“I cannot believe she is there!”

Sarah held the phone away from her ear so that Marly’s screech wouldn’t burst her ear drums. She’d called Marly first thing after exiting Scott’s office. Veronica had almost screwed things up for Marly, and now Sarah was positive she had been sabotaging her and Raffe. “It’s crazy, right? And, get this, she is big now. As in she must be eating ten bags of M&Ms a day. No more sky-high stilettos either. Flats. She’s so different!”

“Okay, never mind the picture of the rose petals on the bed, I need a picture of Veronica! After all the times she called me fat, maybe this is karma in action!” Marly said.

Sarah agreed with her. Karma had definitely paid Veronica a visit. She had always been nasty to everyone when they had worked together—well, everyone except for Jasper. But she’d been especially nasty to Marly.

Ending her call with Marly, Sarah walked into the bungalow, still shaking her head as she looked at Raffe.

“I can’t believe Veronica works for the show. And she has access to all the behind-the-scenes stuff. And she was seen in the cooler, so obviously she switched the desserts.” Sarah snapped her fingers. “Of course! I should have known when I saw the M&Ms. Veronica has a penchant for them.”

Sarah paced the length of the bungalow while Raffe sat on the sofa, turning this way and that to follow her progress, a glass of orange juice on the table in front of him.

“I agree it appears more than random. Do you think she got this job knowing we’d be contestants? That seems impossible. What experience does she have, and how would she even know we were contestants?”

“Who knows?” Sarah flapped her arms. Raffe’s cool demeanor bugged her. Didn’t he get ruffled about anything? “She skulks around. She knew lots of stuff about Marly because she’s sneaky.”

“True. But we can’t confront her about it without taking the risk of being tossed off the show. It seems like that Gertie woman calls the shots, and she definitely was protective of Veronica.” Raffe settled back into the chair, his face grim. “She might even suspect that we aren’t really engaged.”

Sarah nodded her head slowly. Raffe was right. If they approached Veronica about it, she’d probably make up some story or do something sneaky that would get them kicked off. “I don’t think she knows, because if she did, she’d probably tell them and try to get us booted. But I agree, we don’t want anyone looking too closely at us. Best to just keep an eye on her and make sure she can’t mess with us anymore.”

“It’s possible it’s not even her. I know, long shot. But Brenda told on us, so it would appear she has it in for us too,” Raffe said.

“Trust me, Veronica being here is no coincidence. I don’t know; this is so confusing. I guess we need to keep an eye on both of them!” Sarah pulled a glass from the cabinet and stabbed it under the water dispenser built into the refrigerator. This was so frustrating! Not only did she have to worry about winning the contest, now she had to keep on the lookout for Veronica.

“I agree. But, for right now we need to get to the kitchen for the next contest.” Raffe finished his orange juice, and they both put their glasses in the sink and headed out to the conference center.

Sarah developed the usual case of nerves as they traveled the path to the entrance to the kitchens. Today there would be a live audience consisting mostly of other guests from the resort and a few locals. As they entered the kitchen, Sarah glanced at the audience. Men in Hawaiian shirts, women in colorful sundresses. Everyone looked casual and relaxed.

She nodded to the other contestants and took her place at the cooking station while waiting for Landon to tell them about today’s contest.

“Attention! Today’s challenge is bacon. No, not baking, bacon. You will prepare your bacon three different ways for the judges, incorporating it into three separate appetizers. Use your creativity, because the team with the least impressive dish will be going home. The challenge starts… now!”

“Yes!” Raffe was already unwrapping the thick slabs of bacon that had been set out for them. “If there’s one food I love, it’s bacon. Doesn’t everyone love bacon?” He glanced at Sarah.

“Yeah, you love it, but any ideas on appetizers,” Sarah asked him as she started to cut the bacon into slices. “Actually, should I be slicing them this thick?” She had a few ideas about the bacon but wanted to hear what Raffe had to say. He owned so many upscale restaurants that they most likely had more than one trendy bacon appetizer. Plus, she wanted to see if he could take the lead or if it would be all up to her for the entire contest. Not that she minded. She was used to going it on her own with no one else to depend on.

“Bacon cheese balls. Bacon-wrapped sliders. And maple-candied bacon. How does that sound? And yes, keep slicing them exactly like you are. That’s great!”

Apparently bacon was Raffe’s thing. He was in his element, explaining that he’d worked with his chefs on bacon appetizer recipes because they were a key part of his menu in all the trendy locations like Los Angeles, Miami, and Boston.

“All these recipes are the most popular on my menus, so I think we’re a shoo-in,” he explained.

They worked seamlessly side by side, Sarah following his instructions to the letter as well as making a few suggestions that he immediately incorporated, causing her face to flush with pride when he commented on how they improved the dish and asked if he could employ them in his restaurants.

By the time Landon bellowed that time was up, Sarah was just finishing the last of the garnish. She stood back, chancing a look at the other contestants’ plates. Their dishes weren’t as expertly plated, nor did they seem to have as much variety. Hope swelled in her chest. They had this, maybe would even win.

As usual, Landon took forever, chatting about bacon, making a comment about each appetizer and then drawing out the announcement. Unlike the cooking portion that was filmed in one swoop, the announcements and tasting took longer as the judges asked for retakes when they flubbed their lines.

After what seemed an eternity, Landon finally grabbed the microphone, smoothed his hair, and nodded to the cameras to start rolling.

“Contestants, are you ready?”

The chefs all nodded and shuffled around nervously in front of their dishes.

Landon turned to the audience. “Audience, are you ready?”

“Yes!” The audience waved and bounced in their chairs.

Landon turned back to the camera, smiling. “Well then, without further ado… the winner is…”

Sarah’s heart pounded on her ribcage as he inserted the usual dramatic pause.

“Team One—Raffe and Sarah!”

Sarah’s hands flew to her cheeks. They’d won their first challenge! She turned to Raffe. He was happy, smiling. Sarah felt like jumping up and down, oh wait, she was jumping up and down.

“Congratulations, you two!” Landon came to them, a cameraman trailing behind him. “Now, let’s see a nice big victory kiss!”

Sarah stopped midjump. Did he say kiss? Her eyes jerked from Landon’s dorky smiling face to Raffe’s panic-stricken one.

Don’t panic. Keep smiling. Breathe. Think of a way to get out of it.

Landon raised his brow at them expectantly, the audience leaning forward in their seats. Everyone waited for them to kiss. There was no way to get out of it without giving away the fact that they weren’t a couple.

She stepped closer to Raffe, her pulse thudding. Okay, a quick peck should satisfy them.

She stood on the tips of her toes, tilting her head up as Raffe bent his down.

Warm breath ghosted across her face, and then his lips were on hers. Warm, soft and… delicious. His arm snaked around her waist, and she vaguely heard the audience utter a collective, “Awww,” as she stepped in closer.

* * *

The kiss wasn’t anything like Raffe had anticipated. He’d expected Sarah’s lips to be stiff and cold. But they were soft and… pliable. He only meant to give her a quick peck, but he found himself pulling her in close, deepening the kiss by instinct.

Apparently he’d let his lips linger longer than they should have, because the next thing he knew, Landon cleared his throat and cracked a joke about waiting for the honeymoon that elicited a burst of laughter from the audience and crew.

He pulled back, heart racing and warmth flooding his veins. Sarah’s face was flushed, her eyes half closed and dreamy. The kiss had definitely affected him. Had it affected her too?

Suddenly embarrassed and confused, he jerked away from her and started busy work, wiping their knives and scrubbing down the countertops.

“That was luck, I think. The bacon, I mean. I have so many variations on my menus it was easy to come up with the dishes.” Raffe tried to talk his way through the awkwardness.

“Right. Those are delicious. I can see why they are favored in your restaurants.”

“Yeah, the maple-candied one is a personal favorite. It looks like Durkin really likes it too.”

Raffe nodded toward the food critic, who sat with a pile of the candied bacon in front of him. He bit into a piece of it, eyes closed and head leaning slightly back. Sarah and Raffe burst into laughter.

“It’s definitely something I’m going to try a recipe variation of when I get home,” Sarah said. “I mean, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, have at it.” Raffe wondered if Sarah would go back to work for Jasper when they got back or seek out that chef position she hoped for. There was no doubt she was an excellent cook, and it seemed she could handle a kitchen. In fact, she’d be a great addition to his new restaurant.

They finished cleaning up and headed to the bungalow. Raffe slowed and let Sarah go in ahead of him so he could make a quick call to Jasper outside alone.

“I’ll be there in a sec,” Raffe said as he pulled out his phone and pressed the contact for Jasper.

“You again? I feel like we’re back in school, you know, when you’d call me nonstop even though I was in the next room over from you?” Jasper joked. “Is the contest that boring?”

Raffe, remembering those days, laughed. When he was in New York they saw each other almost daily. Now that he thought about it, they didn’t speak on the phone much between seeing each other so often and texting.

“I just had a quick question for you about Sarah. Is she coming back to work for you after this?”

“Well, I think so. I mean, I left it open to her. She’s the best assistant I’ve ever had, but she’s totally overqualified for the role. Especially with the cooking. I think she should pursue a job in that line. Why do you ask?”

Raffe hesitated with his answer. He knew his friend could read him, and his answer might encourage Jasper’s scheme to fix him up. He didn’t need that, because then Jasper would tell Marly, and things might get blown out of proportion.

“Just wondering. Something was mentioned in the contest about jobs. I just wasn’t sure. I figured she was going back to work for you. Thanks for the info.”

He felt bad lying, but he knew in this situation it was best. Same for telling Jasper about the kiss. It was best not to mention it. He ended the call as he walked into the bungalow.