, her voice not needing the mic. I don’t like how happy she seems right now. There’s a twinkle in her eyes that tells me this is going to be bad.
“Our very own Nikki Sands and Victor Fortier are going to join forces in a special duo challenge for your viewing entertainment. They haven’t been warned of this and will be given a selected set of ingredients they’ll have to figure out together.”
A ripple of excitement runs through the crowd before they start clapping and cheering. I freeze. “What?” I gasp. I look over at Victor who doesn’t seem thrown by this at all. He looks pretty dang amused actually.
Sia quickly moves to my side, her phone out ready to film. “This is going to be so good,” she says, grinning from ear to ear. “You and Victor finally working together. Vlog gold.”
“You weren’t part of this were you?” I ask with a glare. She holds up her hands.
“Nope, didn’t know a thing about it, but I love it.”
I grumble at her. “This is going to be a nightmare.” I’m still not sure she isn’t in on it.
“You have to give the people what they want, and they want you and Victor cooking together. Not only will this town love it, but your followers will too,” she assures me.
Carol waves Victor and me over to the main stage where a long table is set up with covered trays of mystery ingredients. This part I don’t hate. I love to gather a bunch of ingredients together and then figure out how to make them shine. As Victor and I step forward, the crowd claps even more. At least the other competitors aren’t here right now. I’d be ticked if I were them with the spotlight shining on only the two of us. It makes me feel a little bad. Victor and I have been going back and forth with first and second place the last few days though. Two of the contestants have already dropped out. They didn’t have what it takes to win.
Many of the crowd are taking bets on who will do better. I fight not to glare when I hear Victor’s name a few times. I do hear my name a lot too, though. I also hear many people saying if we work together we can’t go wrong since we’re both so good. They just aren’t sure if one of us is going to burn the other down even if we’re supposed to be working together.
“Think you can keep up, Nik?” Victor teases as we step up to the table.
“Just try not to slow me down,” I tell him.
The lids come off of the trays with a flourish. The committee is really enjoying every second of this. They’re milking it for all they can get. I have to remind myself how much money this festival brings into our small community. We’ve tried to keep it from being an everyday tourist destination so this week’s festival is essential for our local businesses to bring in a lot of money in a short time. I can give a show for the sake of my neighbors.
I look down at what they’ve chosen for us — duck breasts, passion fruit, truffle oil, jalapenos, root vegetables, and more. I can work with this. I hope Victor can keep up and not fight me too much.
“Hmm, looks like they’re trying to throw some curve balls,” he says.
“Scared?” I mock.
“Not at all,” he replies, his voice so damn sexy it sends a shiver down my spine. How can I work side by side with him in a hot cooking environment without mounting the man? Because I have control, I assure myself.
“Show us some magic,” Carol announces to more cheers. We take the trays and move to the larger station I didn’t notice earlier. They had this planned the night before. At least we aren’t fighting about whose station we’re going to work at. That’s a start.
Unexpectedly, we get into an easy rhythm surprisingly fast, moving around each other like we’ve done it a hundred times before. As a matter of fact, it’s odd how natural it feels. I’m chopping onions, and he’s zesting the passion fruit. I toss him a pan, and he catches it without looking. The audience is eating it up.
We continue working while throwing words back and forth that have the crowd laughing, cheering, and calling out suggestions. I try to tune it all out. I have to focus.
“Victor, that duck needs to be seared, not boiled,” I call over to him.
“I’ve got this, Nik,” he shoots back, flipping the pan with a whole lot of flair.
“Could’ve fooled me,” I mutter, but I’m smiling. So is he.
We continue to bicker and banter the entire time we cook, the crowd egging us on like they’re at a comedy club.
“You two look awfully good together. Maybe you should keep working as a team,” someone calls.
“Maybe get married,” another voice pipes out.
“No, no, no, no marriage,” a female calls. I want to smack her.
Victor laughs as I glare. “Careful, Nik, you’re getting distracted,” he warns.
“You focus on you,” I retort. There’s not much bite though. He’s not the one I’m irritated with at the moment, not when I’m enjoying cooking at his side.
“Can you pass the truffle oil?”
I pass it to him, and he winks. “We do make a mighty fine team.”
I roll my eyes but can’t push away my smile. “Don’t get used to it.”
As we keep cooking, magic really does happen, though. We’re in perfect sync and harmony together. We’re tossing ideas back and forth, building off of each other’s energy. Our dish starts to come together in a way that’s unexpected and beautiful.
“How about a bit of jalapeno to balance the sweetness of the passion fruit?” I suggest.
“Good call,” he agrees, immediately dicing the peppers. “We can do a quick sear on the duck now, then finish it off in the oven. It will come out nice and juicy.”
“Perfect,” I tell him, shocked at how happy I am right now. Maybe there is some truth to the rumors that I like him. Maybe it’s far more myself I’m fighting than him. I can’t have these thoughts right now. I need to concentrate.
The crowd has grown even larger, our neighbors and visitors shoulder to shoulder as Victor and I give them a show. Sia’s filming it all, moving to get different angles. I discover what a ham Victor is as he leans close to the camera and blows a kiss which has half the audience letting out a sigh. I barely manage to keep the eye roll in this time.
“This is great, guys. Keep it up. I have this live and the comments coming in are awesome!” Sia says.
I inwardly groan, but smile for the camera. “I hope you guys like this. It’s a one and done. This man’s insufferable,” I say with a laugh.
A comment flashes on the screen. Is this the man you were ranting about? Jump that man! He’s hot.
I turn away from the screen. I absolutely don’t want to see that kind of comment.
“It’s the man, alright,” Sia says as she looks into the camera. “I’ve been watching them dance around each other my entire life. They sure make the kitchen hot!” I’m going to kill her when the camera stops rolling. She turns the video back on Victor and me.
We finish our dish, then plate it up. Victor puts his arm around me, and with so many eyes on us, I can’t pull away. “We make a mighty fine team,” he whispers.
I simply look at him, trying not to get lost in his gaze. I don’t know why I’m still fighting this. Maybe because it feels too good, too easy. Maybe my fear is it will all come crashing down around us if I let my guard down. I wouldn’t care about that happening with most men, but with Victor, I have a feeling it would hurt beyond repair.
“I don’t think I’m ready for a team effort,” I tell him.
He doesn’t push me, just gives me his confident smile that does funny things to my gut. “We’ll see what happens as you think about it. I know how that beautiful brain of yours works. You’ll be doing calculations and thinking and thinking. I’m confident in the conclusion you’ll come to.”
We start to clean up and a woman approaches, a cameraman behind her.
“Hello, I’m Pam with the Food Network. We’ve been watching the two of you and like what we see.” Her eyes are gleaming, and my heart starts pounding. “Very impressive,” she adds. “We’re going to keep watching but might want to talk about some opportunities.”
“It’s great to meet you. I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself,” I tell her.
“Oh, we are. This is great. Glad we came. We’ll talk later.” With that she turns and walks away. I find my breath coming out a bit quicker.
Victor raises his eyebrow and I see a spark of ambition in his eyes. “Looks like they like us as a team as well.”
I swallow, my mind spinning. “Maybe,” I say, not wanting to get my hopes up.
The crowd continues to support us, and soon we’re pulled apart as a flurry of handshakes and congratulations are given out. I realize as I move from person to person that I’m not as scared as I was before. Maybe I’m running when I shouldn’t be. When does it come to the point that I’m simply being a fool? Maybe I’m long past that.
I don’t know, but for now I’m going to enjoy the moment. The crowd, the thrill, the way my heart’s pounding, the way Victor looks at me. I’m going to enjoy it all. That’s enough for now.