Savor You (Fusion #5)(3)

“More what?”

“Wine. You sucked that down like a champ.”

I frown down at my glass and set it away from me. “Oh. No. But it’s five o’clock somewhere, right?”

“That’s my philosophy,” Cami says with a nod.

“So, I know this is going to be a competition show,” Camden says, pulling me back to the task at hand. “But I don’t have many of the specifics.”

“Well, it’s not going to be a surprise show,” Trevor says. “I’m not going to throw lemon peel and mushrooms your way, and demand that you make it into a masterpiece in fourteen minutes.”

“Okay,” Camden says with a nod. “How will this work?”

“I want you and Mia to do some brainstorming on recipes. Dishes that are a challenge, but fun to watch you make. If you have signature dishes you’re known for, or if you have a specific recipe coming up in your new cookbook, that would be fantastic. For this pilot episode, we’ll do five recipes and then choose our favorite three for the actual show.”

“What are they competing for?” Cami asks and sips her water. Her blue eyes are full of humor as she looks back and forth between us. “Fame? Fortune? Their own cooking show?”

“They already have those,” Trevor replies with a laugh. “I was thinking bragging rights.”

“That’s boring,” Addie says with a frown. She tucks her blonde hair behind her ear, then taps her lips in thought. “Maybe they can win a certain amount of money to be donated to their favorite charity?”

“I like that,” I reply with a nod. “Neither of us needs money.” I look to Camden for confirmation. He doesn’t say anything, just holds my gaze and nods in agreement. “We should make donations to a charity. We can switch it up each week.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kat says with a nod, and Trevor makes notes in his notebook.

“Will we be cooking at the same time?” I ask.

“Yes. You’ll be using the same kitchen together.”

“How do we know that Mia won’t cheat?”

My head whips up in surprise, but Camden is grinning at me.

“I won’t have to cheat to kick your ass,” I reply.

“You sound confident.”

“Cooking is what I do best.”

His eyes smolder, just like they used to when he was thinking about sex, and I have to look away from him and turn my attention to Trevor. “What you’re saying is, you haven’t come up with any recipes yourself? Shouldn’t you assign them to us?”

“You just said that cooking is what you do best. I’m not a chef. I want you guys to play with it.”

“When do we begin filming?” Camden asks.

“Next Monday.”

“A week away?” I demand. That means I have to see Camden for a whole week.

“That should give you time to decide on recipes and strategy,” Trevor says with a nod.

“Surely Camden can’t take this much time away from his regular gig,” Addie says, and I vow right here and now to bake her brownies every day for the rest of her life.

“I’m free,” Camden says with a smile. “My other show has wrapped for the season, so I’m good.”

“I don’t want to rush this,” Trevor says. “And I want the show to succeed.”

“Do you and Camden know each other well?” Cami asks. “How did you choose him?”

“I cast him in his current show,” Trevor replies.

“Trev and I go way back,” Camden confirms. “I think we’ve been at the network about the same amount of time.”

Trevor nods, and I’m still stuck on having to spend time with Camden for a whole week.

“Am I going to have to do this with every competitor for each episode? Spend a week coming up with the menu before we film? That seems . . . stupid.”

Trevor laughs. “No. We’ve decided to just focus on this first episode to start and to see how the audience receives it, and then we can work on more shows.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Why do I think you’re not telling me the whole truth?”

“I have no idea,” Trevor replies.

“I also have to work this week,” I remind everyone. “I’ll work with Camden, but I still have a kitchen to run.”

“I was going to speak to you about that,” Cami begins. She’s the CPA and money guru of our operation. “We have the budget to hire on some more kitchen help. I think you should consider it.”

“No.”

“I can help,” Camden says and then shrugs when we all stare at him. “I’m here anyway. I’ve been told that my dishes don’t suck.”

“You don’t know the menu.” I cannot work next to this man every day. I’ll climb him like a damn tree after the first day.

“I can learn.”

“Think about it,” Addie says. “You don’t have to decide now.”

“Did no one hear me say no?”

“Grouchy,” Riley says between her teeth and I sit back in my seat, staring at her. Her eyes widen and I can hear her thoughts. Stop being difficult.

I sigh and resign myself to this weird twist of fate. Camden is back in my life. I never thought that would happen. The culinary world isn’t huge, but I’ve been careful to make sure we haven’t crossed paths in all of these years, and now, here we are. Working together.