High Heat by Philippa Grey-Gerou

Author:Philippa Grey-Gerou [Grey-Gerou, Philippa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Published: 2014-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Tuesday did not go the way Roman planned.

Most of the prep for the Gulbransen wedding was done, only the last-minute salads to chop and the chicken and prime rib to roast the day of the event. Their makeshift setup had done the job, to the point where Roman was actually starting to feel comfortable here, despite the occasional sirens that made his heart stop. Another week and they’d be gone, moved into their own catering kitchen in a reclaimed industrial park on the other side of town. Another new kitchen to get used to, and without the tempting distractions downstairs this one had.

It was just after eleven thirty. He had plenty of time to get things cleaned up here, get home to shower and change before meeting Jacob for dinner. He’d picked a quiet little wine bar with an amazing wood-fired grill run by a friend of his from his days as a sous. It was closer to the city, which had the dual benefit of protecting their privacy, as he still wasn’t certain how out Jacob was, and giving them quiet time on the drive to talk. He was looking forward to getting to know Jacob a little better. There was no denying the chemistry between them, but Roman really hoped they had more in common than that.

Tobie snapped her cell phone shut. “You are either going to love me or hate me.”

“Well, that can’t be good.”

“I’ve just scored us a plum job, doing an intimate dinner for ten for the CFO of TarnaPharm, that drug company near Landersville.”

Roman frowned. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“I know! And you know if they like it, she’ll talk us up to all the execs there. We might even be able to score some of their bigger events, maybe their shareholder meeting. And think of the exposure that could get us!”

After all this time working with her, Roman could tell when Tobie was stalling. “What’s the bad news?”

She winced. “The dinner’s tonight.”

“Tonight?” Roman wasn’t the only one shouting in disbelief. Mo and Jamie both converged on them, voicing their own disapproval. Roman held up a hand. “Tobie, there’s no way we could be ready for a dinner tonight. We don’t even have a menu. It would take hours just to get that settled, and then we’d need to get the ingredients and put it all together. If we were in our own kitchen, sure, maybe. But here?”

“You can skip that first step,” Tobie placated him. “Her secretary’s put the entire menu in our hands. Ms. Weir’s husband has a strawberry allergy and one of the guests is Jewish. Those are the only restrictions.”

“Tobie—”

“Come on, Roman. You’ve worked on worse deadlines in the restaurant. Dinner for ten should be no problem.”

He wanted to scream at her that he had a date for the first time in years, a date with the guy she’d been shoving him at, but his chef brain had already kicked into gear. He grabbed the phone away from her with a glare and punched in a number.

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