by Katie Dowe
“Very good advice.” Debra said with a smile. She turned to the camera and spoke. “Here you have it folks. The Taylor triplets whose parents only agreed to this interview to stop the speculations and constant clamoring for an interview from both parents and children.” She turned back to the children. “I hear you are doing some more paintings to be displayed Kandra and we are sure looking forward to such fine talents.”
“Thanks,” they chorused as they inclined their heads regally.
*****
Sean Andrew cleared the fences without much effort as he turned his mare to look back at his dad as he came at a more sedate pace. It was a lovely spring afternoon and they were off from school for two weeks. The girls were out with their mother to some luncheon that had been put on by the wives’ of the club members so Scott had decided to spend the time with his son. “Dad you slowed up.”
“I am not as young as I used to be,” he brought his horse near to Sean Andrew’s and ruffled his curls. “You were looking good out there.”
“Thanks Dad,” he said quietly. He was never one to show off his expertise and sometimes Scott wondered if he was older than his age.
“How about going back?”
“Can we go all the way to the cabin? Please?”
“Okay.”
They rode away in silence until they got to the structure which had gone under reconstruction and was now a getaway for couples who wanted a place to stay where they could be alone. It had been Kadine’s dream project and had become quite successful. They never admitted more than one couple at a time even though there were several suites and because of that it was very expensive. But they were booked all year around. The stay there included meals sent up and horses at their disposals. It was called the ‘Getaway Inn’ and the slogan was: ‘For that time you want to recapture the romance’ it had become so successful that Kadine had had to hire another person along with Maddy to work with her.
“It is so pretty,” Sean Andrew murmured as they dismounted and pulled the reins around saplings. It was painted in a dazzling white and could not be missed. The original wood had been left along with the chimney pointing upwards.
“Thanks to your mother,” Scott said proudly as he went to the front door. It was empty for this week and Scott wanted to take advantage of it. He was planning to take Kadine here for their anniversary. He was going to insist on it. He looked around at the immaculate living room with the fire place that had been cleaned out and nodded.
“Let’s go.”
*****
“This was a very good idea,” Kadine murmured as she snuggled into her husband’s arms. He had brought the champagne and the chocolates and Patsy had included strawberries and whipped cream. She had been married to John for the past three years and both lived in their suite even though John was planning to build his own place on the farm.
“More champagne?” he asked her huskily. They were both naked and lying on the blanket that Scott had spread out on the floor in front of the mantle.
Without responding, she dipped her finger in her glass and used the liquid to rub on the tip of his penis. “I want to see how it tastes on you.” She bent her head and licked it off slowly making his blood boil and his body shudder!
“Kadine,” he whispered hoarsely, his fingers digging into her thick dark hair as he took him into her mouth. She did not stop until he could not bear it any longer as he pulled her up against him and took her mouth with his roughly, his heart thundering inside his chest. She climbed over him and he hurriedly put his rigid penis inside her. Seven years of marriage and the passion had not waned, he thought hazily as she returned his thrusts. She lifted her legs up and he went in deeper causing her to moan into his mouth. It was not long before the orgasm raged through their bodies leaving them spent and trembling in the wake of it!
*****
Kadine screamed as the cold water touched her bare skin. “Scott, aren’t you coming in?” she asked as her husband stood at the edge of the stream. Even though it was dark she had decided that she wanted to go skinny dipping before turning in.
“I prefer my water to be warm,” he told her dryly.
“Chicken.” She started making the quacking sound and lifting her arms to make the flapping movements as well.
“You are going to pay for that,” he warmed as he took of his robe and came in. He waded out and caught her about the waist. “No one calls me a chicken and gets away with it.”
“I should hope not,” she turned and wrapped her arms round his neck as she looked up at him. “Did you ever think that life could be so wonderful?” she asked him dreamily.
“Not in a million years.” He murmured as he pulled her closer. “It is not what we have accomplished that makes it like that. It is you and my kids that make it all worthwhile. I would like to think that this is making up for all the lousy breaks we had in our past.”
“Maybe,” her fingers crept into his hair. “Or maybe this had been our destiny from the beginning. I love you my husband.”
“I love you my darling wife and forever will.” He bent his head and took her lips with his forgetting the coldness of the water and the stillness around them but enjoying the wonder of a love and passion that completed them!
The end.
Je t'aime
A billionaire marriage romance for adults
A whirlwind romance story by Shanade White of BWWM Club.
Kendra can certainly stand the heat in the kitchen.
This talented chef has spent her entire life perfecting her cooking skills.
Now her dreams have come true with a job offer at a five star restaurant in Paris!
In the city of lights, Kendra meets Remy, an heir to a billion dollar shipping fortune.
After an intense and passionate love connection, Remy proposes and Kendra marries her dreamy billionaire.
But everything comes with a price, and Remy and Kendra soon find tragedy butting into their happiness.
When Remy’s father falls ill, he finds he has to take control of a sinking business and right the ship once again.
With Kendra by his side, the two make a great team.
But will these problems with the company be too much for these lovers to handle?
Find out in this exciting French romance by Shanade White.
Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes so hot, you'll need to wear oven mitts to hold your book.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 1
Kendra set the phone down slowly, afraid if she let her emotion have full rein, she might just break it. The only words she could have used to describe what she was feeling, was pure elation. She wanted to jump up and down, squealing like a teenager who finally sees her idol in person. It was hard to believe that at only 29 all her hopes and dreams were coming true. Admittedly, she had sacrificed and worked hard to get where she was today, but she still couldn’t quite process that phone call and all its implications.
Her first phone call would be to her mother, who had scarified as much as she had, if not more. Since her father had died when she was very young, her mother had been a single parent of two young children under the age of ten. With little education, she had been forced to work menial jobs to pay the bills and keep them clothed and fed. She and her brother had repaid her sacrifice by doing their best in school as well as helping around the house.
Kendra had taken over the cooking as soon as she had been old enough to push a stool up to the stove. Truly, it had been an act of desperation. Her mother while talented in many ways, was admittedly a terrible cook. As if that wasn’t bad enough, their neighbor who watched them while their mother worked, couldn’t cook either.
Kendra had never minded cooking and had fallen in love with the process. It must have been the simplicity of
the craft that appealed to her. Although her mother provided a good life for them, even at a young age Kendra knew that they were always just on the brink of disaster. She longed for a life that was predictable and secure, in cooking she found the predictability she craved.
She knew what would happen when she chopped, baked, or sautéed the things she found in the kitchen. She could take the cheapest cut of meat and turn it into a meal that even a gourmet would love. In the kitchen she had the control that she lacked in life, she could chart a course of action and know that the result would be exactly what she wanted. In the kitchen she could forget the cold, unpredictable world and retreat to a world of her making.
By the time she was ten, her mother recognized her talent and took steps to ensure that those talents were developed to their maximum. Like all mothers, she had dreams of her children attending college and moving up in the world, it was clear that Kendra’s talent would lead her to culinary school, if given the chance to develop.
Developing those talents would have been much easier had Kendra been good at sports or music. There were many avenue’s available to develop those talents in children, but the culinary arts tended to be geared to adults. Programs for children were few and far between, and very expensive. Additionally, they typically involved nothing more than fancy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
After much research and study, her mother moved Kendra’s grandmother in with them, took a better paying job at night and hired a private chef as a tutor. Chef Angela was a member of their church and was aware of Kendra’s talents, and charged much below her usual hourly rate, for the chance to work with Kendra. She could see a master chef in the making and was thrilled to play a part in Kendra’s education.
For two years, Kendra and Chef Angela worked together, building Kendra’s skills. From simple skills like knife handling to more complicated baking projects, Kendra soaked up everything Chef Angela taught her. As her skills grew so did the grocery bills and Kendra’s mother knew that she couldn’t continue to keep up with the expenses. The more complicated recipes, required ingredients that even with her increased income she couldn’t afford. She still had bills to pay, never mind saving for the children’s education.
When one of the most popular television cooking competitions announced a junior edition, Kendra’s mother entered her immediately. The grand prize was $100,000, which would go a long way towards paying for Kendra’s education. With her talent, it was possible that she would receive scholarships but her mother didn’t want to rely on that alone.
The world was an unpredictable place and sometimes luck just wasn’t enough, you had to make your own luck. This was a lesson she had taught her children from a young age. She encouraged them to work hard and always do their best. When Kendra was in the kitchen it was easy for her to follow her mother’s advice. She made her own luck with delicious meals that could charm even the toughest critic.
The contest had been both a difficult and rewarding experience. Being away from home had been difficult, but had helped her to grow more independent. The pressure of timed cooking had forced her to learn to think on her feet, a critical skill in the world of cooking. At the end of the show, she emerged, not only the winner, but a much more confident cook and young person.
For the next year, Kendra was in the spot light, cooking on morning shows, creating her own cookbook for publication, and going to school. While she still enjoyed cooking with Chef Angela, she had adopted the attitude that she had mastered the art and no longer needed instruction. In true teenager fashion she believed the world revolved around her and acted accordingly. Her mother put up with her daughter’s attitude knowing that one day she would be brought down like everyone is at one time or another in life.
When she turned 16, Kendra was hired as a sous chef in a popular restaurant and did indeed find herself at the bottom of the ladder for the first time in her life. The head chef had little respect for television cooking shows and hired her not on the basis of her appearance on that show but on her skills in the kitchen. Instead of showing Kendra the respect she believed she deserved, he ridiculed her every move. Having never been treated this way, Kendra quit the job within a week, sobbing that she had been mistreated.
*****
Kendra had spent two days in bed, pretending to be sick, before her mother decided it was time to call in some reinforcements. In retrospect, it might have been a mistake for Kendra to participate in the show, winning had given her an inflated opinion of herself. But the money had been much needed, and would provide for an excellent education, no matter where Kendra chose to go. Never one to dwell on the past, she made the phone call, that she hoped would bring her gifted daughter out of her funk.
Chef Angela showed up at the front door just a few hours later. She went straight to Kendra’s room. “Time to get up. We all know you’re not sick, unless a good dose of reality can make a person sick.” She said.
“I am too sick.” Kendra said, burrowing her head in the covers. “This has nothing to do with that jerk of a head chef.”
“I think it has everything to do with your recent experience in the real world. It’s not all glamour and cameras. In the real world, people who go to restaurants, like the one you were working at, expect a meal that lives up to the restaurant’s reputation.” She explained.
“I just don’t see how berating me and criticizing everything I do, is going to make me any better. I know how to cook, it's not that hard to make the stuff they're serving. I make more complicated dishes in my kitchen.” Kendra said.
“Well, that may be true, but have you ever cooked for more than a few people? Have you ever had to have those meals ready at different times? Have you ever had to worry about the cost of the food and profit margins?” Chef Angela said, standing up and crossing the room to the closet.
“Well....” Kendra said.
“I didn’t think so. Put some clothes on. You and I are going on a little field trip. It’s time you learned what the real world of hospitality involves.” She said, throwing some clothes at Kendra. “Don’t take too long, our first appointment is in less than an hour.”
Knowing an order when she heard one, Kendra hauled herself out of bed and got dressed. She was in the front room and ready in 10 minutes, knowing better than to keep Chef Angela waiting. Their first stop was one of the hottest restaurants in the city and Kendra was excited to meet the chef.
“Am I going to get to meet Chef Paul? I’ve heard he is a genius. I would love to ask him some questions about his technique with mousse. I wonder if he’ll know who I am, do you think he will?” Kendra continued to gush as they made their way to the back entrance.
“You’re not here to elbow with Chef Paul, I’m sure he won’t know who you are or care. You’re here to see a real kitchen in action. Pay attention, this kind of opportunity doesn’t come often. No questions, no talking. Stay out of the way and maybe you’ll learn something.”
They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening traveling from one restaurant to another. Most were four or five start establishments were Chef Angela had worked or knew the Chef. As ordered Kendra kept her mouth shut and only asked questions when allowed. She learned a great deal that night including the fact that she by no means knew everything there was to know about food.
At one point during their wanderings, they ended up in what could only be called a dive. There they stopped for one of the best meals Kendra had ever eaten. Simple ingredients had been transformed into a feast. The skill with which the cook had combined the spices, vegetables, and meat could only have come from a well-trained chef.
After the meal Chef Angela took Kendra back to the kitchen to introduce her to the man who had created the wonderful food.
“Kendra, I would like to introduce you to my good friend, Chef Michael. We went to culinary school together and have known each other for years.”
“What are you doing in this place?” the words were out of her mouth before Kendra could stop them. Horrifi
ed, she clamped her hands over her mouth.
“That’s okay, it's a valid question. I think Angela wanted you to see the full picture. Let’s get some dessert and we’ll talk.” Chef Michael said, grinning.
Over the next hour, Chef Michael told Kendra about his life, from his graduation from culinary school to the downward spiral into drugs. This was a side of the culinary world that Kendra had not known about. By the end of his story, Kendra understood that the world she was joining was more than just food. It was a world of deceit, competition, sex, and drugs.
“Thank you Michael, for sharing all that with me. It must have been hard to find yourself cooking here after all the fame you had.” She said.
“Actually, I’m happier than I have ever been. Just remember it’s all about the food and what you do with it.” He said, as he returned to the kitchen.
By the end of the night, Kendra had a new appreciation for how difficult making it in the restaurant business really was. But Chef Angela still had one more lesson she wanted Kendra to learn.
“How many of those Chef’s we met tonight were women?” She asked.
“Well, not many.” Kendra replied.
“And how many were African American?”
“Only a few.”
“My point is simple. You are going to be competing in a world that is geared not only to men but to white men. African American female chefs are hard to find. It will always be a struggle, but don’t let that struggle make you lose sight of what you really want. To cook.” She finished.
Kendra was quiet for the rest of the trip home. She had a lot to process and she was feeling a little over whelmed. Her vision of the future had always included fame and fortune, she had to determine if the price was worth it. In the end she realized that what she really wanted to do was cook, whether in a five star restaurant or in a dive, her life would be spent in the kitchen.
