Page 32 of Sensuous

“I’m sorry, Kat. I had no idea.”

I feel my eyes fill with tears and turn away, desperate not to fall apart in front of this man. “So you see, it has nothing to do with you, really. That’s why I needed to apologize tonight. It’s actually a thing where it’s not you, it’s me.”

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

Wiping under my eyes, I take a deep breath in to steel myself and turn back to face Alex. “So I guess it’s not just Sadie who has daddy issues.”

That makes him smile, and God, it’s like looking at pure perfection. I wish I could hate Alex March because he’s so damn perfect, but I can’t.

“You’re a great chef, Kat. Don’t think you aren’t.”

“How would you know? It’s not like this stupid reality show is having us do much cooking at all. Except for that first day, all it’s been is nonsense.”

“Because you are. Sadie told me you were, and I saw that dish you made the other day. It was great.”

“Sadie’s sweet, but she wouldn’t know great cooking if it bit her in the ass. I came home the other day, and she was eating a bowl of chocolate puffs for dinner. Food is not her thing, oddly enough considering she’s my roommate.”

Alex looks over toward the oven. “Hang on. I need to check this.”

As he looks in on whatever he’s making, I think about how bizarre it is to be standing here in Alex March’s chef’s kitchen after all that’s happened. Everything is my fault, and yet he’s willing to even hear me out about my fucked up insecurities.

God, he really is perfect. And I’m a shrew.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Alex

After I givethe pork tenderloin a quick check, I turn back to Kat and see she’s still upset. Jesus, I can’t imagine what it would be like if I was forever in competition with one of my parents. That sounds like pure misery.

“It’s going to be a while, but you’re welcome to stay and have some. It’s nothing big. Just porcini pork tenderloin.”

She looks at me strangely and asks, “Do you routinely cook in the middle of the night?”

“Sometimes. I had this marinating while Cade and I were out, and I decided to just go ahead and cook it when I got home.”

Kat hangs her head and mumbles, “After I insulted you.”

“Don’t worry about that. Cade says lots of people probably hate me, so I doubt you’re alone.”

My attempt at humor doesn’t cheer her up, so I say, “Why don’t we go into the other room and relax? If you want to talk, we can, or we can just watch TV.”

She looks up at me and grimaces. “I think I hate TV now that I know how it works behind the scenes.”

“I know what you mean. That’s why I left the show today.”

Her mouth drops open in shock. “You left? Was it because of how awful I’ve been? Oh, my God. I really am a shrew. Actually, if you left because of me, I think I need to accept I’m a royal bitch. Jesus.”

Shaking my head, I offer her a seat at the kitchen table. “It had nothing to do with you or any of the other contestants. I just didn’t like what they wanted me to do, and I let them know. Then I walked out.”

Kat and I sit down, and she leans toward my side of the table with curiosity filling her expression. “What did they want you to do? I’m sure it couldn’t have been as bad as the pretend love I’m supposed to have with Marco, the human octopus.”

I can’t help but laugh at that description after watching him try to cop a feel more than half a dozen times before I left today. “It wasn’t that it was bad. It was that it made no sense.”

“What? Did they want you to burn something or completely forget how to use the broiler? What did they want you to do?”

For a moment, I hesitate to tell her the truth, but then I shrug and say, “They wanted me to want you. Sort of an unrequited love thing. I told them that would make no sense after they just insisted you and I had to be sworn enemies.”

A look of sadness comes over her, but she nods like she understands. “Yeah, that would be stupid.”

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