Free The Secret Ingredient by Nina Harrington Page B

decision at the time and I have to stand by that. End of story.’
    There was a gasp from across the table and Lottie stared at him, wide-eyed.
    ‘The right decision at the time? For who? Your squeeze?’
    She sat back heavily in the chair and blinked. ‘Is that it? Is that the only apology you have for me? Because I have to tell you that, as excuses go, that is pathetic.’
    ‘No excuses. It was my job to recruit top talent for the restaurant and Debra is a great pastry chef. I didn’t know about her drinking problems until they impacted her work.’
    Rob leant forwards from the waist and pressed the flat of his hand down on the pale wood tabletop.
    ‘My only regret is that I allowed personal feelings to block my judgement. I should have spotted that Debra was in trouble weeks earlier and done something about it before things got out of hand. Instead I stayed away to give her some distance. The last thing she needed was me standing looking over her shoulder and shouting orders at her. That was my mistake.’
    ‘What about firing me as some sort of scapegoat? I was incredibly lucky to find another placement the next day after some serious pleading.’
    A smile crept over his lips and he tilted his head towards Lottie. ‘Sometimes I’m just too sensitive and caring for my own good.’
    ‘Really? I had no idea.’ Lottie nodded but every word was dripping with venom. ‘You hide it so very well.’
    ‘On the contrary.’ Rob shrugged. ‘Take this charity fundraiser you conned me into.’ His hand flipped up into a question before he reached for his coffee. ‘I cannot wait to hear all about it. For a start, I would like to know who’s running the show. Whose idea was it to create scholarship funds for trainee chefs? Because I hope that they know what they’re getting themselves into. That is one hell of a lot of hard work.’
    The blonde sitting opposite leant forwards, her forearms on the table until her face was only a few inches away from Rob’s nose, and smiled sweetly. ‘That’s an easy question to answer. It was my idea. I know precisely what I have got myself into and, yes, it is a lot of hard work. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.’
    Then she slid back, lifted her chin and smiled before replying. ‘This time I am the one who gets to set the rules and call the shots. And I can’t tell you how liberating that is.’
    Then she nodded towards the plate she had slid towards him. ‘Take now, for example. No coffee without something to eat. This time it happens to be my speciality pear-and-almond tart. Enjoy.’
    Rob stared at the food, and then looked up into a pair of sparkling green eyes.
    Only Lottie’s eyes were not simply green. They were forest green. Spring-bud green. The kind of captivating green that knocked the breath out of his lungs.
    It was hot outside, but it had suddenly become a lot hotter in this cake shop.
    It must be the heat from the ovens.
    Her attention was totally focused on him, and her head tilted slightly to one side as she waited patiently for his reply for a few moments.
    Just for a second, her gaze faltered and a chink appeared in the façade through which he got a faint glimmer of something unexpected. Suspicion, maybe, but a fierce intelligence and power. It lasted only an instant. But it sent him reeling, before the closed-mouth smile switched back on.
    Lottie polished a pristine fork on a clean corner of her apron before placing it next to the pastry on Rob’s plate. ‘You know how hard it is to make a name for yourself in the catering world. I was lucky and so were you. We had money and backup. A full scholarship is the only way most of these young people can afford to go to college and get the training they need to show what they can do. I happen to think that’s worth spending time on. Just because I chose to become a baker does not mean that I tossed my business management degree into the nearest bin on the way into the catering college.’
    She gave a small