Some Like It Hot Read Free Page B

tangy, rebellious—lingered in the resulting backdraft of air.
    “Back to work.” He frowned and clapped his hands at the prep cooks, not wanting them to guess exactly how much he’d been affected by his close encounter of the dangerous kind with the sexy Ms. Marchand.
    In movements so simultaneous they appeared choreographed, the three men picked up their knives and attacked the vegetables on the chopping block with renewed fervor.
    Robert removed the bedraggled turkey from the apron hook and cleaned up the mess. After he finished, he left the kitchen for his office, on the other side of the supply pantry, trying to decide the best way to handle Melanie.
    You’re not going to handle her at all. She’s strictly hands-off.
    She would be back to finish her shift. He had no worries on that score. Melanie was a professional. She just needed some cooling-off time, and he would give her as wide a berth as possible. He realized she begrudged him for being in charge of the kitchen that had once been the domain of herbeloved father. Robert knew he sparked her cantankerous side because several Marchand employees and family members had already told him so.
    But he also realized that Melanie secretly lusted after him as much as he lusted after her. He’d watched her nipples stiffen beneath her cotton tank top when his hand had accidentally grazed her breast. He’d seen the expression in her eyes, had felt that magical tug of their sexual push-pull, and it scared her as much as it scared him.
    Melanie was a spicy one, and that was precisely the danger of her. Robert shook his head. He knew better than to indulge his fantasies. He’d learned the hard way that too much passion invariably led to disaster.
    Just thinking about her lips—as full and pinky-orange as fresh summer peaches—stirred him. He loved her spunk and respected the way she didn’t let anyone push her around.
    Including him.
    Yet the vivacious woman seemed to have no clue about the hunger he held tightly harnessed, the yearning that challenged his self-control long after she’d left the building. He closed his eyes tight against a sudden image of her sprawled out naked across his bed while he skimmed his tongue over her bare breasts and she moaned softly for more.
    He opened his eyes, shocked by the sheer force of his desire, disturbed by how much she unbalanced him. He was in way over his head.
    Robert was far too familiar with the perils of uncontrollable appetites. That’s why he held back. He would not screw this up. He’d worked hard to repair his damaged reputation.
    Anne and Charlotte Marchand had given him his big break, offering him the kitchen to run as he saw fit, givinghim a chance at a new beginning, a new chapter in his life. He wasn’t about to let them down.
    And he wasn’t about to start something he couldn’t finish with Melanie.
    Robert dropped down into the rolling swivel chair behind the ornate mahogany desk and did the one and only thing he knew would tame the long-buried needs demanding to be recognized. He unlocked the top drawer of his desk, removed his leather-bound journal and began to write, draining his feelings from his body, channeling them through his pen, detailing his red-hot attraction to Melanie on the page.
    If there was one thing he’d learned, it was to stay away from uncontrollable passion. Melanie Marchand was strictly off-limits.
     
    H OW WAS SHE EVER GOING to convince Robert to give her creative reign in the kitchen? Melanie paced the courtyard outside the restaurant, her mind in hyperdrive. It was the only way she could carve her own niche. The only way she could measure up.
    Face it. He’s in charge and he’s convinced he knows best.
    She sighed.
    If you can’t convince him, maybe you can find a way to get rid of him, whispered her darker side.
    But how?
    Her mother and sisters adored the guy, as did the rest of the staff. He was a fair boss; Melanie couldn’t fault him on that score. Days off were decided