“So you became a chef because you wanted to be able to feed your family as well as your mother’s boyfriend fed you?”
And that right there was why I never told anyone. Because Nat was giving me a sympathetic Aw Shucks look, like I was someone she should pity.
“You’re making it sound stupid.” I extracted my hand from hers.
“It’s not stupid. It’s incredibly sweet.”
She still sounded too sincere for my liking, and if there was one thing I wasn’t, it was sweet. I pushed back a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail and put my other hand on her waist. Then I shamelessly stared down her cleavage. “Want to know what sweet thoughts I’m thinking right now?” My voice was rough.
“I can guess.” She let out a nervous laugh. “I thought you didn’t want to mess around?” Her hand dropped to my stomach, gripping my T-shirt.
“I’m not messing around.” It came out as a low growl, and somehow my palm found the curve of her cheek. Though it was still early, her glasses were already smudged, her hair was starting to come loose, and she’d chewed off her lip gloss.
She was so damn beautiful, I couldn’t stand it.
“Kade,” she whispered, my name a needy sound on a long exhale. She rose onto tiptoe, leaning in to bring her face close to mine. Her eyelashes fluttered shut.
Before I could move, her eyes flicked back open and she jerked away, her nostrils flaring. “What’s that smell?”
I caught the stench of burning at the same moment and spun around, already starting to cough. Black smoke was drifting from the kitchen.
“The muffins!”
At the same moment, a sharp rapping knock came from the café's door.
Chapter Eleven
Natalie
While Kade was dumping the ruined muffins in the trash and turning the fans on to get rid of the smell, I rushed to see who was knocking.
My brain was still fogged with lust and my legs felt shaky.
On my way to the door, I managed to glance at the clock. Only quarter to eight. Still fifteen minutes until opening time, but when I opened the door, there was a crowd of people waiting. We hadn’t advertised that Kade would be in the café today, but many were clutching his cookbooks, obviously hoping he’d be here to sign them.
Gigi and Butch were at the back of the crowd, looking irritated. When I unlocked the doors, the autograph hunters poured inside, Gigi and Butch trailing in behind them.
“Hello,” I said to Gigi and Butch, trying to sound friendly instead of shocked and wary. “Um. It’s nice to see you. I didn’t expect… I mean, Emmy didn’t mention you were coming.”
Gigi fingered her string of pearls. “But we don’t need Emmy, do we? Not to have a friendly little chat about the café.”
“Okay, sure. Please come inside.”
Kade must have heard either the commotion or the panic in my voice, because he emerged from the kitchen. The excited chatter from the autograph hunters instantly kicked up several notches.
“Look, it’s him!”
“See, I told you he’d be here.”
“Kade! Oh my god, I love you!”
“Do you smell something burning?”
As Gigi, Butch and I made our way through the crowd to get to Kade, a short, plump man with a magnificent red beard grabbed Kade’s hand.
“It’s so fabulous to meet you in person. I’ve seen every one of your shows.” The red-bearded man used two hands to shake Kade’s, pumping it up and down before allowing Kade to tug it free.
“Thank you.” Kade flashed his charming, made-for-TV smile. “Always nice to meet a fan.”
Red beard moved his wide-eyed gaze to me. “You’re Kade’s new fiancée, aren’t you? Congratulations, Mrs-Lennox-to-be! You’re so lucky!” He clapped his hands, bouncing on his toes. “Where’s your engagement ring? Why aren’t you wearing it?”
“Um. Because I’m working?” I couldn’t help thinking about the nasty comments Carlotta said had been posted online. And maybe I’d read one too many horror novels about overly enthusiastic fans, but just because the guy seemed harmless didn’t mean he hadn’t hidden an axe down the back of his designer jeans.
Red beard turned to Gigi and Butch. “Are you the bride’s parents? Oh my goodness. You must be so thrilled!”
I flinched. “They’re not my parents!” Then I smiled extra widely, trying to pretend I hadn’t sounded horrified by the idea.
“Will you sign my book, Kade?” A woman thrust a cookbook at him.
“Sign mine too!” Several others jostled their books forward.
“Please, wait. Give us some space.” I made shooing motions, trying to get Kade’s fans to back up. None of them listened, and I directed an apologetic look at Gigi and Butch. “Sorry about this.”
“Kade, can I have a picture with you?” yelled a woman.
“Hey, don’t cut in front of me!” called someone else.
“I want a picture!”
“Get in line, lady!”
Kade shot me an ‘I got this’ look, and raised both hands, his back against the counter. “Thank you, everyone. Really. I’m touched.” He flashed his trademark charismatic smile around the café, a specialized biological weapon that trembled knees, melted hearts, and dissolved panties.
Given most women’s reaction to his smile, I’d have expected their heterosexual partners to be jealous or hostile. But nope. Even the most possessive of men seemed to respond to his smile with one of their own. Some of them probably switched teams.
“We don’t open for another ten minutes,” Kade continued. “So if you’d please choose a table and sit down, we’ll finish getting ready to make coffees and serve breakfast. Then I’ll have time to sign your books and take photographs.”
The crowd did what he asked, filling all the tables in my small café. As soon as enough space cleared, Gigi went to the front counter to pat Kade’s arm and flutter her eyelashes at him.
“We didn’t expect to see you here,” she cooed. “Will you go back to LA to shoot your TV show soon?”
“Perhaps.” He pressed his lips together, sending a pointed look my way.
