Page 44 of Recipe for Temptation

Asha inclined her head. “Merci.” She didn’t return the compliment—deliberately, Reese suspected.

Before Celeste could even register the slight, Asha’s eyes traveled to Reese’s face, giving her a swift, evaluative once-over. “You have excellent bone structure. Please tell me you’ve done some modeling before.”

“No, ma’am. I haven’t.” Reese smiled, not immune to receiving such a compliment from the legendary fashion mogul.

Asha shook her head. “What a shame.”

“Maybe.” Reese shrugged. “But even if I wanted to model, I’m too old to do anything about it now.”

Asha gave a low, indulgent laugh. “A word of advice, darling. Never admit to being too old for anything. Isn’t that right, Celeste?”

Celeste bristled, her face reddening at the veiled insult.

Sterling leveled a narrow look at Asha. “Woman, don’t you have places to go? People to see?”

“Not at the moment,” she said blandly. “Besides, after running around with Samara all morning, I need a break from this suffocating heat. I don’t know how you people can stand it.”

“No one told you to schedule your grand opening at the height of summer,” Celeste snidely pointed out.

“True enough.” Asha took a languid sip of wine. “And no one told you to move to the frozen tundra of Minnesota. But I suppose your personality is better suited to frigid weather.”

Celeste sputtered with indignation. “How dare?—”

Sterling laid a gentle, restraining hand upon her arm. “We have company, remember?”

She darted a glance at Reese then clamped her jaw shut, seething with suppressed fury as she glared at Asha.

Sterling gave Reese a conciliatory smile. “You have to excuse us old folks. We get cranky when we haven’t had our nap.”

“Speak for yourself.” Asha sipped more wine, her gaze returning to Reese. “Have you been invited to my reception on Wednesday?”

“Um, no, I?—”

“Then consider this your invitation.” Asha looked at Sterling. “You don’t mind, do you? When Michael told me you’d agreed to let me use your home, he gave me free rein to invite as many people as I wanted.”

“I don’t mind at all.” Sterling smiled tightly at Reese. “I would have invited you myself if she hadn’t beat me to it.”

“Who beat you to what?”

Four pairs of eyes swung around to find Michael standing at the entrance to the veranda. He took one look at his parents’ strained faces, then Asha’s smug expression, and slowly shook his head.

“Never mind,” he muttered. “I don’t want to know.”

Reese couldn’t help noticing the way he’d deliberately avoided looking at her. Fine, she thought crossly. If he wants to pretend I’m invisible, two can play that game!

“Hello, Michael,” Asha murmured. “I was just beginning to wonder if you’d ever show up.”

“Asha.” Michael bent to kiss her upturned cheek. “It’s good to see you again. Ready for next Wednesday?”

“I’m always ready.” She smiled. “Darling, I hope you’ll forgive me for scheduling my grand opening on the same day as your show’s season premiere. I didn’t realize the dates coincided until it was too late. You know the last thing I want to do is steal your spotlight.”

“Like hell,” Celeste muttered under her breath.

Ignoring his mother, Michael said smoothly, “Don’t worry about it, Asha. We always tape the show in the morning, so there won’t be a conflict with your reception that evening. And the studio usually throws a small party to celebrate the season premiere, so either way, I’m gonna have a good time that night.”

“Wonderful.” Asha beamed with pleasure. “If you have some time, I thought we could go over the reception menu and seating arrangements, maybe take another tour of the garden to finalize the layout.”

“Absolutely,” he agreed. “We can meet now, if you’d like.”

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