Page 30 of A Taste of Christmas Magic

“I can,” Rebekah said.

Unfortunately, so could Rustin, and he liked it too much, damn it.

“You,” Rebekah pointed at talon at Chloe, “sit. Mood board. Google. We do have a budget,” she said warningly to Rustin, who had clearly just lost control of his restaurant and vision.

“Excellent,” Chloe smiled and then crooked a finger at him. “Two birds, one stone,” she said, patting the space next to her. “I brought snack samples and would love some feedback, and yes, Chef, I followed the directions exactly.”

No. No. No.

But Rebekah sat, Lucas popped the lid off the Tupperware, and everyone who’d been curiously eavesdropping, swooped in.

“This is a bad idea,” Rustin said.

“You promised to help,” Chloe said, sounding, unfortunately, reasonable. “And a promise is a promise. And I promise.” She crossed her heart like she was a little kid. “I was totally the un-Chloe, and I did everything exactly, including simmering rosemary to infuse the room with remembrance and love and fidelity and,” her voice dropped dramatically low, “immortality.”

“Don’t eat…” he warned but Lucas had already grabbed a hush puppy stuffed with tilapia, green olives, red peppers, and charred corn and popped the whole thing in his mouth.

“Slay,” he mumbled and thumbs-upped the snack.

Chloe glowed with the praise. Rebekah ate a hush puppy and moaned low in her throat before reaching for another and shouting out, “Come and get, boys and girls!”

Rustin watched, eyes narrowed, waiting. But everyone seemed normal. Lucas kept his calf-eyed love gaze fixed only on Rebekah, and Rebekah didn’t suddenly turn gay.

“What do you think, Rustin? Please?” Chloe stood at his elbow, a hush puppy snuggled in a napkin between her thumb and forefinger. “I was worried about you,” she said softly. “Last night you ran off and… You looked weirded out. I thought I should chase you, but…”

“Women can chase men. It’s the twenty-first century.” What was he doing flirting with Chloe?

She smiled. “And you never tried the hush puppies.”

“Did you follow the recipe for the hush puppies exactly,exactlyhow we discussed?” He clarified.

“Yes, Chef.”

He waited for a moment, scrolling through mental scenarios. Maybe, if he took a bite, this…this fascination bordering on obsession would unwind. Spell broken. Or what if it made it worse? But his team seemed normal. Eating. Jawing at each other. Maybe the feeling of being hit by a two-by-four and seeing stars in the form of Chloe Maye Cramer had just been caused by exhaustion or his nerves about The Wild Side’s opening.

But he had nerves of titanium.

And arrogance to spare.

Leaning forward, gaze firmly locked on Chloe’s slightly mismatched blue and purple eyes, Rustin took a bite of the hush puppy, deliberately brushing Chloe’s fingers with his lips. Heat speared through him even as his tongue was bathed in flavors as warm and bright as Chloe’s shy smile. Her pupils dilated.

“Rustin?” she whispered, but she might as well have shouted because his vision tunneled and the room silenced. Time stood still. Just him. Her.

And Rustin knew he’d made his second mistake since coming home.

Chapter Eight

Saturday at noon,Chloe continued her prep work for the Movable Feast happening that night. Grandma Millie’s house looked beautiful. The outside Christmas lighting designers had finished yesterday, and she, Jessica, Sarah and Meghan had decorated the public rooms Thursday night while enjoying cocktails that Clara, The Wild Side’s bartender, had taught them how to mix. It had been one of the few times Chloe didn’t feel overwhelmed by her need to fit in with her cousins, and this morning, she wondered if her childhood insecurities had not only driven her intense need to please and fit in but also colored her connection to her cousins.

Chloe sang Keith Urban’s “Somebody Like You” at full volume while she worked. She was thinking of Rustin and had already overdosed on Christmas carols from rehearsing with her student choir. She moved around Grandma Millie’s kitchen like she knew what she was doing.

Fake it until you make it, right?

Only she sort ofdidknow what she was doing now, and that should make her nervous. But she had a new confidence, and for several evenings after she and her cousins had finished decorating, she’d gone to The Wild Side to sample cocktails, practice her recipes, and pitch in decorating the restaurant for tonight’s festivities.

She and Rebekah had painted the huge wall at the back of the restaurant red—Rustin had rented rolling scaffolding—and Chloe, who’d loved participating in musicals in high school and community theater, was reminded of how much she enjoyed being part of a team. With teaching, she had colleagues, but she was also fairly isolated in her classroom with only her students, lesson plans, and grading.

The best part of this week had been spending time with Rustin. He’d given her cooking skill challenges and had her practice her recipes. She’d started thinking of the kitchen as a stage and herself as a performer, with Rustin, an attentive audience member who had no compunction about jumping in with advice.

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