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CHAPTER7
Emily hummed and did a little dance in the new kitchen she worked in. This evening would be her first meal and she had chosen bacon-wrapped pork loin with a maple syrup glaze, sweet potatoes, and asparagus for tonight’s main course with apple crisp and ice cream for dessert.
This morning, she’d gotten online and ordered the food she would need for the next week and finished planning the meals for the next seven days. Everything was organized and she had her menus sent up to Aunt Rose for her approval.
The woman had been ecstatic at the way she had mapped out what they were having.
Desiree had promised to help her serve this evening, and so far, she felt in charge. After attending Escoffier School of Culinary Arts and winning the chef of the year award from the American Culinary Federation, she was confident in her skills as a chef.
The apple crisp was baking. The pork loins were ready to cook and the sweet potatoes were prepped and ready to go. Ahead of schedule, she was already looking at what she needed to prep for tomorrow morning’s breakfast. Two bacon quiches were in the refrigerator ready to bake. One with peppers and one without. Except for a side dish of fruit, breakfast was prepped.
Looking through her cookbook, she hummed a song and shook her hips. This was her favorite place to be. This was where she found her joy.
“Excuse me,” a deep voice said and she knew immediately who was in her kitchen.
Without turning, she continued to look at the different dishes she had planned for this week. “How can I help you, Tanner? Are you hungry? I think there is some leftover fruit from breakfast this morning.”
She was not going to give him the satisfaction of letting him upset her. She refused to react to his nonsense. He’d ruined the best night of her life and she was still a little angry at him for causing so much trouble yesterday.
“Can we please talk?”
“About what?” she said, whirling around. “Nothing left to say. And I’m working right now.”
He ignored her.
“About how you can’t stay here,” he said.
A smile crossed her face. “If you’re afraid I’m going to go chasing after you and telling everyone what we did the night before last, you’re wrong. We used each other. Unless you make a big deal, it’s over.”
She could see that her words stunned him and that’s exactly what she wanted. She didn’t want him to know how hurt she’d been by his actions last evening. He had ruined a perfectly beautiful experience for her. He had soured her first time with a man since her husband.
It would have been fine if he’d saidhello, good to see you again, but instead he demanded that she leave. He’d embarrassed both of them in front of his family. He practically admitted to what they had done, and yet, he still wanted her to leave.
“It was a one-night stand. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to do.”
With a smile, she turned back to the cookbook, ignoring him.
“I can’t have you here,” he said.
Turning back, she gazed at him. “Why not? Do you think I’m going to jump your bones at the first opportunity and then sue you for sexual harassment?”
What was the big deal about her working here? All they had to do was avoid one another.
“No,” he said. “It’s complicated, you have to go.”
Suddenly she understood, and she was glad the kitchen knives had been put away. “You son of a bitch. You’re married.”
“No,” he said, growing agitated. “I didn’t lie. I’ve never been married.”
“Then why do you want me to leave? I’m not going to pursue you. It was one night and if I’d known you were a Burnett, I would never have slept with you. I want and need this job.”
She had walked away from everything in Boulder to come here, and if he thought she would just pack up and go, he was sadly mistaken. She was not leaving.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm and lower the irritation in her voice. She was not going to cause trouble. She’d promised Rose that the fling with Tanner meant nothing.
Sadly, it was the first time since John that she’d been interested in a man, but after yesterday and today, it was just a memory of a good time that was tainted because of his bad manners.
“You can’t be here. I can’t have you around me,” he said.
