Page 18 of For Butter or Worse
She stared icily at him before taking the smallest possible amount of tiramisu from the plate. He leaned back.Just you wait.
She took a bite and looked away. Then her eyes closed and her mouth curled up in satisfaction, which she tried to hide with the palm of a hand. He was having a hard time taking his gaze from her mouth as she licked a speck of dessert from her upper lip. For a moment, he understood how the chefs on their show felt when they presented a dish, and how rewarding it was to impress someone like Nina.
“Your dad was a very talented man” was all she said as she took a much bigger spoonful.
His dad would’ve been supremely happy about this review. “I assume you didn’t come here to taste-test the food.”
“No.” She put down the spoon. Her expression hardened slightly. “My place is booked solid for the next two weeks. That hasn’t happened in over a year. How is business here?”
“A bit more foot traffic.” That was an understatement. They’d had to call in servers on their days off to see if they could come in to work extra shifts.
“Clearly, you falling on me was good for business.” Her cheeks flushed a crimson that matched the red of the checkered tablecloth. “My team thinks this could be a beneficial arrangement for both of us. If we pretend to be...dating.”
“Dating?” He’d heard her, of course, but...what was she talking about?
“Please don’t make me say it again.” Her face fell in her hands. “Do you know how humiliating this is for me?”
He blinked, hard. Did he know that asking him to date her was humiliating because...she was embarrassed of him? “You’re the one who asked to meet. Now I’m not good enough to fake-date you?”
He couldn’t believe how weird this situation was. The two of them in his dad’s restaurant, all because of a nonkiss, and now she wanted to date him? Maybe she was actually a hallucination and the lack of sleep had finally caught up to him...
“No, I’m not—” She sighed, clearly exasperated. “I’m not saying I’m humiliated by you. I mean, your dad jokes are embarrassing, obviously—”
“Graceful as ever,” he said, interrupting her rant.
“I don’t want to have to ask someone to pretend to be my boyfriend so my restaurant won’t close. That’s humiliating. To me.” She was looking directly at him, and her hand clutched her chest. “But I don’t have any other choice. I’m desperate here. Your dad built this place from scratch, right? I did the same with Lyon. Imagine how he’d feel if you had to close this. That’s how I’m feeling, too.”
Vinny’s would never close. Leo wouldn’t let that happen. And, more critically, her restaurant wasn’t his problem. He did understand where she was coming from, though. He wasn’t the total monster she always assumed he was.
“I’m happy to brainstorm other ideas. I could make some calls to investors, see if there’s someone—”
“You need me, too, Leo,” she said briskly. “I know about the contract. Without me, there’s noyouon the show.”
He clenched his jaw. He should’ve guessed that if Tiffany had reached out to him, she’d reached out to Nina, too. He didn’t want Nina to know that without her, he really was exactly what she thought—nothing.
“So the quid pro quo you’re offering is that in exchange for me being your arm candy, you’ll come back to the show? Do you actually think that will work?” He stood, leaning a hand against the tabletop. They couldn’t date indefinitely. At some point they’d either get caught or try to murder each other with sharp kitchen objects.
“I’m not coming back to the show,” she said emphatically.
“Just because I’m this attractive doesn’t mean I’m an idiot. There’s nothing in it for me if you don’t return as cohost.” Without the publicity the show brought, he’d have to continue closing restaurants. There was no reason for him to help if she wasn’t willing to do the same.
“We can’t survive filming another season together. I nearly burned the place down on my way out. Dating would be temporary until I solve the reputation problemyouhelped give me.”
Nasty Nina.He couldn’t deny the hand he’d played in that.
“We could try it for a month—a few dates each week—see how it goes,” she continued. “And in return, I’ll be by your side. People will continue to come to Vinny’s. And all the press we get will help to ensure the show wants you back, even without me.”
“You can’t guarantee that,” he said.
“No, I can’t.” She sipped her water. “But I can bring you into the food world.”
“You’re in my restaurant. Iamin the food world.”
“I don’t want to be mean, but you’re not inmyfood world.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, that sounded obnoxious.”
He chuckled bitterly because, annoyingly, what she’d said was true. He did need her in some way, because the public liked seeing them together and the increased restaurant traffic proved it. A month together would mean a month with great sales. “But what you’re offering me is a month, and what I need is a permanent solution,” he hedged.
“The only reason the network wants me back is because I’m respected in the food world. I know every chef in LA. I can help you cultivate something better than just working with me—I’m giving you all of the connections I have.”
