Read Online For the Love of Cake by Erin Dutton - Free Book Online Page B

against the advice of two renowned chefs?
    Maybe she shouldn’t have taken this job. Maybe she should have listened to Wendy when she said it was too big a commitment right now. She just hadn’t thought she’d get so invested. She expected to come in, with her on-screen persona, put on an act, and walk away each day unaffected. But seeing Shannon’s passion and, alternately, her self-flagellation had touched her. Not only did it make her want to keep Shannon in the competition, but she yearned for the days when her own life was so simple. Lately, the spotlight had been a bit too glaring.
    She’d always hated when celebrities acted like fame was such a hardship. But she hadn’t understood how completely her privacy could be invaded until she’d seen the headlines full of speculation stamped above the pictures of her leaving her doctor’s office. The more outrageous the lies became, the more closely she guarded the truth.
    For the past eleven months, she’d worked practically nonstop, trying to keep her mind occupied and her heart from breaking at the thought of the life she’d once had growing inside her.
    Suddenly, she didn’t feel like going back to her hotel room to sit alone with her thoughts. She shrugged off her chef coat, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door.
    Twenty minutes later, she handed cab fare to her driver and climbed out of the car. The glow of blue neon cast a ghostly pallor over the line of people waiting outside the door. She fell in at the end of it, behind a couple of skinny guys who clung to each other like new lovers celebrating the freedom of a night out in a safe place.
    The line moved quickly. Within a few minutes she’d handed over the cover charge and was allowed inside. She entered a dark room, lit by various colored lights and laser effects. A haze of artificial fog hung in the air, and club music seemed to vibrate all the way through Maya. She felt like the young girl she’d once been, new to New York City and bursting with newfound freedom. She’d discovered her own sexuality on dance floors just like this one, with liquid courage and the support of her gay friends making her brave enough to explore her desires. She’d toned down the drinking a great deal since then, and, now that she thought about it, she didn’t have as many real friends either.
    She moved through the crowd of gyrating college-aged kids and older gay guys trying to cling to their dance-music-fueled youth. As she navigated into the large room used for the drag show, she passed the restrooms. The collection of women and men in both lines obviously had little regard for gender-specific facilities.
    In the showroom, the dozen or so tables near the stage had already been claimed, and people had jammed into the area behind them. Maya fell in with the people passing through the crowd like a tiny stream cutting its way through a forest. As she moved, she brushed bodies on both sides, sometimes turning sideways and shuffling along to avoid an errant elbow, drink, or hand holding a cigarette. Several times, she nearly crashed into the girl in front of her when traffic halted abruptly.
    She finally made it to the back of the room where a bar stretched across one wall and a duo of bartenders managed the flow of alcohol like air-traffic controllers. No one seemed to recognize her. Over the years she’d learned to distinguish between an interested look due to her appearance and one born of recognition. Then, of course, there was the expression of the person who had figured out that they’d seen her somewhere but hadn’t yet placed just where.
    She’d just squeezed into a space at the bar and was still waiting to catch the attention of the bartender when she felt someone press close behind her. She turned her head, coming eye-to-eye with an attractive brunette. Pretty—yes, but her hair was too light, not the deep, rich brown of Shannon’s.
    Maya shook her head. Why should she suddenly be comparing other women to