Chefs don’t get hired in the dining room.

Josie Agosti pushed the words from her bestie out of her mind, even if she knew deep in her bones her friend was right.

She shifted in the scooped modern chair, needing to move to relieve the tension in her body after staying up late packing orders for her catering customers.

Her body was protesting the repetitive movement and too much time standing she’d done last night, but her customers relied on her to come through and she wasn’t going to let them down.

She stopped herself from moving the fork next to the knife. It was off by an inch and looked obscenely out of place in the famed seafood fine dining restaurant.

The crystal lights glowed from above, casting a soft spotlight on the polished wooden tables. The little vase of fresh flowers on each table had a star ornament perfect for the season without being overdone.

The wooden beams above created an openness for all this elegance to fit into giving it strong West Coast vibes and, even though she told herself it doesn’t matter, she’d really like to work here.

This restaurant was the kind of place a reservation needed to be made six months in advance, the kind of place celebrities frequented. The butterflies inside her belly were fluttering with nowhere to go. She couldn’t wait to meet with Executive Chef Gregory McNab and accept the job offer.

That’s what’s going to happen, she told herself, as if thinking it could will it into a reality.

When Chef McNabb called her out of the blue for an interview, she couldn’t believe her luck and jumped at the chance.

“But how did he get your number?” Josie asked to her friends.

“Does it matter?” Cecilia asked. “Chef McNabb’s restaurant is super intense, Josie. Do you really want that?”

“You know I do.” Josie brushed off the skeptical looks on her friends faces, they knew that working in this kind of restaurant was her dream.

She moved the small vase, taking deep breaths to quell her nerves. Josie took the top of the box off the shortbread cookies she’d brought as she saw the Chef’s balding head emerge from the back of the house.

“Ms. Agosti.” Chef McNabb held out his hand. He glanced at her from head to toe, the scrutiny making her sweat. But she shook his hand and tried to smile.

“Your resume is impressive! Graduate of Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver! Staging in Prince Edward Island.” Chef McNabb reached out and took a shortbread cookie from the box.

“Yes, Chef,” Josie said. “I love working with fresh ingredients and seafood. Both those experiences taught me a lot about using the bounty of the waters and making great plates of food.”

“I see. But not a lot of work experience in the kitchen aside from school?”

“I have a small catering business. I’ve cooked for several local celebrities.” She blushed, thinking of Ares Montague’s light green eyes, his striking angular face, and his curly blond hair.

Her tummy flipped flopped, thinking of the last time she saw Ares and turned down his invitation to dinner.

Again.

“You should be proud of your accomplishments, Ms. Agosti. I saw you perform in my kitchen during your bench test, and I loved how calm you were under pressure.”

Even though Chef McNabb had to leave that night, leaving his head chef in charge, Josie got along with the woman, and she knew she’d impressed Chef Paulson. Chef Paulson had been the first female head chef at the famed restaurant, and Josie looked up to her. To cook under her was a dream come true.

Josie smiled at his praise and hope bubbled up inside her. This was it.

Everything she dreamed about was going to happen.

“Thank-you Chef,” Josie said, smiling so wide her lips hurt. She couldn’t wait for him to make her an offer.

Chef McNabb leaned forward and took another shortbread cookie. “But I can’t offer you a job in my kitchen.”

Her smile faded, and her stomach hit the floor.

The chef chewing her shortbread cookie didn’t meet her eyes.

“Oh.” Josie leaned forward, willing herself not to cry. “But you said you were happy with my work.”

“My kitchen is fast-paced. We have thirty-five tables here and they turn over fast from Thursday to Sunday. We do a special feature each Monday, which brings a crowd in and we rarely have a lull. Maybe you should try a different type of restaurant.”

Her cheeks flamed. On Prince Edward Island, she worked for a celebrity chef, never missing a beat. Her references glowed.

“I kept up on service during the bench test,” Josie said.

“That’s true. Priscilla was thrilled with your work.”

Josie felt a flush climb up her neck. “Then why don’t you think I am a good fit?”

Chef McNabb clasped his hands together. “You kept up during one service, but for example, our Sunday brunch is busy and I have concerns about you keeping up all the time. At this high level, we expect consistency. A lot of young chefs have a problem with speed in the kitchen.”

“I can handle the physicality of being a chef,” Josie said. Her face grew hot and she felt about three apples high.

“As I said, maybe you can try for a different type of restaurant, one that is slower paced.” Chet McNabb grabbed another shortbread cookie. “You know, the back of the house isn’t for everyone. You have a pleasant personality. Have you thought of working on the floor? I could use a good hostess as back-up.”

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. “As you said, I’ve accomplished a lot. I want to work in fine dining.”

“The workplace is often different from what they tell you in school. If you have a little catering business, I would stick to that.”

Josie twisted her hands into fists under the table. Nope, not going to cry. “Can I ask why you brought me in for an interview? You’re the one who called me.”

Chef McNabb picked up another cookie, broke it in half, crumbs dropping on the table. “Ares Montague gave me your number.”

“Ares?” Josie repeated. Her thoughts came to a halt.

“Yeah, we play in the same monthly charity poker game. I mentioned that I was looking for a chef and he said I should give you a call. He’d consider it a favour.” Chef McNabb gave her a smirk. “It’s nice to think he owes me now.”

Ares. Josie bit her tongue because she didn’t want to scream, not here. She felt humiliated enough.

“It was good to see you again, Ms. Agosti.” Chef McNabb stood, extending his hand.

“Thank you for meeting with me,” Josie said. She put the lid back on her shortbread cookies.

“Do you think I can get the recipe for your shortbread?”

“I’ll email it,” Josie said, her voice wobbling. She stood from the table, turned to Chef McNabb but she couldn’t think of anything to say. She knew she’d think of all the things she could have said as soon as she left but right now, words failed her.

He waved to her, and she exited the restaurant.

Outside in the cool drizzle, she took a few deep breaths, her thoughts crowding her mind, walking as fast as she could, stopping when she caught sight of her limp in a shop’s windows. She only ever saw it when other people did and she hated that. Josie closed her eyes against the wave of anger that threatened to spill tears because she knew this wasn’t worth crying over.

She stopped, pulling her cell out of her bag.

“Did you get the job?” Her best friend, Cecilia Yen’s, high voice made her smile.

“Nope. He had concerns about how I could keep up in his kitchen. A lot of young chefs have a problem with the speed of the kitchen. He wondered if maybe I would find being a hostess more enjoyable because I have a pleasant personality.” Her voice cracked, she couldn’t keep it together. she sniffled a sob and wiped at her face.

“You should sue the fucker, go to the press.”

“No, Cecilla. He didn’t say it,” Josie said. She turned left to where she parked her car.

He wasn’t the first person to use her disability as an excuse. Her cerebral palsy affected how she walked, but it didn’t make her incompetent.

“He all but did. What are you doing tonight?”

“I got to get back to the kitchen. I have food to cook.” She was fortunate she had work, and she needed to keep her customers happy.

“I don’t know how you let it roll off your back.”

“I don’t. It hurts, but I can’t do anything about it.”

“You don’t need him or anyone else, Josie. You have a business.”

“I know.”

It was the same thing her mother said about every interview Josie took. Her mom didn’t understand why she wouldn’t stop trying to get a job in a restaurant when her catering business outgrew her mother’s kitchen and she’d become busy enough to hire an assistant. But she couldn’t help but hold the dream she had of working in a fine dining restaurant.

Her ex-boyfriend, Ethan, told her she couldn’t do it and maybe that’s why she kept taking interviews, she needed to prove him wrong.

She thumped her steering wheel with her palm, a wave of anger crashing through her as Chef McNabb’s words registered deeper into her brain. She didn’t need favours.

“I have time to swing by before my shift.”

“Thanks, but I’m okay.” She needed to be alone, to work to drown out her anger.

The fact that Ares did her a favour she didn’t ask for made her blood heat with a simmering rage.

“See you tomorrow night for cat sitting?”

“I’ll be there,” Josie said. As soon as she hung up, her phone buzzed with a text.

She wanted to deny the request, but Harper was a good friend and the Montagues helped her business grow over the years.

It’s not like she had any good reason to deny it. A lot of her customers asked for on-the-spot lunches and she always had something ready to go.

If Ares thought that she needed help, she was going to show him that she didn’t, thank you very much.

Before pulling out of the parking lot to make her way back to the restaurant she rented space in, she called her assistant.

“Hey, Josie. How did Chef Alphahole go?”

Josie grinned. “He’s not…okay, he kind of is. He doesn’t want me.”

“You don’t need him,” Avery said.

“So everyone keeps telling me. I’m on my way back, but I got a last-minute lunch request for Axis Management. Can you put together three lunch bowls? The salmon bowl was a hit last time, so let’s send those.”

“Not a problem.”

“Good. See you in thirty.”

Josie sighed, reached over, and brought up her playlist. With Avery taking care of the delivery, at least she didn’t have to see Ares Montague and could put him out of her mind.

***

Flame For Keeps

A determined woman. A man with a mission. A love worth fighting for.

Josie

With a thriving catering business, Josie Agosti doesn’t have time for love. Especially when it comes to her friend, Ares Montague.

He’s ten years her senior, a billionaire, and CEO of his own company.

She’s disabled and lives with her mother.

Josie has no idea what her friend sees in her but Ares’s determination and focus rivals her own.

Unable to deny the sparks between them any longer, Josie soon discovers the truth about her own limits…and about the man she thought she knew…

Ares

For Ares, loyalty is king in all things. There is no line he won’t cross to keep his brother, and the company they built together safe.

Now that he finally has the woman of his dreams, he’s determined to give her the pleasure and love he knows she deserves.

If only Josie can accept the truth about how far he’ll go to protect those he loves.

When danger threatens to destroy everything they’ve built together, Ares must decide where his loyalty truly lies….

Can Josie accept the darkness that surrounds her? Or will Ares lose more than just his company?

Flame For Keeps is the latest installment of the Bandit Brothers Series and can be read as a standalone. This steamy tale of romance has rope play and a heavy dose of suspense and ends in a HEA.