“Never pictured you as the fuck-and-duck type, Kenzie.”


    She turned at that moment and leveled me with a re. “I learned from the best back in high school.”


    “Touche,” I responded, then walked over to the closet to pull something out to wear.


    She stared at me briefly, then smiled. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t nned to do that when I came up…”


    She stopped, but I knew what she was about to say. “It’s cool,” I told her, then added, “but could we go another round?”


    I was teasing, but her stricken expression was worth it. “I need to go meet up with Reece. I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t doing any of this for any type ofpetitive advantage.”


    “Of course not,” I answered. I had no idea why she would think I’d suspect her of that. Leeann DeSoto had tried, and it was one of the reasons I had rebuffed her attempts every time. “We’re professionals, Kenzie.”


    She let out a small breath, then headed to the door. Kenzie disappeared through the door and once it was closed, I threw on some clothes and handled a few phone calls including one for the Seattle project. It appeared like I’ll have to spend a lot of time in the Pacific Northwest soon. Before I could, however, I had to wrap up thest loose end here at CHG Seaport. That task was what had me grabbing my things to go downstairs.


    Kenzie’s [POV]


    Reece had been smirking at me since I hade back to our room. It wouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist to know why, but I ignored her teasing jabs. Her fears when I had first woken up were valid, and I needed to take my mind off of a certain redhead and ce it all on the challenge ahead.


    There were very fewpetitors left in thepetition so my chance to score the contract was improving. I wished that would’ve made me less nervous, but it didn’t. It scared me even more.


    There was a certain expression I had always heard growing up, and even now, it still made my face scrunch up in disgust. Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride.


    It was true. I was always good enough to fuck, but not to settle down with. And it wasn’t just my love life where I always seemed to be a runner-up. I had applied to more kitchens than I could count when I first made it to New York City, and each time, I had gone for multiple interviews only to finishst in the end. I never got those jobs, but women like Leeann DeSoto did. The restaurant where she currently worked had passed me over for her.


    “You’re looking lost, Kenzie,” Reece whispered, and I realized I was just standing there in the pantry, staring off into space.


    “I’m okay. I’m just trying to find the ginger. I-”


    “It’s right here,” she told me, then reached around me to grab the fibrous root from the shelf.


    “Thanks.” I grabbed it from her, then headed back to our station. We were supposed to put together a three-course meal using inspiration from at least five different cultures.


    I had chosen to do a Mexican tbread for the first course, followed up with ginger chicken tacos and a slice of barbecued pork banh mi, andstly an apple strudel for dessert. I would be incorporating Italian, Latin, Asian, American, and German influences into my courses.


    Thankfully, a lot of the vors I nned to use could be incorporated into different types of cuisine. My culinary training in Europe was going to pay dividends here. A lot of the other chefs in thepetition tended to cook the same types of food, so I hoped this would set me apart and not be too ambitious toplete.


    I returned to my station and ignored his searing gaze Jonas’s and started to prepare the ginger for the tacos. Reece soon took her ce beside me and as she worked on getting the proteins seasoned and ready, I did the same for the vegetables.


    This far in thepetition, it was important to have nothing out of ce. Every cut and chop had to be perfectly uniformed, and nothing could be under or over-seasoned. If anything was, I would be walking out of this hotel today.


    I wondered if Jonas would potentially seek me out after thispetition was over, and I shook my head wryly. Of course, he wouldn’t. I looked back down at the cutting board and cursed.


    Reece stopped what she was doing and looked over at me just as I scraped the oregano into the trash can. I had chosen the wrong kind.


    Mistakes like this would end my chance at survival in this city and business. I shook my head at her, then hurried back to the pantry to find the correct kind. I returned, washed my cutting board, then picked back up where I left off. Once I had all the different herbs chopped, I pushed them off to the sides.


    Recing that board with another, this time I began to peel and chop the apples. My great grandfather was German, and this dessert was one that my grandmother used to make for him until his death.


    It was the only dish of mine that didn’t include some other element in it, but I was confident that the vors would exin why. This recipe was special to my family, and as such, I didn’t want to tinker with it. I knew exactly how it would look, smell, and taste. I just hoped the judges would appreciate the sentimental value of this dessert. Once I got it all in the pan, I ced it in one of the ovens.


    When the counter was sparkling clean, that’s when I decided to get the things out to make a vani ice cream. A good apple strudel had to have that. I would also dust it with powdered sugar, and my mouth was already watering thinking about how good it would taste.


    My opinion wasn’t the one that mattered, however, and when I nced over at Leeann’s station, I could see her holding out a fork of something for Jonas.


    Whatever she’d prepared, he seemed happy enough with it. He even grabbed a second bite. I rolled my eyes slightly, then turned to the rest of the items I needed to prepare. Most of the meat was already cooking, and the prep was all done, so I moved closer to Reece and started to carefully inspect every element.


    “Don’t pay her any attention, Kenzie. Leeann is a slut, and everyone knows it. It doesn’t appear that you were the only one getting busyst night.”


    I normally didn’t care about gossip, but I looked up at Reece. “What?” Had Jonas fucked her first, then me? Or was I the starting course? Bile rose in my throat.


    “No, not him,” she quickly replied, which rxed me slightly.


    “Then who?”


    “Oliver,” Reece answered, and I looked over at the man standing beside Jonas.


    Damn! And while I hadn’t fucked Jonas for any advantage, I would never be able to say the same about her. Oliver was grinning from ear to ear, and I could see how happy he was with whatever she was now letting him a sample.


    Things like this were exactly the reason I would never get ahead. She had tried to put the moves on Jonas, and when it didn’t work, she moved on to another judge.


    Sometimes, Jonas would disappear during the taste testing and if he did now, Oliver would likely award Leeann the entirepetition. I wanted to cry at the unfairness of it all, but the two men were walking straight toward me.


    I smiled when they reached my station, and then onmand, I exined what I would be serving them. Oliver seemed preupied and I knew why.All content is ? N0velDrama.Org.


    A small pit formed in my stomach, but I pretended to be calm and collected. Jonas at least seemed interested enough in what I was serving, and after my description, the two left.


    I let out a harsh exhale, and Reece looked at me in question. I shrugged. Neither had asked for a taste and when I had suggested letting them sample the menu, both had declined.


    I didn’t let that bother me and just focused on preparing everything. The ting was on point, and I knew I had married the vors to perfection.


    I was very confident going into the judging aspect of it, but it all dissipated when Oliver kept finding fault with anything he could. And it wasn’t just mine that he did. He criticized everyone except for Leeann who got rave reviews for the simplest of dishes.


    “You’ve given us all a lot to think about. We need an hour to talk this over. I have a bartender at the downstairs bar, so get yourselves a drink,” Jonas told us, and we all filed out of thepetition area.