ONE
MORE
TASTE
By
MELISSA CUTLER
Melissa
Cutler, author of One Hot Summer is
back and ready to quench your thirst for romance with her new novel ONE MORE TASTE(St. Martin’s Paperbacks;
October 4, 2016; $7.99), where
one man will discover that revenge is a dish best served
sizzling hot…
Welcome to
the Briscoe Ranch Resort, where love is always on the menu.
Chef Emily
Ford has the talent and ambition to make it in the cutthroat culinary
world—which is why she refuses to accept her demotion at the hands of Knox
Briscoe, the new CEO of Briscoe Ranch Resort. He has grand plans that include
bringing in a celebrity chef to helm an exciting new restaurant at the resort,
but Emily has plans of her own—to do whatever it takes to change his mind…
Cut out of
the Briscoe fortune by an old feud that left his family in ruins, Knox grew up
dreaming of revenge. Out-maneuvering his uncle for control of Briscoe Ranch is
merely the first step in a grand plan that doesn’t include the brazen and
beautiful Emily Ford…or the attraction that sizzles between them. With both their
futures on the line, can they keep their desires on simmer—or are they headed
from the frying pan straight into the fire?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Melissa Cutler knows she has the best job in the world writing
sexy contemporary romances and romantic suspense. She was struck at an early
age by an unrelenting travel bug and is probably planning her next vacation as
you read this. When she's not globetrotting, she's enjoying Southern
California's flip-flop wearing weather and wrangling two rambunctious kids.
One More Taste Excerpt
End of Chapter 1
Emily pushed a loaded food cart
behind the resort’s main reception desk, then through the maze of cubicles and
offices tucked away from the guests’ view. She nodded to Ty Briscoe’s
secretary, then let herself into his corner office.
Knox’s fierce intensity beat like
waves of power through the air in the room. Emily froze near the door, stunned
to find herself suddenly, uncharacteristically, intimidated.
…
Knox rose slowly, buttoning his suit
jacket as he loomed over Emily. “Are you asking to be fired, Ms. Ford? Because
I was hoping the chef I hire for the new restaurant would see the value in
keeping on some of the resort’s restaurant workers as line cooks.”
Oh, this man. Emily visualized the
way his perfect suit would look covered in mushroom reduction, sweet potato
puree, and bits of roasted pheasant. In the end, she decided against the
childish act, more out of respect for Ty than any sense of dignity or
self-preservation.
Ty jabbed his spoon in the air at
Knox. “You watch your tone with her. Emily’s too valuable an asset at this
resort to work as a line cook.”
Spoken like the father figure he was
to her. Emily’s heart warmed for the man who’d taken a huge risk in hiring her
right out of chef school, homeless and without a penny to her name. Of course,
she didn’t reveal any of that. She carefully schooled her features, refusing to
splay open her chest and give Knox Briscoe one single glimpse of her heart. His
careless response to her peaches was proof enough of his lack of a soul.
The
gleam in Knox’s eyes turned cool and calculating as he turned his focus to Ty.
“I wouldn’t have expected that from you, Ty. Sleeping with the special event chef.
Interesting. And against my business policy.”
Emily’s self-control snapped. She
pushed up from her chair, ready to get in Knox Briscoe’s face and give him a
piece of her mind. She slammed her hands onto the table for emphasis, but
instead of hitting the table, her right hand caught the rim of the soup bowl.
As though in slow motion, the bowl launched itself at Knox. Emily lunged for
it, but she was too late. Bright orange soup splashed all over the front of his
suit.
Mortified, she stood over him and
watched glops of peach and brûlée topping ooze like lava into the creases of
his waistband and belt.
For his part, Knox didn’t rise or
curse at her—as Ty was doing, she noticed out of the corner of her eye—nor did
he attempt to clean himself off. He kept his cucumber- cool gaze locked on
hers, a slight smirk curved on his lips. “Did I hit too close to home on that
observation, Ms. Ford?”
Holy shit. She’d spilled soup all
over her new boss. There was no way she was getting the restaurant now. She’d
be lucky to keep her job. What she refused to give up was the last shreds of
her dignity. Nobody insulted her by insinuating that she’d slept her way to the
top and got away with it, not even the intimidating Knox Briscoe.
She rose to her full height. “I may
not know what your father did to get disowned by the Briscoes, but it’s no
wonder you’re trying to deflect some of that shame you inherited from him onto
the people of this resort. Even after all these years, it still stings, doesn’t
it? Whatever he did to get shunned? The shame of it all?”
A
shadow crossed Knox’s face. Good. She’d meant for that to hurt.
A hand closed around Emily’s arm and
tugged her away. Ty pushed between her and Knox, scolding her, apologizing to
Knox. When did the giant she’d long revered as a force of nature turn into a
spineless, apologetic noodle? She would’ve never expected her idol to fall from
grace in the blink of an eye.
Emily glared past Ty, to Knox. “It
makes sense, now, this whole alpha power vibe you’ve got going on. You know
what they say about men who seem like they’re overcompensating for something.”
The shadow vanished from Knox’s eyes
and the shark- like calculation returned. “That they have big feet? Or am I
mixing my old wives’ tales?”
“Emily, please. Leave us,” Ty said.
“You’re embarrassing yourself and insulting me.”
That pulled her up short. She was
way beyond dam- age control when it came to her own embarrassment, but she did
care about insulting Ty. She might not trust Ty to know what he was doing, not
after this crippling deal with the devil himself, but she still respected Ty
enough to honor his plea. With a nod, she walked with stiff, proud steps to the
door.
“Ms. Ford, the suspense is killing
me. What do they say about men who seem like they’re overcompensating?” Knox
said, sounding amused.
Gritting her teeth, she paused with
one foot out the door and tossed a look over her shoulder, startling all over
again at Knox’s aura of cool perfection. The cut of his jaw, the fullness of
his lips, eyes that were as cruel as they were wise. How had she ever thought
she could win over a man like that with peaches and pheasant? Whatever family
shame Knox was overcompensating for, it wasn’t going to save Emily or her
beloved resort. Knox Briscoe was beyond redemption, her career was over before
it had even gotten off the ground, and life was never going to be the same
again.
“Haven’t you heard?” she said. “The
thing about men who seem like they’re overcompensating for something, is that
they always are.”
CREDIT: From ONE MORE TASTE by Melissa Cutler. Copyright ©
2016 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Paperbacks.
No comments:
Post a Comment