by Peggy Jaeger
Relenting, he let go.
Stacy’s body quieted with relief. They hammered out a good rhythm between them as they counted, then recounted the final votes. Once they added the tally to the previous challenges, they knew the winner.
“It’s close.” Nikko glanced down at her tablet where the results were all stored. “But there’s a clear-cut winner, so that’s something.”
“Are you two, like, done yet? I’m dying of boredom back here.”
Stacy smiled when Nikko laughed and called out, “I forgot all about you.”
Melora cracked the door open. “Ha-ha. You slay me, Nikko, you really do.” She pulled it open wider and stepped out into the tiny hallway. “You done?”
“Yeah, kid, we are.”
“Who won?” She bounced into the kitchen area and plopped down on the bench next to her father, glancing down at Stacy’s tablet.
She’d had enough forethought to blank the screen before Melora sat, so the winner was still a secret.
“You’ll find out the same time as everyone else,” Nikko said, planting a kiss on top of her head.
“What do you think I’m gonna do if you tell me?” the girl asked, a peevish pout branching across her mouth. “Like, call TMZ and announce it? Why can’t I know?”
Stacy gathered up the votes and shoved them back into the canvas bag. She knew Nikko would put them in the safe as he had every night of the competition, so if the vote was ever challenged, he had the physical proof they’d need. She handed the bag to him, watched as he locked it in a table drawer, then slid the key into his pants pocket.
“Because you can’t.” His tone put an end to the subject. “Now, come on. Let’s get back and finish this.”
His gaze found hers as he added, “I’ve got a list of items I need to see to once filming’s done.”
Stacy knew she was one of those items.
Chapter Twenty-three
“We’d like to thank our gracious hosts, Amos Dixon and his family, for allowing us the use of his magnificent ranch these past weeks.” Nikko watched as Jade Quartermaine threw a million-dollar fake smile toward the rancher. She glanced down at the sealed envelope in her hand and then back up at the camera. Through half-closed eyes, she grinned coquettishly and said, “I’ve always had a little thing for tall, dark, rugged men. Add cowboy into the mix and, well…” She fanned herself with the envelope and rolled her eyes.
“Oh, hurl!” Melora said from behind Nikko.
Nikko bit down on his lips to keep his laugh contained. Several of the crew had no such compunction and twitters and chuckles surrounded him. He glanced over at his daughter to see her cheeks turn pink when one of the sound technicians high-fived her.
His gazed moved over to Stacy.
Her attention was settled off into the distance, her device open in her lap, but he could see the screen was blank. Her usually calm and serene face was pale, her mouth tight at the corners.
He wanted to drag her off and find out what was bothering her; what that bitch, Jade, had said or done to snuff out the light he was so used to seeing in her eyes. Then he wanted to fling her up in his arms and lose himself in her for the rest of the night…hell, the rest of his life, if he told himself the truth.
Laughter filtered in from the camera as Dan began listing the winners of the individual competitions and his attention was diverted back to the task at hand.
The chefs were all gathered in front of the head table as applause broke out for the two chefs who were tied with the most challenge votes, Clay Burbank and Riley MacNeill.
“Get ready,” Nikko told Todd. “Jade’s gonna announce the winner.”
Since he already knew who it was, he wasn’t as surprised as the other crew members when Riley’s name was called.
The gathered audience broke out into whoops and shouts as the teen smiled and accepted the congratulations of the judges and crowd.
“That is too totally amazeballs,” Melora said. From the corner of his eye he saw his daughter wrap herself into a side hug with Stacy.
The next hour was taken up with filming interviews—both Clay and Riley’s—then a final filmed round of speeches by the judges.
Just as Riley’s interview was complete and with the camera still recording, Nikko spotted Stacy etching her way to the chef’s side and envelop him in a hug. Her smile was free and easy once again and she looked truly happy for the kid. The boom picked up her heartfelt congratulations as she told Riley how proud she was of him.
“This wasn’t an easy competition in any sense,” she said. “But you were able to hold your own against all the other chefs, and you should be uber-proud of yourself.”
Melora and Burbank moved into the shot as Stacy spoke. For a moment, Nikko got an unfiltered look at his daughter’s face and was simply stunned at what he saw there. The girl’s smile was shy and childlike as she stared at MacNeill, but her eyes held something that shocked him to his core. His little girl had the look of a full-grown woman dancing in her gaze. A woman filled with desire.
What the fuck?
His gaze ping-ponged from Riley to Melora and then back again, registered the subtle, private glances the boy gave his daughter over Stacy’s shoulder while he spoke and the realization hit him hard that his daughter and the chef had something going on between them.
Worry warred with resentment. Just yesterday he’d been the center of Melora’s world; the only man on her radar. Today he knew that was no longer the case and it hurt his ego and his pride to know his baby girl was growing up and he couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.
Stacy’s shout filtered through his musings and when he saw Burbank pick her up and spin her around, his emotions turned on a dime. Anger replaced the worry as a streak of selfish possessiveness flashed through his system. Before he could stop himself, he rose from the director’s chair, bolted from the production canopy, and trotted as fast as he could back to the dining tent.
By the time he arrived, Stacy was nowhere to be seen. His gaze flicked around the still- crowded area and when he lighted on Melora, MacNeill, and Burbank, he beelined toward them.
“Daddy.” It didn’t escape his notice how close Melora stood to Riley, or how she took a few steps away from him when she spotted her father.
“Nikko.” Burbank slid his hands into his pockets, his chef jacket unbuttoned almost to his waist. “Great competition. I don’t even feel bad coming in second to the kid.” His grin flashed when he turned his head toward Riley.
Ignoring the man, Nikko told his daughter, “We’re gonna be leaving soon. Why don’t you get back to the camper?”
She looked as if she was going to protest, but must have seen something in his eyes that told her now wasn’t the time to argue. She bit down on her bottom lip, flicked a glance toward Riley, and then back to him and said, “’K.”
Once she was out of hearing, Nikko continued to ignore Burbank, instead asking MacNeill, “Did you see where Stacy went?”
“She said she was heading back to the ranch. She had stuff to do.”
Without another word, Nikko marched from the tent. He was stopped several times by crew and contestants congratulating him on a great finale. Just when he thought he’d be able to break free, Jade snagged his arm.
“Nikko, where are you flying off to on such a tear?”
He glanced down at her hand, then up to her heavily made-up face. The simpering smile plastered across it was as phony and vapid as the woman herself.
With more patience than he truly had, he slipped his hand over hers and pried it off his arm. “Jade, I don’t have the time for you right now.”
That said, he left the tent.
Daylight had carved into twilight and as he made his way to where the campers, vans, and cars were parked along the periphery of the valley, his eyes scanned the area for Stacy.
He spotted her just as she climbed
into the production-crew vehicle. A moment later, he tugged open the door and followed her in.
“Stacy?”
She turned, surprise in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
He moved toward her and wound his hands around her upper arms. “That’s what I want to know. What’s going on?”
With a tiny head shake, she said, “I—I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t.” He gave her arms a squeeze, his gaze glued to hers. “You’ve been out of it all afternoon, ever since I took you to hear about Jade’s project. Now I want to know what she said to make you so upset, because I know she did, or said, something after I left. Tell me.”
“Yes, Stacy dear, tell him.”
Nikko spun around to see Jade standing on the top riser.
Knowing her as he did, the expression he read on her face was pure malice. With a decided and calculated toss of her head, her hair not moving an iota out of its sprayed, perfect coif, she lowered her chin and stared at the two of them through half-slitted eyes, one eyebrow arched higher than the other, a very unattractive smirk across her lips.
He spun back around to Stacy. “Tell me. Please.”
She swallowed. “I—I knew about the show concept for Family Dinners before Jade ever mentioned it to you.”
He shrugged. “So? You knew before I did. Okay. Did you think I’d be mad?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then what? Come on, Stacy, you have to trust me.”
She bit down on her bottom lip, her gaze flicking over his shoulder to Jade.
“Look at me, not her,” he commanded.
Stacy’s throat bobbled, the sound of her swallowing again loud in the small space between them.
“I knew about the concept of the show because…it’s mine. I came up with it. Developed it.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
“It’s a good idea, I already told you that. There has to be something else that’s making you so skittish, though. It feels like there is.”
He could read the indecision in her eyes. And something else. Something that looked an awful lot like fear.
“If you don’t tell him, I will,” Jade said from behind them in a voice dripping with condescension. “Better to be honest now, don’t you think?”
“Just shut up, Jade.” He looked over his shoulder at her. She’d come into the camper and was leaning against the tabletop. “What are you even doing here? This doesn’t concern you.”
“You’re wrong, Nikko. It does. More than you can ever guess.”
He settled his attention back on Stacy.
“Tell me all of it,” he said, his voice gentling.
With what looked like resignation, she nodded and slipped down onto one of the cushioned benches. Nikko sat down next to her and took one of her hands in his.
“I sent my idea for Family Dinners to Teddy Davis about a week before I came out here. He called me into his office and told me he was going to green-light the show, but he wanted me to do one favor for him before he did.”
“That doesn’t sound like Davis. He doesn’t ask for favors. Ever. He usually shoots straight. Either approves an idea or doesn’t.”
“I know.”
“What did he want you to do?”
She looked into his eyes and he swore he saw shame floating in them.
“He asked me to executive produce your show.”
“Beef Battles? Why?”
“He said he needed someone he could trust to do a good job, and, well….”
“What?”
“Your reputation for not liking anyone to help manage your shows is a little legendary.”
He lifted a shoulder again. “I can’t argue with that because it’s true. I don’t like anyone but me calling the shots.”
It was Stacy’s turn to shrug. “He asked me to help keep a lid on spending and…”
“What?”
“Your temper.” She bit down on her bottom lip.
“So, he asked you to come out here and help keep me from overspending and yelling? Is that it? Because from where I’m standing, that’s not so bad.”
“It’s more,” she said, casting her eyes downward again.
“Look at me.”
She did. “What else?”
“I was afraid Teddy wouldn’t keep his word about approving my show. That he was just agreeing in order to get me to come out here. So, I…that is—I—”
“She blackmailed him,” Jade said.
“I did not!”
“What?” He spun around to Jade again. “What are you talking about?”
“She made him sign a document stating that she would get her own show only if she agreed to produce this one. You were just a means to an end, Nikko. Stacy produces your show, she gets her own as payment. Signed, sealed, delivered. Now, that sounds an awful lot like blackmail, doesn’t it?”
The air in the room stilled; quieted.
His definition of blackmail and Jade’s certainly weren’t the same. But, still…
“Is this true?” he asked Stacy.
“It wasn’t like that, I swear. I didn’t blackmail him or push him into doing anything.” She shot a nasty look at Jade over his shoulder. “I was only protecting myself, my idea. I couldn’t just trust that Teddy’d keep his word and let me have my show after I was finished here. I didn’t want to take the chance he’d renege, or change his mind about it. So I negotiated the terms for coming out here and doing what he wanted.”
“To your advantage, apparently.”
The hurt stung more than he expected it to. She’d used him as a means to an end.
Just as Flannery had.
“So you agreed to come out here if—and only if—he guaranteed you something in return.”
Stacy’s mouth pulled down at the corners. “It sounds horrible when you put it like that.”
“But it’s the truth, correct? You’d get rewarded if you kept me—what was it? Reined in, right?”
“Ultimately, yes. But—”
“So that’s all this was?” He swiped a finger between their bodies. “You keeping me under control?”
“No, I—”
“That’s all I was to you? A way for you to get what you wanted? A surefire way, it seems.”
“Nikko, it wasn’t like that—”
“Wasn’t it? It seems to me it’s obvious it was. While it may not be quite the blackmail scenario Jade paints, you did use me to get something you wanted.”
With a violent shake of her head, she said, “I didn’t use you. I wanted my show; Teddy wanted someone here. I only saw the end result, nothing else. But...” she reached back to try and take his hand again, but he snatched it away and stood.
“There are no buts.” He looked down at her face and his stomach twisted into a knot so tight he could actually feel the pain of it pressing on his insides. “Nothing between us”—he snaked a quick glance at Jade, who was devouring every word—“was real. It was all an act. A way for you to appease Davis and get what you wanted in the bargain.”
She shot up from her seat and tried to grab his arm. He pulled back.
“Don’t say that. Please. Nikko, what you and I…what we have…it means something. It does. I—”
“No more lies.”
“I’m not lying. Please—”
“I trusted you, Stacy. I thought you were one of the few genuine people I’d ever met in this business. Todd, the rest of the crew, they all like you, all turn to you with their problems. They rely on you, value your opinion. Trust you. I wonder how they’d feel knowing that you’re just out for yourself? That you don’t really give a damn about anyone else?”
Her head whipped back as if he’d slapped her. “Nikko, please. Please listen—”
“I’d done list
ening to you. Done with your lies. I’m just…done.”
Shattered and angry, his heart broken and in tatters that he’d let another woman worm her way into it as a means to an end, he flew from the camper. Jade’s sneer was the last thing he saw before leaping into the night.
* * * *
Stacy fell back onto the seat and dropped her head into her hands.
“You’re better off without him,” Jade said.
When she looked up, the woman was carelessly examining her perfect manicure. It took everything in her not to fly up and scratch the expertly made-up eyes out.
“Get out,” she said, her voice a low rumble.
Jade’s gaze took its time lifting up to meet hers.
What Stacy could only call triumph danced in their moist glaze.
“You really didn’t think he was in love with you, did you? That he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you?”
Her caustic chortle made Stacy want to throw up.
“You really are a naïve little thing.”
“I said get out. Now.”
“Or what?” Jade tossed her shoulders back in an air of defiance. “You’ll throw me out? Please.” She waved a casual hand at her. “You don’t have it in you, first of all. Secondly, you haven’t come this far to do something that will permanently damage your career.”
“You don’t know me. At all. You have no idea what I’m capable of. Now. Get. Out.”
Stacy liked to think it was the absolute coldhearted hatred she heard slip through her tone that finally got through to the bitch.
Jade’s eyes widened, her mouth pulling open into a small circle. Just as quickly, she clamped it back shut. Without another word, shoulders square, chin high, she exited the camper.
As soon as the door shut behind her, Stacy slid to the floor, her legs losing the ability to keep her upright.
He wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t let her explain. His eyes had gone flat when he’d been speaking, the corners of his mouth pulling down to his chin. He looked…repulsed, furious, disgusted.
With her.
Through eyes clouded with tears, she pressed the number two on her cell phone.
A heartbeat later, Kandy’s cheerful voice came through the cell.
