King of the Kitchen by Bru Baker

Author:Bru Baker [Baker, Bru]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 9781634766463
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2015-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter NINE

“THANKS FOR tuning in to King of the Kitchen today! We’re going to be switching things up here for the next month. Our executive producer, Bob Starden, is here to tell you about it,” Beck said, smiling woodenly at the camera with the blinking light.

Duncan watched from offstage, waiting for his cue to go on. Something was off about Beck today. Maybe it was nerves about the new show format. He’d flubbed his lines more times than Duncan could count on the read-through earlier this morning, and he’d actually dropped a pan during rehearsal. He’d never seen Beck with anything but rock-steady hands before, so something must be up.

This was why he should never break his no-sleeping-with-colleagues rule. One night of sex wasn’t worth weeks of awkwardness. He chanced a glance over at Beck, who even managed to look gorgeous when he was flustered. And damn, the sex had been great. Maybe Duncan would be willing to do it again, which was mind-blowing since Duncan studiously avoided anything that even casually looked like a relationship.

Lindsay gave him a hard nudge, sending Duncan sprawling forward a few steps. He looked up, startled, when he realized Bob was motioning to him from the set. He must have zoned out for his entire introduction. Shit.

Duncan trotted forward, pulling at the front of his suit jacket. He’d skirted the letter of their agreement, wearing the suit but pairing it with a favorite T-shirt, both for comfort and to give him a bit more confidence. He was out of his element enough filming a television show—he damn well wasn’t going to do it without his security blanket.

Beck had taken one look at the shirt and scoffed, but Lindsay had appreciated it. Even Bob had laughed. Duncan had left his sports coat unfastened so the graphic was visible: a silhouette of a pig with the caption “Bacon is murder. Tasty, tasty murder.”

“Thanks for joining us, Duncan,” Bob said, reaching out to shake his hand.

“Happy to be here,” Duncan answered, keeping his smile wide and easy. If he focused on Bob and Beck, he could almost forget the camera. “I’m excited to be working with Beck on King of the Kitchen since I’ve been a fan of the show for years.” He ignored Beck’s quiet snicker, the first sign of actual life from Beck he’d heard all day.

“That’s always good to hear,” Bob said after a beat when Beck didn’t respond. “So we’ve explained to the audience that you and Beck will be facing off each week, reinventing a classic dish. What we haven’t told them yet is they will be the ones voting on the winners—and that voting is going to aid some very special causes. You’ll be letting your checkbooks do the voting each week. Duncan?”

Duncan steeled himself with a deep breath and faced the camera. Lindsay and Campbell had stationed themselves on either side of it, and Duncan relaxed in relief. They were geniuses. He grinned at them. He had this.

“As Bob said, we’ll be competing to raise money for our charities.

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