Bella tried to ignore the sudden intake of breath behind Jake. Mari rolled her eyes, trying to fight the grin at his cheesy line.
She was more tempted than she could have imagined. How long had it been since she’d gone out with someone who wasn’t trying to get her on their side for their own gains? Right after she won Masterchef, invitations flowed in like never before. Everyone wanted her to appear on their show, or use their brand of equipment, make an appearance at their mother’s birthday party. Suddenly, she had photographers following her, her Twitter stream increased tenfold and friend requests on other social media channels soared. She couldn’t do anything without it being bandied all over the place. Her every move watched and having it recorded.
Her home phone number had to be changed and every time she was asked on a date, she had to second-guess it. Everyone wanted to be seen with Bella Moore. Even more so once her first show aired. It became more than a little wearying, being so cynical, but when she first put her name down for the show, she’d been so gullible, so unassuming. She’d learned the hard way. After making a couple of mistakes, Russell had pulled her aside to chat.
“Bella, you can’t afford to take anyone at face value. This industry is too cutthroat for the likes of someone as innocent as you. You need to toughen up and start weeding out those that want a piece of you and those that will help you advance your career.”
“But, Russell, all I want to do is cook.”
He patted her on the back. “Kiddo, that guy you were sitting with last night after the show, the one that insisted on taking selfies with you, acting like all he wanted was to be seen with the next big cooking star? Go see what he put on his Instagram page. Look at the caption.”
She had. Horrified, Bella had hidden away from the public until the gossip had died down. Her publicist had made a short statement to deny any of the allegations making headlines about her “new affair” with the man who had a reputation for aligning himself with stars and slandering them if he didn’t get what he wanted.
Since then, Bella had been very wary of anyone who wanted to get too close to her and that had been lonelier than she’d thought possible. She had too much to lose and with the rising risk of a scandal from the inside of the studio, it would be harder to deny what the gossip magazines published. So much for thinking someone in the same business would be a better match for her. That idea had bombed spectacularly and now she was paying the price for that mistake. Her stress levels had only skyrocketed once the rumors had started and Bella had the horrible thought more than once that if she’d been more mindful, not so busy perhaps, she would have noticed who the genuine people were. Instead, she’d let burnout win, apparently.
If she was honest with herself, she hadn’t dated in like a proper date for what, over a year? Maybe two if she didn’t count the last sleazebags? It wasn’t a wonder this handsome hunk of a guy was making her hormones stand up and scream for attention and all he’d offered was coffee. “Okay, that’d be really nice. When?”
“How about now? I don’t have anything on this morning and I don’t think you’ll be doing much in here for at least a week. I’m not sure how fast Mari’s insurance company works.”
Mari gave her a thumbs-up behind Jake’s back followed by a saucy wink. “I’ll catch you two later. As much as I’d like to join you, I have too much paperwork that I’ve been ignoring. I’m entrusting my little sister to you, Jake. Give me a call tonight, Bella, and we can discuss the purchase of a new stove.” What she meant was discuss how the coffee date went. Bella knew how it worked with her sisters and, after her man drought, she wasn’t about to be let off the hook.
“Oh, right. Listen I have an idea about that.” She wanted to tell Mari about what she’d just told Jake before she left them together. Alone.
“Cool, that’s wonderful. I can’t wait to hear it. Later.” She pushed out the kitchen doors and ran up the staircase.
Jake stared down at her, a grin on his face. Gosh, she was so out of practice here. What did she say to a man who’d become the hero yesterday and now wanted to take her out?
“Shall we?” He held out his hand and Bella didn’t bother overthinking it, she reached out and let him lead her out.
*
Over coffee and Danish pastries, they started chatting. Slow at first, about pleasantries involving the weather, it was stilted until she laughed. “This is stupid, talking about the weather.” Jake raised an eyebrow. “Oh, not you, me. I mean us, acting like this.” She huffed out a sigh and looked down at her hands. “Look, I’ll be frank with you. I haven’t dated in ages and even though I know this is just coffee and nothing more, I have the jitters. I’m not usually the nervous type but I’m kind of out of practice being in normal company like this. Plus, I’m a little bit at a loss of what to say apart from discussing kitchen appliances or ingredients.”
“We can start there if it makes you feel better, Bella. Let’s just say it’s a coffee between budding friends.”
“Okay. You got me.”
“Great. Now tell me why you’re so good at sorting out kitchens. I’ve never had someone design something that good that quick before.”
Bella laughed. “That’s very
