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“Hope.” Max looked up. “Come in before you get wet.”
I strode toward him, looking over my shoulder at my guards. More and more lately, I wanted them to stay in the car. I guessed technically they shouldn’t do that, but they’d let me have privacy at the hospital, and it looked like they’d do the same today. Maybe they got it. There was being careful and then there was choking to death from too much attention. Maybe choking was wrong. Maybe it would be more accurate to think about being smothered.
By the time I got inside, the first drops had started to hit the pavement. “Just made it.”
His smile was huge as he stared at me. “Why didn’t you call or text that you couldn’t get in?”
The sound of the crowd laughing in the back reached my ears. That was a good sign. This was the afternoon, and they were drinking like it was dinner.Phew.Things were working out. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve been thrown out of here once before. Maybe your dislike for Spock warred so intensely with my love of him that you’ve banned me again.”
His grin grew. “You’re fantastic, smart, and beautiful. And also wrong. It’s Kirk’s show.”
I rolled my eyes. “Think of it as a buddy drama.”
Max took my hand, and I inhaled all of the deliciousness wafting through the air while we walked to the center of the kitchen. Anna looked up from where she seared something and nodded to me. “Hope.”
Dano smiled at me. “Hope.”
Max pointed at him. “Aha. I knew it was you. I knew it.”
I shook my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about and neither does he.”
Max narrowed his gaze. “Iwillfind out, I promise you that.”
“No, you won’t,” Anna called out to him. “And I like the stuff she gets us, so don’t fuck this up. Also, she’s nicer than you are. I’m changing allegiances.”
Just then, the door to the kitchen opened and the staff of about ten turned to regard the people who entered. It was my client, Muffy, and her son, Tim, who really had no business being here. Where was his nanny? He was dressed like he attended the opera, in a little suit with a bowtie. His expression seemed very serious for a child.
Muffy paid no attention to him at all. “Oh, Hope dear, here you are. This is wonderful. And the chef! I’m hearing from that Amanda Hill that you two are a thing. I’ll forgive you for not telling me because this event is such a hit.”
She squealed on the last word. Yes, Amanda was there. I’d almost barred her from coming, but her presence drew attention to the event and some guests called to ask if they could come because Amanda would be there. The celebrity gossip blogger had become a celebrity herself, which I imagined was sort of the point. She made money the more people wanted to watch her.
I could certainly understand trying to use notoriety to one’s advantage. The difference being that I hadn’t asked for mine, I’d just capitalized on it. She’d actively sought notoriety by saying mean things all of the time.
I smiled at Muffy. This would be the end of our relationship. Funny how sometimes you knew when it meant goodbye. Sometimes there was sadness. This was not one of those times.
Max visibly tensed next to me. It dawned on me, maybe too slowly, that chefs really didn’t like people in their kitchens uninvited.
“Muffy, have you met Max?”
As they made their introductions and he managed to stay polite, I bent over to talk to Tim. He looked lost, standing there with all the tall adults running around the kitchen. “You doing okay?”
He shook his head. “Hungry.”
Well, that broke my heart in two. “There is so much food out there. You don’t want any of it? Where is your nanny?”
Muffy groaned. “She quit. Ran off with one of the doormen in the building. I’m having a hard time replacing her.”
I took that in but stayed on topic. “You don’t want any of the food that Max cooked? He’s really good at it.”
He silently shook his head, looking at me with wounded eyes. What did he think was going to happen to him if he told me he didn’t want to eat?
“Timothy,” Muffy said through clenched teeth. “We spoke about this.”
Oh, I knew that look well. My father used to throw it at us. That was theyou are embarrassing me look. I shuddered to remember being on the opposite end of that look.
Max knelt next to me. “How about some pasta?”
Tim’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
