successful all the way around.
She nodded, hopeful. One quick look at Cole showed he was hopeful too. Good man.
‘The flavour of the bacon heightened the flavour of the corn and the corn milk in that batter added an extra dimension of flavour that made the corn sing. It was a sweet, sweet song, too.’
She blushed. The guest judge said, ‘And little Miss, serving it with that nice maple syrup was spot on.’
‘Good job, Chef Calvert,’ Kat Stephens said. ‘You are safe.’
She then turned to poor Ginger and said, ‘Unfortunately Chef Mann, that means you will be leaving us. You can leave the kitchen now.’
Jill turned to hug Ginger and tell her how good she’d done. She tried to hide the joy thrumming through her over being one of the final two. And over Cole being the other.
He waited until they were in the hall outside the suites. No camera men. Not even any other guests. Cole pushed her to the wall, crowding against her back with his bulk. His hands trapped her hands high near her butt cheeks as if he were about to frisk her. Instead of frisking her, he rested his mouth to her earlobe and said, ‘Final two, Calvert.’
She grinned. ‘I know. Be prepared for me to kick your ass.’
‘And be prepared for me to kiss yours,’ he whispered.
Her nape prickled with arousal and heat and she exhaled softly against the hideous patterned wallpaper, her face still pressed to the wall.
‘I’m glad it was you.’
‘Come to my room,’ Cole said.
He kissed the back of her neck and she shivered. What a stupid place to be having an affair, she thought. But it was what it was. A nice diversion, a sexy man, stellar fucking. It was the best possible distraction ever, she reminded herself.
But nothing more.
There was no time in her life or her career for anything more – for any kind of … relationship. And he was from Pennsylvania and she was from Maryland and they were having their fling in the nation’s capital for goodness sake …
When Cole reached around her to cup her breasts with his hands, and rocked his hips to her bottom, and kissed her hair so it tickled the back of her neck, she pushed all that worry away.
It was just a fling – of course it was.
‘Come to my room,’ he said again, nudging her ass with his hard cock. It made her wet to feel his readiness. His desire.
‘I need a shower,’ Jill said, putting up very little fight.
‘Come to my room and take a shower with me. And then we’ll cook some food and then I’ll make you dirty again.’
Had she ever thought to fight him sincerely, she wondered. No. Not really. All her fight was in the kitchen and it all faded away when she was with Cole. All the aggressive, fight-fight-fight need she carried in her on a daily basis fled her. It was so exhausting constantly trying to prove yourself to yourself. And others – people you didn’t even know.
‘OK,’ she whispered. ‘Just let me get some clothes.’
‘Wear mine,’ he said. ‘You look so damn sexy in them.’ Cole pulled her from the wall and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. His chin touched the side of her forehead he was so tall. He walked her toward his suite door, making sure that she could feel his erection.
Jesus, how she wanted him. Again.
‘Come on, now,’ he said and reached around her to unlock his door. She let him lead her and embraced the surge of excitement and nerves when he kicked the door shut.
He stripped her slowly. His fingers on the buttons of her chef’s coat made her feel like she’d swallowed a live wire. Moisture pooled in the crotch of her panties and when Jill imagined him sliding a finger or two … or three … into her wetness she felt a great hitch in her chest.
Cole growled low in his throat when he slid his fingers under the lace straps of her tank top. His skin was warm and it seemed to burn a pleasant line of fire wherever it touched her.
‘Look at that. So pretty,’ he rasped. Then he thumbed her
Learning to Kill: Stories