Maybe he senses my quick trip to paranoia-land because he catches my hand. “We’re not friends because you said we couldn’t be.”
“Do you want to be friends?”
He moves his hand up my arm and rests it behind my neck. He bends ever so slightly bringing his face closer to mine, but still far enough away that there’s no accidental touching. “Is that the only possibility?”
I raise on my toes, closing the distance between us. I whisper against his lips, “Until the competition’s over.” This close, the sounds of our breathing intermix, every one of his exhales brushes my lips, his fruity breath fills my nose. Our expanding chests touch, then retreat.
“And then what?” His lips touch mine as he speaks.
“And then we can explore the electricity that flows between us.”
Someone opening the bathroom door splits us apart in a hurry. Hannah knocks on the stall. “Everyone’s looking for you two.”
My face heats to a ridiculous temperature, but Knox simply grabs my hand and leads me out.
Under the pretense of needing to speak to Hannah, I drop his hand. “I’ll be right there. I need to talk to Hannah really quick about strategy.”
He nods and goes back to the set.
I fall against the wall, breathing heavily.
Hannah watches me, then shakes her head and leaves the bathroom.
All I can think is how I’m going to possibly make it through this week without tearing that pristine jacket off Knox Everheart. Hopefully I don’t do it while the cameras are rolling.
San Francisco Sourdough Bread
2 cups warm water
6 – 8 cups flour
1 cup sourdough starter, unproofed
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cornstarch
Grease a baking sheet, set aside. In a large bowl, combine the water, starter and 4 cups of flour. Mix well and cover in a warm place 8-12 hours. Stir in salt and sugar. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until a stiff dough forms. Knead until smooth. Cover and let rise 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Punch down and divide in half. Knead each half until smooth and form into rounds. Place on baking sheet. Cover and let rise till double, about 1 to 2 hours. Meanwhile, mix water and cornstarch in a small saucepan and boil. Remove from heat and let cool. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully place a small pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven. Cut two cross slashes on top of each loaf. Bake 10 minutes. Baste each loaf well with the cornstarch mixture. Bake another 20-25 minutes until golden. Allow 2 hours to cool and fully develop sourdough flavor.
Yield: 2 loaves
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Gains.
The first two days of competition we’ll be making signature dishes and drinks that we’d serve in our new restaurant. We had to plan ahead and give the producers a list of ingredients to have on hand since from now on, all the challenges will be on our terms. Mama isn’t here so that means on my terms.
Someday I want to own a French bistro, something I tried (and failed) to turn Smothered in Love into. Lillie was not having it. In my spare time, I’ve been experimenting and perfecting dishes I’d want to serve. For our first competition, we have all day to make an appetizer, soup, salad, main course, dessert, and wine pairings. That last bit was already handled by Wyatt, something he excels at. Tomorrow will be more of the same, but with five main course offerings and a signature drink. Wyatt promises he has it covered, and I’m not worried, but it did take him quite a bit of time to perfect one for Mama’s restaurant.
Today, I keep it more traditional in every category. Tomorrow, I’ll mix it up a bit for variety. And it’s all on me because I basically have two sous chefs now with Mama gone. But I’m okay with that. After the last competition, I finally realized that I am worthy. I may not kick Knox’s butt because Lord knows he’s special, but I may because I’m special too. And I can’t worry about Knox anymore. I have to do my thing the best I can. Even with this newfound confidence, I’m happy I don’t need to worry about making pasta.
Hannah is sharing a look with Wyatt. I can only imagine what that’s about. I frown at them both in turn. They can gossip about me when we’re done. Right now, we all need to concentrate on the task at hand. We know what we need to do since we hashed that out on the plane. We just need to execute. And concentrate. Did I say that already? Well, it bears remembering because nobody should be thinking about anything other than our menu today. Definitely not Knox or what any of the Everhearts are doing.
The warning light blinks so we’re about to get started. I peep around for the judges again.
Wyatt asks, “Who are you looking for?” He narrows his eyes in massive judgment.
“The judges. Get a life.”
He sits back in his chair and twists his lips to the side. “Uh huh. Maybe if you weren’t playing seven minutes in heaven with Knox, you’d know the judges aren’t coming until the end of the day.”
“Oh.” That’s all I got. I don’t even want to touch that Knox comment. Granted if I actually got seven minutes in heaven with Knox, we wouldn’t have been talking about Mike. Far from it.
The final lights blink and we have a hot set. I glance at Hannah and she has a smile plastered on her face but there are droplets of sweat breaking out on her forehead. She did great Sunday and I’m sure she’ll do fine this week, but it’s different being filmed in your element than here on their turf. I grin to myself because I feel like an old pro at this point. Imagine that.
The presenters lay out the format for the final round, then they introduce Knox
