Page 20 of Winner Takes All

“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 ingredientstogether 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 ahot 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.

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