a pork chop, Marc.” She dropped her head on her bent knees. “I served a baked pork chop and wild rice for the biggest catering audition this town can remember.”
Marc wanted to point out that she had cooked what her clients, being their grandmothers, had requested. Learning to balance expertise with customers’ expectations was a big part of finding success in the service industry. She had just gone too far in one direction. She’d figure it out. “I bet it was cooked to perfection.”
“You could bake a pork chop.”
“Not to perfection. But I’m more than willing to let you watch my culinary prowess. I am damn sexy in an apron.” When she didn’t so much as laugh, he reached out and put his hand on the back of her neck, kneading little circles in her tense muscles. “They haven’t made a final decision. This could still swing your way.”
She shook her head. “I should have listened to my instincts and you, but instead I got scared and went with safe. Which means I let down myself and my grandma too.” She lifted her head and, as though unable to meet his gaze, went back to studying the tops of her shoes. “I need to think about moving. Maybe Paris.”
Joke or not, Marc was surprised at how even the idea of her moving made him feel. Not good. “You got nervous and caved to a client. It happens to the best of us. And I don’t know what they’ll decide or what they’re judging this on, but I do know that nothing could have happened that would be worthy of leaving the country.”
“Really?” Her head shot up. “Because Natasha knows Jeff cheated on me, I was late so I didn’t even get to present my plates right, then I may have implied that we are having sex, Jeffery’s mom announced to the room that he’d finally, after all these years, found true love, and my dessert course was disqualified because it was baked in a shop owned by a voting member of the DOP. Now tell me how it could have been worse?”
They were silent for a moment, and she raised a brow. “Marc?”
“I’m sorry, what? You lost me at the we’re-having-sex part.” He shrugged. “I think that it’s only fair that I be included in this implied sex, since I’ve already slept on your couch.”
“Are you serious? You know what? Never mind.” She stood in a huff, her hands flapping at her sides, that delectable ass swinging angrily.
Before she could storm off too far, Marc grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto his lap. Linking his arms around her waist and holding her secure, he lowered his voice. “Look, I was kidding. You’re really upset about this, and I don’t know how to make it better, and for some reason that bothers me.” More than he’d like to admit. “So I went for the cheap laugh.”
Lexi didn’t look amused.
“This whole boyfriend thing is new to me. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
“Fake boyfriend,” she reminded him.
“Whatever.” He grinned, and thankfully she grinned back.
“You’re forgiven.”
“Really? Just like that? Because I acted like an ass, and I think you should come to my suite and teach me a lesson.”
She smacked his chest, but he noticed she didn’t try to move off his lap. Instead, she linked her hands around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. “What if I can’t do this, Marc?”
He ran a hand up her back and tangled his fingers in her hair. “I don’t believe that and neither do you. Because you and I both know that if you lose the Showdown, we’ll find another way. So what is this really about?”
Her arms tightened, and her face disappeared in the curve of his neck. “When I said we were dating, no one believed me. Not that we are, I mean, I know that we’re not, but to hear it, like they didn’t think I could get a guy like you…” He felt her shrug. “Silly or not, it really hurt.”
And in that moment, Marc regretted every one-night stand he’d ever had, every woman he’d led on, and every stupid decision he’d made. Because she wasn’t the half of the equation that came up short. He was. But Jeff had left her vulnerable, and Marc had made her an easy target for Natasha. It had never been his intention to make her life more complicated. He had only been trying to help.