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She turned to find the waitress from the Happy Harpoon on her other side. “Oh, hello. I’m Sophie Birch.”
“Pleasure to officially meet you. I’m Midge.”
Sophie returned Midge’s warm smile.
“It’s Beach Café chef Rachel Boyce taking on Chef Alex Andrews, author ofBest Burger, in today’s first challenge,” the emcee announced. He wore dress pants, a Hawaiian shirt, and flip-flops. His hair reminded Sophie of her dad’s—combed over and light reddish-brown.
“Each will have twenty minutes to prepare their best burger before our panel of judges picks their favorite. And the clock starts now!”
Elaborate “kitchens” were set up on the stage, and Sophie watched as Rachel and Alex got to work. Cheers from the crowd and a large digital clock counting down the minutes supplied incentive.
“How are you?” Zane whispered, his sexy voice making her insides curl.
“Good.” She kept her attention on the cooks.
“You judging the chowder cook-off too?” he asked.
She shook her head and scrunched up her nose. “I’m just filling in here.”
His knee touched hers. She was pretty sure if she glanced under the table, she’d find sparks on her end. Skin to skin warmed her up like he was infused with sunshine. She ran her hands down her navy cotton skirt, trying to get it to scoot down a little in case it happened again.
“You don’t like clam chowder?”
“Not even a little.”
The burgers sizzled, and delicious smells accompanied the steam wafting up from the stovetops. Many of the observers had pom-poms and waved them in the air as they rooted for their favorite chef.
“Looks like our chefs are doing their best to out-cook each other,” the emcee said into his microphone. “And I don’t know about you all, but I’m getting hungry.”
Sophie put a hand on her stomach. When she was little her mom used to touch her belly and tease her about having “just a little room left right here” for the vegetables she always tried to get out of eating. She’d hated anything green, but if she wanted dessert, she had to oblige. Of course, when her parents weren’t looking she slipped whatever she could to her dog, Duchess.
Right now she wished she hadn’t sampled everything White Strand had to offer. Hungry she was not.
“You do like burgers, don’t you?” Zane murmured.
Okay, she’d kept her eyes off him long enough. She turned her head only to be hit with a pair of bottomless blue masterpieces that stole her breath.
He raised an eyebrow and one side of his very nice mouth perked up when she didn’t answer right away. And dang it, she knew her cheeks matched the color of Kool-Aid.
“Of course,” she muttered. “Who doesn’t like hamburgers?”
“Vegetarians.”
She rolled her eyes. “There’s a burger for everyone.”
“Not an edible one.”
A grin took hold of her lips. He sounded like her dad. Daniel Birch believed in two food groups: meat and potatoes.
Zane’s answering smile reminded her of how out of her league he was. He had his pick of women, traveled the globe, was an elite athlete. He wore charm like a second skin. She may not be cooped up doing research all day anymore, but this was only her first time out of Montana. And, she reminded herself, she was here on business. To prove herself and advance her new career.
“Have you had burgers by both of these chefs?” Sophie asked, hoping to steer the conversation to the action onstage. She split her attention between Zane and the chefs. It stood to reason he might have, since this was his third film festival. Yes, she’d been studying up on Zane Hollander.
He sat back in his seat. “I have.”
“So do you already have a favorite?”
“Not today.” His gaze dropped to her mouth and she absently rubbed it, thinking she had food there. Nothing came away on her fingers.
