“I’ll just be a minute.”
A surge of anger threatened to swamp him. The sight of the notebook clicked something into place. A nagging suspicion at the back of his mind pushed its way out of his mouth.
“Did you do this?” His stomach boiled with acid.
Her head snapped up. “What?”
“Did you tank our chances in order to have a more interesting article for the paper? A way to land your dream job by sacrificing mine?” The thought made a lot of sense. “Or maybe you had to throw the game because it wouldn’t be believable for you to win.”
Ava’s mouth made an O.
“That’s it, isn’t it? You made us lose on purpose.”
“I’m sorry?” She put her hand to her hip. “I’m super confused. Just how exactly do you think I could throw the game?”
“Oh, let’s see. You started a sing-along instead of concentrating on cooking.” He began ticking the evidence off on his fingers. “You ran off in the middle of making the roux—to help our competitors, no less—completely ruining the dish. No.” He held up a hand to silence whatever she was about to say. “You’re right. It was already ruined. Your pasties leaked everywhere. You keep writing in that notebook instead of concentrating. I wouldn’t be surprised if you unplugged the oven too.” He couldn’t believe he hadn’t suspected earlier. He’d been so distracted by their fun evening the night before, he hadn’t thought Ava could be this calculating.
“Did you hit your head as a child?” Her eyes blazed fire.
He crossed his arms. “What kind of question is that?”
“Do you realize how insane you sound right now? Accusing me of all of these wild actions.” She threw her arms in the air. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Just answer the question.” His jaw cracked. He narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you sabotage this contest?”
“Sabotage,” she sputtered. “I thought you were different. I thought you weren’t as arrogant as I’ve believed all these years. But you are proving me wrong.”
“Just because I’m good at my job doesn’t make me arrogant. Just because I’m more confident in the kitchen than you doesn’t make me prideful.” Scorn laced his every word. He heard hiswords and tried to pull them back, but the pain of her betrayal sliced deep. She was taking everything from him again and didn’t seem to care.
“I suppose you think I cut my finger on purpose too.” She held up her hand, still in its black glove.
“Probably not. That would be a bridge too far. Even for you.”
“What in the world is that supposed to mean?” She clenched her hand.
“It’s no wonder you’re overcompensating all the time, being nice to everyone, complimenting them.” Was any part of her real? “Do you mean any of it, or is it just a ploy to make sure people like you?”
“I have integrity. I never do or say anything I don’t mean. Look. This was just a silly contest. Sure, it would have been great if we won, but we both have other things going on. And one of those things for me is turning in quality work to my editor.” Ava swallowed. “Cooking isn’t life or death. Don’t make this a bigger thing than it needs to be.”
The fire burning in his belly turned white-hot. “It might be nothing to you, but it is everything to me.”
He turned and braced his hands on the table. Uh oh. Paul stood across the way, his arms crossed.
“Is this the way you work in a kitchen?” Paul said. “I wanted to give you a chance, even after talking to Louie, but this display and your burnt pasties—” He shook his head as he motioned between them. “I need better than this for my restaurant. I’ll be considering someone else for my Chicago position.” Paul broke eye contact and walked away.
A giant hand squeezed Zach’s stomach.
“Oh, Zach, I’m so sorry.” He almost didn’t hear Ava’s whisper, his blood was so loud in his ears.
He turned back to her and narrowed his eyes. “The only thing I want is to run a restaurant of my own. You took that dream from me six years ago, and you’re taking it away now.”
“The only thing you want? That wasn’t the impression I got last night when you were kissing me.”
Acid burned in his gut. “I wish I’d never kissed you.”
Ava gasped.
Okay, that was probably a stretch, but if they hadn’t kissed, he wouldn’t have been so distracted today. However, there was something that was closer to the truth. “I should have never had you as a partner. You don’t even know how to cook.”
