TOO HOT IN THE KITCHEN BY ANNA GORMAN
☆ characters ☆
Mona Mason
Drake Lucas
Mona
After working my ass off in New York City, I came home to work at a local hotspot with dreams of opening my own little cozy bistro. I’m getting a lot of attention for what I’m creating in the kitchen. I’m well on my way to creating a recipe book for my own place when I get the money saved up to take the leap of owning my own restaurant.
Out of nowhere, I’ asked to compete on a new cooking game show that will give me national exposure and prize money. That money will help me fulfill my dream. I debate about it and after five minutes, I decide to do it. They don’t give me any hints of who my competition might be, I just have to show up.
I arrive at the studio and I’m introduced to my competition, and I discover that my competition isn’t just a random chef, but a charming, arrogant, talented sous-chef that I worked with in New York and wanted to have more than just a working relationship with. Drake Lucas is the reason I came back home . . . I couldn’t stand him. He was always trying to one up me, but in the end, I ended up being his boss. He hated that I was over him, but that didn’t stop him from trying one up on me. And I finally had enough and came home.
But here I am, back in the kitchen with him.
I try to hide it from the producers that I know who he is, because the money is so important. But it’s hard to hide the past and our chemistry . . . hello. It’s off the charts. It’s going to be even hotter in this kitchen than it was before.
This competition has just gotten much more complicated.
I can’t believe they picked him out of all the chefs on the East Coast. Drake knows all my tricks and my weaknesses, and I know he will use them against me. After the first week of the competition, we are neck to neck . . .physically. We are in the green room alone and he makes a move. I knew he had a thing in NYC but I didn’t realize it’s still a thing until he kisses me and I want more.
Luckily, we stop right as the producer comes into the room . . . I don’t know if I can do this again with him—I can’t hide my attraction to him anymore, but there is so much on the line. And it’s not just my dreams of owning a restaurant, it’s my heart too.
Drake
I was well on my way to becoming one of New York City top chefs but Mona Mason got the position I wanted. Then a year later, she left the restaurant and my inspiration went out the window. She and I had an undeniable connection but she didn’t want to admit to it. And that competition between us inspired me to be better, to be the best. And once that competition was gone, I felt blah.
As well as working at the restaurant, I have a personal chef business on the side, and one of my clients happens to be a producer for one of the cooking channels. He asked me if I would be interested in being in a cooking competition. I told him absolutely. He asked me if I knew of anyone I would like to compete against and that’s when I thought of Mona. It would give me the opportunity to see her again and remind her of our chemistry.
I arrive at the studio and wait for her to see that I’m her competition. She’s shocked but that pull between us is still there. I know she wants to say something about knowing me but she won’t because the “money” that is involved is too important to her. I know she’s going to beat me, she’s the better chef, but I’m not going to make it easy for her to win.
After the first week of filming is over, we’re both in the green room and I take my opportunity to kiss her . . . and for once, she gives in. I knew that she felt something all those years.
I don’t know if I feel bad for setting her up . . . or if I’m happy that she feels something for me too. I think I might have turned the oven on a little too hot, because it’s gonna get hot in this kitchen. Especially when she finds out that I set her up.
