Free Sizzling in Singapore (A Carnal Cuisine Novel) by K.C. Falls, Torri D. Cooke Page A

understanding.
    "Sweetheart, you were trapped in the cooler. If Nick hadn't come along and found you, you might have been killed."
    "Nick?"
    "Yes, Nick. Chef Nick. The guy whose name you've been mumbling all day long. He found you and apparently warmed you up with his body heat. Maybe that's why you've been calling for him in your sleep. You were both mostly naked when help arrived."
    Mae tried very hard to remember. But she kept looking at her hands and the pain was horrible. My hands. My tools. Oh God . "My hands."
    "Mae, Tank was here most of the morning. He had a long talk with the doctor and the doctor said that your hands are going to be fine. You know Tank would know exactly what those hands mean to you."
    "Tank." Mae seemed capable of very few words. She had to reach far into a fog to retrieve them.
    "He's been here as much as he could. I volunteered for the afternoon shift because all the boys had to be back at the shop. Big shindig tonight and the show must go on. There's been someone from the Elysium with you ever since you were admitted. The doctors said it was important that you have a familiar face nearby when you came around."
    "Head hurts."
    "Yes, you also suffered a real whopper of a concussion. Nick's body heat treatment prevented the hypothermia from doing too much damage, but you hit your head pretty hard."
    "Nick"
    "Yes, you've said that. Just try to rest, Mae. It will come back to you soon enough. Right now sleep is what your body needs."
    Mae winced as she tried to sit up.
    "Don't try moving right now. I'm going to go alert the nurses that you're awake."
    Mae lay in bed trying hard to remember more. But the pain in her hands and her head were stronger than her memory. By the time Maribel returned with the nurse, Mae had drifted off again.
     
    ***
     
    "You're a very lucky young woman, Miss Whitten. Your slender build is most vulnerable to hypothermia. You were fortunate that Mr. Seville found was around when he was and knew what to do." Dr. Liu smiled at Mae with satisfaction. "The concussion also exacerbated the danger, but you seem to have come through that surprisingly well."
    "Chefs are a tough bunch, Doctor."
    "There certainly has been a parade of them in and out of here. You must be held in very high regard."
    Mae winced inwardly. Yes, it was true that nearly every member of the Elysium kitchen staff—from cooks to dishwashers—had paid her a call in the five days she had been at Singapore General. Claude, the hotel general manager, had been in to see her briefly several times as had a number of other staff members. Cess had taken a couple of 'emergency days'to be at her friend's beside. Conspicuous in his absence was the author of her miraculous salvation. Nick Seville had sent an extravagant display of orchids to her with a generic "Get Well Soon" card attached that he had signed "Best, Chef Nick"
    Hospital beds are an excellent place for introspection and Mae had taken the time to examine her conflicted emotions about Nick and the relationship (or lack thereof) that was born so carelessly in the Elysium swimming pool. She wondered how such a casual encounter could produce such lasting effects. She berated herself inwardly for not having the maturity to just let their coupling simply settle in as a pleasant memory.
    Mae spent as many hours reliving those passionate moments as she did reconstructing her near death experience in the cooler. As the days passed and her memory of the events became clearer she could recall being cradled in his arms as he tried to press every square inch of his warm flesh against her cold body. She came to remember, slowly, the urgency of his concern for her, his tenderness and the endearments he whispered in her ear. She could not dismiss his actions as merely the concern of one human being for another's welfare. It was more than that. She could feel it viscerally. Even as she recalled the terror of her ordeal, a thread of emotion ran through the moments following