Read Online Sizzle in the City by Wendy Etherington - Free Book Online Page B

anything.”
    Victoria leaned toward her. “Bet he does.”
    On the other side of the counter, Shelby mirrored her pose. “Bet what?”
    Victoria brandished the remains of her chocolate-infused cookie. “My own dozen of these.”
    “What do I get if I win?” Shelby asked, wondering if she should patent the recipe, since it was such an obvious hit.
    “The information about the investors’ meeting.”
    Not a bad trade, really. Shelby would show her cynical friend that Trevor was one of the rare good guys. “Deal.”
    Victoria’s only response was a triumphant smile as she polished off the last of the cookie.
    Shelby had loaded her pastry boxes into the catering company’s logo tote bags—one for Mario, one for Trevor—when complete comprehension over her agreement hit home.
    She’d been goaded into asking Trevor about his brother.
    “What have I done?” she wondered aloud as she sank against the counter.
    “Remembered that you’re supposed to be helping us help you help your parents,” Victoria said calmly.
    Shelby glanced around her kitchen, her pride and joy, the heart and soul of her business. If she had to sell everything and go home to take care of her parents, this would be nothing but a memory. Sure, she could start over in Savannah, but how many years would it take to claw her way back to the moderate success she’d worked and sacrificed to gain in New York? What would she tell her employees, many of whom had been with her since the beginning?
    And even if that potential nightmare didn’t worry her, the idea of partitioning Max and Trevor into separate areas of her life seemed lame and most likely futile. Making Max pay was only going to come about through clever plans, total dedication and a whole lot of luck.
    If she wasn’t very, very careful, though, she wasn’t only going to break a few eggs, she was going to burn them to ash.
    Victoria gave Calla a sage look. “She’s more worried about upsetting Trevor than getting revenge on Max.”
    Shelby straightened. “I am not.”
    Though, admittedly, she was looking forward to seeing Trevor so much, she’d been preoccupied enough to reach for cinnamon instead of cayenne pepper when making jambalaya that morning.
    “So you’ll ask him about the meeting,” Victoria insisted.
    Sighing, Shelby reluctantly nodded. “Fine.”
    She wondered if she should ruin her date before or after she got her sixty-dollar steak.
    * * *
    A FEW HOURS LATER , S HELBY set down her fork with a different kind of sigh. “That was the most amazing steak I’ve ever eaten.”
    Staring at her over the rim of his wineglass, Trevor’s dreamy blue eyes glowed. “It was a pleasure to watch you eat it.”
    Shelby cocked her head. “You’re not some kind of weirdo who gets off watching women chew, are you?”
    “No.” He laughed. “Is there an epidemic of that kind of guy?”
    “In this city, you never know.”
    “Yes, I suppose that’s true. I’m simply glad we’re compatible in our culinary interests. A lot of women these days eat nothing but salad.”
    “Not me. I’d rather run on the treadmill regularly and eat well.”
    “Me, too.”
    He was just so damn likable, agreeable, as well as gorgeous. Plus, for a caterer, if the guy wasn’t into food, then automatically there was going to be a problem.
    You mean, other than the fact that you’re about to tell a big fat lie to further your own agenda at the expense of his family?
    “Speaking of eating well…” she began, dismissing her conscience like a switch of a light. “I’ve ordered everything for your dinner party on Friday. I got a beautiful tenderloin. I could cut it into filets, but I was thinking about doing something more old-school. How do you feel about Beef Wellington?”
    “As in the Duke at Waterloo?”
    “That’s the one. At first I thought the paté and puff pastry were too fussy, but you can cut the dish at the table, which makes things more homey. Even a manly man kind of thing.”
    “A