Blaze (Heat #3)(24)

I shake my head. There's no reason for me to. I don't work here anymore. "I haven't."

"There's one person you absolutely have to meet." She waves her hand above her head. "It's our new executive chef."

"Tyler hired another chef?" I look behind me but nobody seems to take notice of Maribel's uncontrollable waving. "An executive chef?"

"He needed the help." She shrugs. "He wanted someone he could depend on to run the kitchen for him."

"Darrell does that," I say quietly. "Why wasn't he promoted?"

"Tyler must not trust him enough." Her face brightens. "I'll introduce you to the executive chef now."

I wait in place as she walks away, my heart thumping an uneven beat in my chest.

"Cadence Sutton," Maribel tugs on the elbow of the petite woman I saw her with earlier. "This is Neela Norman, Nova's new executive chef."





CHAPTER 27


"Deep breaths, Den." Sophia rubs my shoulders. "Take deep breaths."

I rest my hands on the back of a wooden bench outside Nova. Sophia brought me here after I pulled her into a corner inside to tell her about Neela. “He’s been working with his ex, Soph. Did I tell you that they were engaged? He was f*cking engaged to her."

"Engaged?" Her hands stall before she picks up the pace, her fingers kneading painfully deep into my flesh.

"Stop." I swat her hand away. "Why the hell would he not tell me that she's here? This is why he didn’t want me here tonight."

"You're making assumptions." She takes a step back. "There may be a logical explanation for all of this. I doubt that he would just start working with his ex and not say a word to you."

I lace my fingers together in front of me. "I want to leave. I don’t think I can face him right now."

"I can flag down a cab." She steps closer to the street, her hand darting into the air. "We can be away from here before he even shows up."

"Tell me what to do." I grab hold of her forearm. "How can he tell me he loves me while he's working with someone he used to love?"

"He doesn't love her anymore." She drops her hand. "I don't know why he didn’t tell you, Den but I know that from what you've told me, he's crazy about you."

"She had no idea who I am." I pause. "I waited for her to say something about Tyler telling her all about me, but that never happened."

"What exactly did she say to you?"

"She mentioned seeing me on the morning show the other day. She thought I did a great job." I shake my head hard. "I didn’t respond. I couldn't. She was being kind, very complimentary."

"Maybe she's a nice person," she says calmly. "Maybe she's just here to do the job Tyler hired her to do. You said she was dating a celebrity, right? If that's true, she's not going to chase after Tyler."

"That's over." I push the palms of my hands into my forehead. "She joked about it when Maribel brought it up. She said she only loves men who can cook."

"Shit." She studies me. "We need to go, Den. You can talk to him tomorrow. Let's get out of here."

"You don't think I should stay?" I watch as she eases back toward the street, her hand in the air again.

"There's a bunch of cabs heading this way. They're stopped at the light." She motions for me to step closer to her. "We'll go home and you can decompress. Tomorrow you'll talk to him."

I reach into my purse to find my phone. "I should send Tyler a message. I should tell him I know about Neela."

"You should chill for a minute." She dashes up to her tiptoes. "Let him have tonight, Den. Let him do this launch thing and tomorrow you'll ask him calmly what the f*ck Neela is doing here."

"All right." I nod as I open my bag to put my phone back. I immediately notice the square box. "I have a gift for my dad. I was going to give it to him tonight."

"You can do that." Her mouth curves into a smile. "You should text him and tell him to come by the apartment after the party. Maybe seeing him will be good for you. You have his number, right?"

"He called me from his cell when he told me what time to meet him at Magari." I look down at my phone. "Maybe I'll text him when we get home. I'm not sure I want to see anyone tonight."

***

"We should get out, Den," Sophia may think she's whispering but she's not. We're in the backseat of a cab as it slowly inches up Lexington. We've barely moved a foot in the past thirty minutes. "We're paying too much for this. We can walk to the subway and take the train home."

"Do you know why we're not moving?" I lean forward but the driver doesn't respond. "Excuse me. Why are we stopped?"

"We'll get there," he shoots back in a low tone. "I'm driving as fast as I can."

The pace is too slow and too expensive.

"You're sure you can walk a few blocks." I point at Sophia's feet and the brand new shoes she's wearing. "You've got a blister on your heel. We can stick this out. I'm paying."