Free Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set by Virna DePaul, Tawny Weber, Nina Bruhns, Charity Pineiro, Sophia Knightly, Susan Hatler, Kristin Miller

"Ready to make some soup and chips?"
    Diana nodded and the two women walked around to the side of the worktable closest to the stove to prepare their contributions to the food. They had thought that the men would need more than just the sandwiches to fill them after a morning of hard work, and so they had planned to make a cold gazpacho soup in deference to the summer heat. As a side dish to the sandwiches, in addition to the cold potato and macaroni salads they had made the day before, they were frying up a batch of chips from a variety of tropical tubers and vegetables. The soup and chips would also give them the opportunity to try out some of their recipes on the crew.
    While Diana prepped the plum tomatoes for the gazpacho , Bianca got ready to make the chips. She peeled the skins off the plantains, yuca , malanga , and yams. Taking a break from the peeling, she got a large pot of oil heating on the stove, then returned to the worktable to start slicing the vegetables and tubers with a mandolin. Over and over she ran the pieces across the razor sharp edge, and slowly a large pile of chips grew beneath the mandolin.
    When Bianca had a reasonable amount beneath the slicer, she returned to the stove to check on the oil. Seeing that it was just right, she grabbed a wire fry basket, filled it with the slices, and set the basket down in the oil to fry, giving it a shake to separate the various slices.
    She returned to the worktable and noted that Diana was making good progress on the gazpacho . The tomatoes were pureed and Diana was started to blend them together with the various other spices and liquids.
    "Looks good," she said and patted her friend on the back.
    "I'll need you to taste for me later," Diana replied.
    Bianca nodded and returned to slicing and frying. Little by little a nice mound of finished chips began to grow on a plate by the kitchen stove.
    It was about two hours later that Rey stuck his head in to check their progress.
    Bianca walked over and wrinkled her nose at the state he was in. Plaster dust covered his clothes and all of the skin exposed by his tank top. Safety glasses and a paper face mask dangled around his neck from an elastic band and his hair was littered with bits of debris from the demolition.
    "Rey, you are a mess," she said and ran her hand through the mane of his dark hair to remove the rubble.
    He grinned and laid a hand on her shoulder. "A very hungry mess. Do you think we can start getting some grub soon? I set up some sawhorses and boards outside in the parking lot to act as tables."
    "Do you want to get cleaned up in here?" she asked, gesturing to the one sink and then running her hand across his bare arm to wipe off the light coating of powder on his skin. His muscles were hard beneath her fingers. His skin hot from his exertions. Looking up, his gaze told her he was not unaffected by her touch and she abruptly pulled her hand away.
    "I don't want to mess up the kitchen," he replied and ran a finger along her cheek, then tapped her nose playfully, grinning. "There's a hose outside we can use to wash most of the grit off. I'll send the guys to get cleaned up whenever you say."
    "Half an hour," she replied.
    He nodded and walked back out through the plastic sheeting into the restaurant.
    She smiled and turned to face the women in the kitchen. They were all studying her intently and it was really uncomfortable.
    "Ready to set up lunch?" she asked and walked to the back door of the kitchen which led out to the parking lot. She didn't wait for an answer as she went out the door, but lingered out of sight, worried that they'd be talking about her.
    Daisy immediately started the discussion she'd been expecting. "Am I the only one who noticed?"
    "Rey and Bianca. Like in maybe there was something more going on?" Maya quickly jumped in.
    "Yeah, not quite fireworks. More like some smoke signals," Diana added. "But definitely more than what I've seen when she's with David."
    Maya laughed harshly