Later, they lay in Regan’s bed together, wrapped up in each other, legs entwined under the sheets, Ava’s head pillowed on Regan’s chest while Regan searched Netflix on her laptop for a movie for them to watch.
“What would you do with the money if Liza picked you?” Ava asked. She hadn’t even really thought about the question. It just sort of left her mouth before she realized it.
Regan didn’t miss a beat. In fact, she kept searching Netflix as she said, “Buy the bakery I work at.”
“Yeah?”
A nod. “My boss is retiring. He’s an awesome guy, and I know he’d love me to have the place, but I’m not exactly rolling in money. I don’t think I could offer him a fair price. But with that kind of a down payment…” She let the sentence dangle because Ava knew exactly what she meant. “What about you? What would you do?”
Ava knew exactly what she’d do, but for some reason, she pretended to think about it for a moment. Finally, she answered. “I’ve always dreamed of opening my own little wine bar. Small and intimate, serving only wine and desserts that I’d make myself.”
“Well, I would totally go hang out there,” Regan said, then pointed to the screen at a rom-com from a couple years back. “What about this?”
“Perfect.” And it was. That was the thing Ava had such a hard timeaccepting—how very little effort it took to enjoy herself with Regan. A full day of hard work, a hot shower, an orgasm that rocked her world, and now a comfortable position in bed to watch a romantic movie. Seriously, how much better could it get?
She drifted off to sleep as her brain was playing her various scenarios of better, and all the while, a little voice somewhere in the background kept whispering something about things being too good to be true.
Chapter Fourteen
Nice work today, chefs.” Liza Bennett-Schmidt clasped her hands in front of her and smiled, like she hadn’t browbeaten Vienna into the ground earlier or called Maia’s sconeswhat they would taste like if a four-year-old made them on the beach. I hope you find your lucky bandanna soon. Harsh. Jesus. And Regan had been noticing lately that the smile was somewhat…cool. Almost a little icy. She’d been noticing a lot of things about Liza lately. She’d thought about saying something to some of the others, but if she was the only who felt that way, she didn’t want her opinion getting back to Liza.
If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything.A lesson from her mother, and it had served her well for the most part. She should probably stick to it. The last thing she wanted was to be singled out. Again. It was bad enough Liza somehow knew about her and Ava. God, that was mortifying.
“Seeing that tomorrow is a holiday, I’m going to give you some time away from the kitchen.” Liza continued with the icy smile as she strolled down the aisle, and murmurs ran through the workstations. They’d been working nonstop for over a week. Liza held up a finger. “But…there’s a catch.”
“Of course there fucking is,” Hadley whispered standing next to her, and Regan had to bite back a grin. She liked this girl more and more, that was for sure. She’d gotten lucky in the assistant draw.
“I’m going to set you loose,” Liza went on, turning on her heel and heading slowly back toward the front of the room. “I want you to create your own project. Something representing…” She reached thefront and turned to face the six retreats. “What July Fourth means to you.”
Well, this’ll be interesting.
Regan glanced across to Ava, who gave a subtle shrug.
“I suggest you keep your ideas to yourself rather than brainstorm, and those of you in the same rooms, don’t share your notes with anyone but your assistants.” Did she look specifically at Regan and Ava? Sure seemed like it. “I’m going to judge this project by originality, creativity, and flavor. You’ll have all day tomorrow to come up with your ideas, and then on Saturday, you’ll bake.”
Nods all around, a few excited faces and murmurs of anticipation.
Liza held up her hands, and the room went quiet again. “Also, I almost forgot. There will be a fireworks display tomorrow night when it gets fully dark. One of my staff will set them off down over the pond, and we’ll have cocktails and appetizers on the back patio. You are all invited.” She clapped her hands together once, then turned and left the kitchen.
As had become the habit of the attendees, there was a moment of quiet, as if they were schoolkids waiting to make sure the teacher had actually gone before they cut loose. The moment passed and a collective breath was exhaled.
“Fireworks sound fun,” Madison, ever the positive one, said with a smile.
“They do,” Ava added, then glanced over to Regan and raised her brows in expectation.
“I love a good fireworks display,” she said and got a little thrill in her tummy when Ava grinned her approval.
“Not exactly a unique topic for the Fourth of July,” Vienna said, untying her apron. “What July Fourth means to me?” She sighed and shook her head as she pulled the apron over her head and folded it neatly.
Bethany, her assistant, seemed to want to make it better. “Well, maybe she kept it broad so we could come up with more ideas?”
“Maybe,” Vienna said. “I’ll meet you all at dinner.” And without another word, she was the first to exit the kitchen. Bethany stood for a moment, clearly unsure of what to do, then opted to follow Vienna.
The others followed, one by one, until Ava, Becca, Hadley, andRegan were left. They finished cleaning up their stations, left their chef’s coats on the counter for the staff to launder, and headed out.
Hadley turned to Regan. “Text me when you want to meet tomorrow. I’ve got some ideas, so maybe we can brainstorm.”
“Perfect.”
