Page 31 of Desirous

I stand there in stunned silence as his words sink in. He just said I was as good a chef as the one he raved about. Chefs of our caliber.

This time, I don’t try to stop the tears as they overtake me. “You’ve never said anything that nice about my abilities as a chef, Daddy.”

“I assumed you knew. Why would I always tell you how you should quit that job of yours?” he says matter-of-factly.

As I wipe my eyes, I smile. “I thought you said that because it isn’t a four-star restaurant.”

“I say that because that place isn’t good enough for my daughter to work in.”

Sniffling as my happy tears subside, I say, “Well, then I guess I shouldn’t tell you that Deidre demoted me to salad prep because I got thrown off that reality show.”

My mother grabs my father’s hand to stop him, but it’s no use. He storms away, waving his hands as he barks, “You should quit just for that alone. You’re far too talented to be a salad prep, Katerina. You’re a Truesdale, for God’s sake! I swear this is because you’re a woman. Your grandfather and I never got demoted or passed over at any restaurant.”

“Maybe I’m just not as good as you and Grandpa,” I quietly say, hating that it could be the real reason for my demotion.

But my father dismisses that notion with another wave of his hand. “Nonsense! No daughter of mine could ever be anything less than a first-class chef. You shouldn’t take her treatment of you, Katerina. You deserve so much better than her and that place.”

As he stomps around complaining about Frederick’s and my mother tries to get him to calm down, warning him about his blood pressure and how this trip is supposed to be all about relaxing, all I can do is smile. My father has never said anything like that to me.

And I’ve never felt more wonderful in my life than I do at this moment.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Alex

My legs stretchedout in front of me and my feet resting on the coffee table, I lean back against the sofa and close my eyes after another long and frustrating day on that damn reality show. We tape a show a day, so all I can hope is they aren’t planning on having this thing run longer than eight or ten shows. With any luck, I’ll be back in my own kitchen by the end of next week.

I just want to forget this whole thing. The show. Emma trying to roofie me on our pretend date. All the bullshit that involves so little of doing what I love most—cooking.

And Kat. I have to accept she’s never going to forgive me. I fucked up. Now I know what it feels like to truly want someone in your life and not be able to have that one wish come true.

Jesus, if this is love, it sucks. Why the hell would anyone want to feel this? I think I preferred when I was a hedonistic manwhore who enjoyed his life.

I blow the air out of my lungs. No, I didn’t. It’s true I had fun. That was it, though. Nothing ever became permanent. I thoughtfor a long time that’s what I wanted out of life. Good times every night with a different woman. I mean, who would say no to that?

Then Meadow came along, and I realized I liked the idea of being with one person. That ended, though, and I figured while everyone else in my world found that special someone, that wasn’t meant to be for me.

Until Kat.

We made the oddest pair. I’m happy-go-lucky and love my life, and that woman is infuriatingly defensive. At least that’s what I thought at first. Once I got to know her, though, I saw she’s different when she isn’t busy propping up her walls so no one can possibly get close to her.

I thought I met the one when we finally got together. Beautiful, sexy, and as passionate about cooking as I am, I wanted to believe we could be happy.

And then I fucked it all up.

Grabbing the remote, I turn on the TV to give me something to think about other than Kat. Some baseball game is on, but I’m not in the mood to care about who’s playing or who’s winning. It’s meant to be background noise I can focus on every time she pops into my head.

My phone vibrates across the coffee table, and I see it’s my father calling. He probably wants to know what happened after Emma and I left the restaurant last night. If Kane told him about her putting something in my drink, he’s probably worried I may have been drugged, so I guess I should answer.

Reluctantly, I lean over and grab my phone. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”

“Alex, I just saw that woman who was in my office with you last night sit down at a table with two people I’m thinking are her parents. I thought you might like to know.”

As if someone turned the page on my life, I suddenly see a chance to show Kat I care about her. Standing up, I begin tohurry around my place as my father asks how things turned out last night.

“It wasn’t like it was a real date, Dad, so it turned out as well as can be expected. I grabbed the water Kane thinks she drugged early this morning before I went to the taping for the show, so I’m hoping to find out in a few days just what the hell she tried to dose me with. I can’t really talk right now, though. I need to get ready.”

The smile in my father’s voice comes through loud and clear as he says, “You’re coming over? Good. Do you want me to do anything?”

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