Read Online Undercover Lovers by Chloe Cole - Free Book Online

At
once her probing didn’t seem like such a good idea. “You’re awfully
interested in my menu all of a sudden. Is there a particular
reason?”
    “ Not a particular reason.”
She tried not to look guilty. “I mean, I’m interested in knowing
about you and your world. Everything about it. Who knows? Maybe
you’ll even be able to teach me how to make a decent risotto.” Even
the light laughter added to put him at ease sounded
hollow.
    “ Wait…you can’t
cook?”
    “ Nope.”
    “ Come on. If you can read,
you can cook. All you have to do is read the instructions
and voila ,
dinner.”
    “ I swear I could burn water.
I had a cooking instructor once who got so flustered with me this
one particular time. He said my attempts at poisoning him made him
consider an early retirement. He’s the one to convince me to
consider a career— ” She bit her lip, at once flustered with a
runaway mouth.
    “ A career?” August repeated,
obviously prodding her to complete the thought.
    Damn it .
    She would have loved just a
few more hours with him. A few more to get to know the obsessively
neat man who made her laugh. Hell, even a few more minutes just
enjoying his company.
    When was the last time she’d
had such a good time? Dining alone, regardless of the variety of
places, didn’t end up being as glamorous as one would think her job
would be.
    No. August made her laugh.
And he made her feel beautiful.
    “ I should tell you
something,” she said. It took a reserve of courage to continue
looking him in the eyes.
    His jaw tightened. “You work
for Brun, right? Did you lie to me?”
    “ What? No. God, no . Not
that.”
    August visibly relaxed. “Oh,
sorry. You sounded so serious that I thought the worst.”
    “ Would anything else be as
bad?”
    “ Other than to tell me
you’re married, I think that would be it.” He squinted at her. “A
little late to be asking, but you’re not married, are
you?”
    “ No,” she said, shaking her
head slowly. “Not married.”
    “ Great.” He pointed at the
remains of her food with his chin. “Eat up. There’s dessert,
remember?”
    Her heart pounded with such
force, he must have been able to hear it across the few feet that
separated them. “I don’t work for Brun and I’m not married, but
August,”—she blew out a breath—”I want to let you know why we met
tonight.”
    He lifted her free hand to
his mouth, kissing sensitive knuckles. “Fate.”
    Her lips tipped in another
smile. Why hadn’t she met him under other circumstances? Was it
really so much to
ask?
    Carefully, she slid her hand
out of his, hating the confused expression on his face as she did
so. “You should know that I work for the Denver Daily.”
    His face paled, but he said
nothing.
    “ I’m not a reporter or
anything. Just a food critic.”
    Silence.
    “ It wasn’t my idea to come
to your restaurant.” Like that was any excuse. “It was my editor’s.
She wanted to do a sneak peek feature around Restaurant
Week.”
    Saffron watched him swallow.
The pulse she’d run her tongue over earlier beat a rapid tattoo
beneath his skin.
    “ I know you value your
privacy and prefer not to deal with the media. I know your sous
chef usually steps into the limelight—”
    “ I’ve never heard of you.”
His voice was flat.
    “ New assistant.” Earlier she
could have kissed the woman for her newbie mistake. Now, Saffron
wanted to throttle her. “She made the reservation under my real
name instead of one of my aliases.”
    August stood. “You came to
learn more about me and Restaurant Week?”
    She hated this. Hated it.
“Yes.”
    The longest stretch of
excruciating silence ate the air around her.
    Finally, he said, “Well…tell
your readers I’ll be serving a Gran
Madame fondue with truffle
mushrooms, zuppa di
fungi , white gazpacho with Dungeness crab
salad, prime rib, risotto with caramelized onions and
fig…”
    “ Wait…no. August, don’t tell
me—”
    “ Chilean sea bass en croute