Free Undercover Lovers by Chloe Cole

on the verge of coming stuck in his
memory.
    That single pleading word
made him slowly turn and face her now.
    Barely above a whisper, he
asked, “What do you want from me?”
    She seemed at a loss for
words for a minute. Finally, she said, “If I can only have one
thing, please read the article. Vicky said she gave it to
you.”
    A jerky nod.
    “ I want you to know what I
wrote. Read it and…just read it, please.”
    Taking the paper out of his
pocket, he returned to the booth. Throwing caution to the wind, he
sat down. The restaurant could have burned down around his feet and
he wouldn’t have noticed. Everything seemed to have vanished; just
like the night he’d met her. What was it about this woman that she
could draw him in like no one else?
    With a frown, he noticed his
hands shook as he unfolded the page.
    He read the headline aloud.
“Secrets of Restaurant Week chefs.” Not a great start to an article
he didn’t want to read. “Francis Brun…”
    His vision
blurred.
    “ It’s alphabetical,” Saffron
hastily said. “Skip to a third down.”
     “ Celebrity chef August
Jaeger works fourteen hour days at his critically acclaimed fusion
cuisine hot spot. The secret he keeps...” His mind jumped to the
next words, processing and understanding them long before his lips
managed to form each one.
    He looked up at her, a
smile—a real smile—curving his lips. “What is this?” he asked.
    “ I worked like a dog to get
the information about every chef participating in Restaurant Week
in time for the story to run and hit the shelves
yesterday.”
    “ This isn’t a review.” He
scanned the rest of the page quickly. “And you didn’t say what I
would be serving. There’s nothing about any of my food in here.”
    She leaned forward. “It
wasn’t worth it.”
    “ What do you
mean?”
    “ I didn’t mean to hurt you
but I did. And it wasn’t worth it. I could offer my readers
something as enticing as your secret menu and they would still love
me for it. I just had to think outside the box a
little.”
    “ So you did this? What did
your editor say?”
    Saffron lifted her shoulders
in a shrug. “She loved it. So do the readers. I’ve got emails
asking for similar articles for other chefs.”
    He stared at her. Those
honey-brown eyes offered him the apology a week ago he’d been too
furious to hear.
    “ Anything else you’re
keeping from me, Saffron?”
    “ Nothing.” She gave him a
hesitant smile.
    “ You’re sure? Nothing?
Saffron’s your real name?”
    Now she grinned and held up
three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
    August slid from the booth
and stood next to the table. He held up two fingers of his
own.
    Almost instantly Vicky
sidled up to him, pen and pad in hand.
    Softly, he said, “Vicky,
please ask Edmond to prepare takeout for me and Ms. Burton.
Something simple…perhaps the saffron-chili dusted trout with sweet
potato grits. And uh, maybe…tell you what. Tell him to surprise
us.”
    “ Chef,” she acknowledged, a
note of smug satisfaction in the single word. Vicky disappeared
from next to him as surreptitiously as she’d approached.
    Saffron scooted over, making
room for him when he sat next to her. Leaning close, he murmured,
“Madame, would I be able to interest you in a more intimate dining
experience…in my home?”
    “ Does that mean all is
forgiven?”
    “ Not all, no.” He couldn’t
be less than honest. He was still a little hurt by her actions,
even if he understood them. But he could forgive them completely,
with time. “I think you and I had a good thing going. We shouldn’t
give it up so easily. If you can put up with my long
hours…”
    “ And if you’re willing to
put up with burnt water…”
    “ I think we can make it
work. But Saffron?” August leaned even closer, his lips grazing
hers with the most delicate of kisses.
    “ Yes, Chef?”
Breathless.
    “ If the line at the
McDonald’s next to my house is longer because you told all of
Denver I