Page 96 of Sizzle
A car door slams as an engine fires up, startling all three of us. Diana pulls her car away from the curb, actually peeling out in her haste to vacate the premises. I can’t suppress a smile.
Ding, dong, the bitch is dead.
It’s not particularly nice of me to think that way about her. God knows, if anybody can sympathize about not wanting to let Alex go, it’s me. But she can’t have him anymore. He’s mine.
Or better yet, judging by the look on Joelle’s face, he’s ours.
Alex has turned back to Joelle, waiting for her to answer him.
“I’ve been better,” she says quietly. She meets his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer when you called. I was sure there was no way we could make this work. And embarrassed. And confused.”
“Embarrassed by what?” They don’t need me for this part of the conversation but I can’t help but ask. “Not by what we did together.”
Joelle blushes. “A little.”
“That’s going to be a deal breaker,” says Alex. His voice is still soft, but implacable now. “What we do together is nothing to be embarrassed about. Shame has no place here, not between us.”
Joelle nods slowly. “I’ll have to work on that. It might take some time.”
She looks so goddamn pretty, snow swirling around her like that. I can’t stand the tears in her eyes, though, so I reach for her hand, drawing her gaze.
“I suspect—um, that’s at least partly my fault,” I say, stammering. I clear my throat and try again. “The way everybody found out about us… that was my doing. I should never have exposed you that way, not until you were ready for it. Or until we were all ready for it. And I definitely should never have made you think you were to blame. You weren’t, Joelle.”
Joelle looks at me a long moment, then nods. “Apology accepted.”
“I’m not done yet,” I say, laying my hands on her shoulders to turn her toward the street. “Do you know what that is?”
“The modern world’s very first food truck.”
“Not quite,” I say drily. “Though I’ll admit, she needs some paint.”
“She?”
“As of about an hour ago, that is the newest location of Duckbill.”
Joelle and Alex turn twin looks of surprise my way.
“Are you serious?” asks Joelle.
“As a heart attack,” I say, reaching for her hand again. “Joelle Munroe, will you do me the honor of coming to work with me again? I promise to honor, respect, and pay you until culinary school do us part.”
I was hoping to make her laugh, but all I get is a half a smile as she cuts her eyes away.
“About that,” she says, trying to pull her hand back. I’m loathe to let her go and after a few seconds she gives up, twining her fingers with mine. “Culinary school is on hold.”
“What?”
“Why? What happened?”
“Hah, funny story, actually,” she says. “I got a phone call this morning from Sizzle. The cable network?”
Alex nods and when she looks at me, I roll my eyes.
“It’s ninety percent of my DVR. Of course I know what it is,” I say.
She laughs again, nervously this time. “Yeah, them. So… they called. They like my blog, especially the videos. I have a meeting with them next week to talk about possibly filming a pilot for a show. For my own cooking show.”
My jaw drops so fast I can practically hear it hit the deck. Alex looks about the same as I feel—utterly poleaxed—until I start laughing. I scoop up Joelle and spin her around, loving the yelp it draws from her as she grips my coat.