CHAPTER ONE #3
She laughed internally after she let out a shaky breath. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one moved by the love they were making in this kitchen.
Priya! Stop it, girl. No sexy thoughts while you make food!
“Yes, sir.” She had to say something and thought it was best to jest with a cheeky smile.
“Here,” He handed her the figs and prosciutto to place inside the bird’s cavity.
His hand grazed hers again, sending another course of electric heat through her arm and traveling straight to her core.
“Thanks.” She directed her gaze at the bird in a desperate attempt to avoid eye contact.
“That looks beautiful.”
“Thanks. I think it looks good, too.”
“The quail?” He whispered in her ear as he bent over her.
“Yes, the quail. What did you think I meant?” She asked as heat rushed to her cheeks when she turned to meet his gaze.
His lips turned into a broad smile.
“I’m asking if you could pass me the quail so I can place it in the oven, but if you must know, that dish isn’t the only beautiful thing in this kitchen.”
She swallowed hard before handing him the dutch oven that contained the quail, and he placed it in the oven. She quickly busied herself with chopping some lettuce for the side salads they were pairing with the quail.
The aroma of the quail browning beautifully in the oven touched their noses after an hour of baking. Braden pulled them out and smiled as he turned to her.
“Smells and looks like perfection.” He said while he made up a plate.
“I’ll leave you to plating yours as I have shown you here.
” He said as he started wiping his hands.
“You can sample these since this was a practice plate. I’ll catch you before the dinner rush.
I have a taping to do for the show and will be out for the rest of the afternoon. ”
Priya smiled at him briefly before getting to work on plating the dish.
She watched him leave the kitchen. It was bittersweet to see him go because even though his backside was genuinely exquisite, she had to admit that a part of her wanted him to stay.
Cooking up something a little more with her than just a dish was looking to be more on her menu than she cared to admit to herself.
And she blushed at the thought of feeling that way about her boss.
Having spent more time with him proved he wasn’t as intimidating of a person as she initially thought he was.
Still, she was happy that he wouldn’t be breathing down her neck for the next few hours, giving her the freedom to walk about the kitchen without brushing against his hard body.
The back of her neck began to sweat just thinking about how many times his hips touched hers while chopping away.
And the reprieve would give her something else.
It would be the chance she needed to build a rapport with the others in the restaurant.
Especially that crazy hostess and the poor prep chef who was still sulking in a dark corner of the kitchen.
Priya knew she needed to get the employees to see Braden’s good side. If they could see that, they might be more cheerful and professional while on the job. And that, and not so much the food, was Priya’s focus for this budding restaurant.
Still, her long-term goals would be pointless if she didn’t perfect his execution. She looked up from her plate and compared it to his, which looked identical. She was pleased with herself right down to the carefully placed herbal garnish.
“C—can you show me what I did wrong?” Said a shaky voice to her right.
Priya looked up from the plates and saw the woman Braden had yelled at earlier. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and puffy from an apparent marathon crying session. Some of her short black hair clung to her cheeks, which were stained with tears.
“Sure. Why don’t you get more quail, and we can start a new batch from scratch? I’m Priya, Priya Pant, by the way.”
“Donna. Donna Brightman.” Said the woman as she nodded with a weak smile.
Donna looked at what Priya was doing and followed until their plates mimicked each other.
“Perfect, Donna!” Priya said with a smile.
The kitchen door flung open. Braden walked through and headed straight towards them both. He looked at both plates, sampled them both, and nodded approval.
“Thanks for setting Donna straight, Priya.”
Donna lowered her head and tiptoed to the prep station in the kitchen’s corner to start on the asparagus for the salmon side dish. She let out a sigh. Braden followed Donna with his gaze as she walked over to the cutting board. He shook his head slightly and then turned his eyes to Priya.
“What’s wrong with her? She’s acting like I killed her cat.” Braden said in a loud whisper.
“She’s still upset about this morning.”
“Why? It was a mistake—she corrected it, and we moved on.”
“Braden, do you not remember your tone and all the foul language you used with her this morning?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake! I swear all the time. That’s just who I am.”
“It’s an unbecoming tone for an employer.” Said Priya as she frowned and shook her head.
“Oh, please, is Little Miss Prissy Priya going to tell me the error of my ways?”
Braden crossed his arms and puffed out his chest as he chuckled. Priya didn’t want a choral repeat of this morning, so she narrowed her eyes and crossed her own arms in retort.
“For your information, my daddy was a preacher, and he taught us we didn’t need to swear to get our point across to others.
He also taught us not to name-call. You do realize that name-calling is a form of bullying, and you, sir, are acting like a child with all your elementary school comments.
” Priya let out a puff of breath. She couldn’t believe she was sticking up for herself and the employees she and her boss shared this early in the game.
But as his eyes softened to amusement levels, she grew angrier.
“You know, I really thought I was getting through to you earlier when we were cooking the quail together. I guess I was wrong.” She let out another breath.
“It’s like you’ve got a Jekyll and Hyde syndrome going on or something. ”
Braden’s eyes widened, and his lips curled up before he let out a chuckle. This one was heartier than his first.
“Wow! I didn’t think I hired a true Southern belle. This is going to be interesting.” He laughed again before turning on his heel to head towards his office. “Very interesting, indeed. Hopefully, you can keep up with this Texas kitchen heat, Ms. Priya.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Braden laughed again before closing the door to his office.
She desperately wanted to run after him, giving him more pieces of her mind.
The man clearly needed a good tongue lashing because he forgot the manners his momma, bless her heart, taught him.
Of all the times she’d used the phrase, this was most likely the first time she was using it out of sympathy for a woman she only knew through the tabloids and media.
A regal and proud woman whose eyes lit up with adoration whenever the papzz interviewed her about Brayden as a child.
After a few seconds had passed and she slowed her breathing, she decided against following him.
The only certainty of an action like that was her getting fired.
And now, more than ever, she wanted to keep this job.
If for no other reason, she was determined to keep it to show Mr. Bossypants that he couldn’t get her goat!