Demons Like It Hot (Demons Unleashed #2)(106)

“Perfect,” she murmured. She flipped up the white table cloth and rubbed it between her fingers. “Damask—nice.”

Her fingers traveled to the vase of roses in the middle of the table. She traced the tip over a thorn. “Great touch.”

“Do you approve?”

Salome shrugged. “It’ll do.”

Bitch! She’d paid a lot for those tablecloths. She wanted to take that silver and plunge it into her heart right then and there. It would make things easier wouldn’t it? Yeah, right, she probably had a second in command.

“You’re doing great,” Daniel said, coming to stand behind her. “That’s the best reaction she’s ever had to the table arrangements in the history of this show.”

“Wow. Charming lady.”

“She’s tamer than usual.” Daniel shrugged then whispered, “I’ve never seen her like this before. I hope she doesn’t suspect anything.”

“Let’s worry about that later.”

Salome came back from her inspection. She put a hand on her hip. “Daniel informs me that you’ve got a bodyguard. I hope he can make himself scarce during the production. We have a large crew, including our own protection. You will be fine.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. He’s in the office, monitoring from there.”

“I suppose that will do.”

Damn right, it would. “But Lucy stays. We’re besties and we do everything together.”

“How sweet.” She snorted. “What about your sous-chef?”

“She’s off-site today, catering a business luncheon.” Probably one for Jupiter or Neptune, she supposed.

“Very well. Business must go on, I suppose,” Salome said with a shrug. “Be ready. The taping starts in a half an hour.” With that, she turned and dismissed them with a rude wave of her hand.

“Yikes! I’d never make it in showbiz.”

Daniel sighed. “Yeah, I know. I should have known better, right?”

“Actually that’s exactly how I expected a stuck-up Hollywood producer to act.”

“Have you met the director yet? He’s pretty cool.”

“Is he a demon?”

“I hope not. He’s always been nice to all of our guests, including Diner Diva.”

Then again, it would take a saint to be nice to that lady. Of course, the lady had been so annoying that she got her own spin-off show. Go figure. Serah wasn’t taking any chances though, not with so many rotten stenches lingering around.

The odors barraged her senses. Her kitchen had never smelled so rank, never, not even when she cooked Nonni’s favorite cabbage soup recipe. It was like she was climbing through a giant landfill with the reek surrounding her. She stifled the urge to gag. What she really needed, right now, was a super-powered gas mask. Like she could be that fortunate. She’d just channel the time she went to visit an old school friend’s farm for a week. Who knew pigs could be so malodorous?

“You need to get your makeup on. God, I hate this stuff,” Daniel said, wiping some foundation from his sweaty brow. “Adam Lambert I am not.”

“Well, I’m not Lady Gaga, for that matter.”

Daniel smirked. “Your friend could easily make you look like that.”

She didn’t doubt that one bit. “Kalli knows not to overdo it with me. She’s done my makeup plenty of times at the salon.”

“You should be in good hands then,” he said. He grabbed her elbow and led her back to the kitchen. “Let’s go meet Barry.”

“Barry who?”

“Barry Holland.”

“I’ve never heard of him.”

“It’s reality TV, not a big production.” Daniel led her over to a short, pudgy man, who was flipping through a sheaf of pages.

“We’re only doing tiramisu? Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?” He huffed. “We’ll have to make it work.”

Daniel nudged his way in. “I’ve got a pre-recorded piece on the history of tiramisu ready to roll with it.”

Barry spun toward Daniel. “Oh? Whereabouts?”

Daniel bent over and grabbed the pages. He pointed to the middle of one of the pages. “Right here, where it says ‘Fade to recorded footage.’”

Barry scratched his head. “Oh, I must have missed that.” He glanced over to Serah, scanning her from head to toe and back up again, like she was a calf going to slaughter. His gaze met hers. “Is this Miss SanGermano?”

Serah nodded and extended her hand. He took it. Cold and clammy. Mother of God. He was a demon.

“I am.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss SanGermano. Daniel has told me all about you. And that tiramisu? It’s divine.”

Surprising he’d know anything being divine. “Daniel’s told me a little about you as well.”

“All good, I hope.”

Serah controlled the urge to smirk. As much as he knows. “Yes, it certainly was.”

“Good. Let’s get you to makeup.” He wrapped his cold arms around her hip and led her to an area they’d set up.

“I have my own makeup artist and hairstylist actually. Is that okay?”

“I suppose so,” Barry said. “Less work for our people, I guess.”