“Yes,” I answered as I prowled in her direction.
“Only one bedroom? Pretty presumptuous,” she stated sassily.
I grinned as I reached her and tugged her into my arms. “I knew you were the one for me the moment I met you, Sienna. It wasn’t presumptuous because I refused to accept any other outcome.”
She melted into me, and I sealed my mouth over hers in a deep kiss. My tongue slipped in to taste her and my hands dropped to her ass, pressing her tight against me. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to satisfy our craving for each other. I had to get to the studio for some meeting. I tore my mouth away and sighed, resting my forehead against hers.
“Why don’t you get some rest and if you’re feeling up to it, I’ll ta
ke you to dinner tonight.”
“Are you going to”—she winked at me seductively—“rest with me?” The situation in my pants became really hard to ignore. “I absolutely meant that the way it sounded.”
“You have no idea how badly I’d like to do just that, baby. But, I have to go to the studio for a while.”
“Oh.” She pouted adorably, but then her expression brightened. “I should go with you. I’m your assistant.”
I was shaking my head before she was done speaking. “No, you need to rest, baby.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I recognized the stubborn glint in her beautiful brown eyes. “I’m feeling just fine. Like I was never sick. I told you, it was just traveling. We’re here now, and it won’t happen again.”
I eyed her skeptically, but when she was tenacious like this, I had to pick my battles. “All right. But, I’ll be watching you closely and if I see the slightest indication that you aren’t feeling well, I’m sending you back to the hotel.”
She bit her lip as she contemplated, distracting me with my desire to bite it for her. “Okay, I’ll accept your terms, Mr. Walker. But, you owe me.” She flipped around and sashayed over to the low table in front of a couch. My eyes were already glued to her perfect ass, but then she bent over to pick up her purse and I almost lost control.
I debated just how important my meetings were. With a sigh, I tried to think about anything other than fucking Sienna because if I missed my meetings, I’d be in breach of contract.
Closing the gap between us, I smacked her ass as she stood. “Trust me, baby. I’ll more than pay up.”
“Jude,” I greeted the show’s producer as I shook his hand. I fought the temptation to squeeze it hard enough to break a few bones as he was staring at Sienna the whole time. Not sparing me a glance.
“And who is this exquisite creature?” he purred as he dropped my hand and grabbed hers, raising it up so he could kiss the back.
I snatched it away from him and put my arm around Sienna’s waist, hauling her into my side. “This is my assistant and fiancée, Sienna.” My voice held a clear warning, and he finally gave me his attention. He looked disappointed for a second, then smoothed over his expression. It wasn’t hard for him to do with all the Botox in his face.
Sienna’s lips were pressed together, practically forming a straight line. I was afraid he’d upset her until she raised her eyes to mine and I saw the laughter dancing in them.
I shook my head, her amusement soothing some of my fury at Jude. But, I kept her close as we followed him through the studio and glared at every set of eyes that lingered too long on my woman.
We entered a very large, state-of-the-art kitchen with multiple cooking stations and shelves upon shelves of pretty much any ingredient you could ever want. The whole set up was almost enough to give me a chef’s boner. A giggle from Sienna broke through my reverent adoration of the space. She was looking up at me, laughing.
“You should see your expression right now, Owen,” she chortled gleefully. “You look so blissed out; it’s almost like you’re about to have an orgasm.” She adopted an exaggerated, hurt bunny look and I chuckled. So fucking adorable. “I thought I was the only one who could put that expression on your face, but now I see I have competition”—she raised a single eyebrow—“from a kitchen.”
I grinned at her and leaned down so my lips were at her ear, my words for her only. “Baby, nothing gets me off like you do, but I won’t pretend that the idea of fucking you in this kitchen doesn’t have me hard as a fucking rock.”
“Owen.” Fucking Jude interrupted our moment, and I glared at him. He stepped back at the sight of my fierce expression, but the moment lost some of its edge when Sienna snorted and patted my ass.
“Um—I wanted to introduce you to the—um, the crew and other judges,” Jude stuttered. We met the director and staff before heading to another room, the one set up for judging. There, we met the rest of the panel and unsurprisingly, Sienna charmed every single person we met.
Damn, I loved her. It hit me in that moment, that I’d never told her. I decided to do it when I officially proposed. I was confident she felt the same, and hopefully the romance of it all would make up for the hasty “engagement” before we left Atlanta.
After several hours of meet and greets, going over contracts and other paperwork, and tours; we were finally done for the night. Sienna looked dead on her feet, and I chastised myself for letting her come with me in the first place.
By the time we reached the hotel, she was out like a light. It was ten thirty east coast time, and I felt the strain of the long day, too. I carried her to the bedroom and undressed her before tucking her into bed. Then I stripped and climbed in, pulling her gently into my arms and wrapping myself around her.
I thought about her bout of sickness that morning and how tired she had been lately. The last week had been exhausting, but she’d seemed even more drained than I’d expected. I’d also noticed that she tasted different than she had the first few days after we first slept together. I hadn’t really thought much about it at the time, but now…
Hugging her a little tighter, I placed my hand flat on her smooth belly and smirked. If I was right about the timing, I knocked my woman up the first time I fucked her. The image of Sienna, round with my baby and her naked body pressed to mine, put me in a painful state. But, I started running through recipes in my mind to calm my raging libido down and eventually, I succumbed to sleep.
10
Sienna
I’d greatly enjoyed the past few days. It wasn’t just because I was getting an insider’s view of how a reality television show works. It was also seeing Owen in his element. Not that he wasn’t when we were at Saphyre, but it was different seeing how other incredibly successful chefs interacted with him. The two other judges were experts in their own rights—an award-winning pastry chef and an Italian chef who was a household name—but they seemed to defer to Owen. The same was true with the producer, director, and the contestants.
It was because of that deference that it took me a couple of days to notice the way one particular contestant treated Owen. Liz Fields looked and acted like she was at a beauty pageant instead of a competitive cooking reality television show. I figured it was just her “branding,” the way she was hoping to stand out against all the competition. It wasn’t my thing, but I didn’t judge her for it—until I saw how she always kept her focus on Owen. How she smiled at him. The way her eyes drifted along his body and filled with feminine appreciation. The simpering voice she used when she talked to him. The snide looks she gave me when nobody else was looking.
Owen didn’t pay any special attention to her. He treated her the same he did any other contestant. I knew he wasn’t interested in her, and I shouldn’t feel threatened by the crap she was pulling. But I’d been more emotional than usual. I couldn’t seem to catch up on the sleep I’d lost the week before, and it had left me feeling overly sensitive. Or at least that was what I was telling myself because I didn’t want to admit that I was just a possessive bitch when it came to my man.
As each episode was filmed, I silently cheered for anyone but Liz to win. When it came time to eliminate a contestant, I kept my fingers crossed hoping they’d say her name. Six episodes down, and my wishes hadn’t come true yet. But today was a new day—or it almost was since we’d headed to the studio before the sun had even risen in the sky because they were doing a breakfast themed challenge this morning.
When we’d arrived, Owen had gotten me settled on the couch in his dressing room. It was comfy enough that I fell asleep for a couple of hours. When I woke back up again, I stretched and felt better rested than I had in a long time. The nap was exactly what I’d needed, not that I was going to tell Owen that since he’d had to talk me into lying down instead of joining him on set. If I let him know how often he was right about stuff like that, he’d always be bossing me around. Well, more than he already did.
I paused in front of the mirror and fixed
my makeup before I headed out in search of Owen. Since the red light above the doors to the set weren’t lit up, I opened them and walked inside. A quick scan of the space confirmed he was exactly where I expected him to be, in the thick of things. He was at a work station with the eight remaining contestants surrounding him while he set a perfectly baked quiche on the counter.
“The secret to a great quiche is the ingredients you choose to fill it with,” he explained. “You can use just about anything you like; vegetables, cheeses, and meats.” He gestured towards a bowl of tomatoes set off to the side. “If you’re going to use something like tomatoes in your quiche, I’d recommend that you seed and drain them first. My personal preference is to peel them as well.”
I smiled as I moved closer, noting how most of the contestants were paying close attention to every word out of his mouth, nodding every so often. My smile was wiped from my face when I noticed that Liz was standing right next to him, so close that her arm brushed against his.
“You also want to make sure to have a good balance, with flavors that complement each other.” He sliced into the quiche he’d made and lifted a piece onto a plate. “This particular combination is my fiancée’s favorite. Asparagus and bacon, with parmesan cheese. I’ve added some green onion and nutmeg for an extra little kick. If I’d wanted something a little milder, I could have gone with leeks instead of the green onions. Swiss cheese would have worked well in place of the parmesan, too.”
Liz’s eyes lifted, and I knew she saw me when she stepped even closer to Owen and smiled up at him. I rolled my eyes, refusing to play her stupid game when I woke up from my nap feeling better than I had since we’d arrived in California. I wasn’t going to let her ruin it for me. Instead, I continued forward and took a deep breath, hoping to catch the scent of that quiche because it was one of my favorite breakfasts.