Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
EPISODE 93
CALLALOO-PY
Emily
Evangeline pulled me aside earlier and asked if I cared if she postponed June’s and my private dates until later in the week. She apparently has something else planned, so here I am in the massive gourmet kitchen. We’ve all been summoned to take part in some kind of cooking lesson. We’re all here except Brett and Sienna, of course, but someone else is missing as well…
I can’t help glancing around. River isn’t here, and the place feels empty without him.
Evangeline stands near the giant Viking stove. “All right, everyone. I’ve got something really fun planned for this afternoon. Brett isn’t here of course, but he’ll return later this evening. In the meantime—”
Everyone turns at the sound of River bustling in. My God, he looks sexy. He’s wearing black shorts and a short-sleeved white button-down. His hair is damp from an obvious shower, and his dark eyes…
They smolder as they meet mine, but he looks away quickly.
“Sorry I’m late,” he says to Evangeline.
“You’re right on time.” She smiles in an exhausted sort of way.
Evangeline doesn’t look good. Dark circles mar her eyes and her skin is even paler than usual. She has lovely features and would be quite beautiful if she got rid of the whole goth image.
“Okay.” Evangeline lets out an exasperated sigh. “You all know our chef, Pierre Newland. These are his sous chefs, Marc and Katie, who some of you have no doubt already met, and we’ve brought in another chef from the mainland, Desmond Wallace.”
I can’t help staring at the new chef. Desmond Wallace has beautiful brown skin and eyes even darker than River’s. And they bloody smolder too.
No fraternizing is the policy, of course, but I’ve already broken that rule with Zion the bartender. If River has decided to look elsewhere for companionship, I may have to zero in on the new chef.
“It’s great to be here,” Desmond says, his voice low and laced with a sexy Jamaican accent. He smiles…directly at me. “You all can call me Desi.”
Damn…
“I’ve divided you all into pairs,” Evangeline continues. “Each pair will work with one of our chefs to prepare a traditional Jamaican dish. Afterward, we’ll have a feast for dinner, and everyone—including the chefs—will vote for their favorite dish. The winning pair will get a date with the person of their choice tomorrow evening.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Heather cajoles. “Who is with who?”
Whom. But I don’t say it.
“You, Heather, will team up with Alex, and you’ll be preparing our dessert.”
“Yum! I love dessert.” She grabs Alex’s arm.
“You two will be working with Chef Pierre, who wants to flex his pastry muscles.” Evangeline looks down at her tablet. “Our next team is Ariel and Sebastian, and you two will work with Marc.”
I look around. Four of us are left, but only one gentleman. River. Which means two of the women will be working together. What fun will that be?
In my heart of hearts, I’m so distracted hoping I’ll be paired with River that I don’t hear Evangeline announce the next couple. But when June squeals, I resign myself to my fate.
I will be paired with Misty.
I supposed I should be grateful Misty’s not with River, but I just spent a good part of the day in her room, and frankly, I’ve had enough of her.
“Misty and Emily,” Evangeline says. “You’ll be working with Katie on a vegetable side dish.”
Bloody seriously? Veggies? The most boring dish, and I don’t even get the hunky new chef? Desi is already talking to River and June in that sexy voice of his about the main dish they’ll be preparing. Misty is darting daggers at June with her gaze, and I’m just about ready to throw in the bloody towel.
Katie walks toward us, smiling. She and all the other chefs are wearing black. Chef Pierre is short and round, but Desmond and Marc are to die for. Katie is a pretty little thing—dark skin with gorgeous light-brown eyes—but of course we get the only woman.
“Emily, Misty.” Katie shakes my hand and then Misty’s. “I’m so excited to teach you how to prepare one of my favorite dishes, callaloo greens.”
Misty frowns. “What on earth are callaloo greens?”
Here she goes. Poor little rich girl didn’t get paired up with the man she wants and she’s stuck with two women.
“The greens can come from the amaranth plant or the taro plant,” Katie explains. “Callaloo is the name of the dish, and most Jamaicans refer to the greens themselves as callaloo greens. They’re a mild green. In fact, you can substitute spinach in this dish at home.”
“Great.” Misty rolls her eyes.
For the love of God… I’m not thrilled to be cooking vegetables with Misty, but she’s being plain rude to Katie, who seems like a sweet girl.
I smile. “Sounds fun, Katie. I’ve never heard of callaloo greens. What is in the dish?”