Devour Me (Master Chefs Series #1)

Devour Me

Published by Kailin Gow Books

Copyright © 2013 Kailin Gow

All Rights Reserved. No part of
this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in
writing from the publisher except in case of brief quotations embodied in
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For information, please
contact:

Kailin Gow Books

11700 W. Charleston Blvd. Ste
170-95

Las Vegas, NV 89135

www.kailingow.com

First Edition.

Printed in the United States of
America.

ISBN:
1597480800

ISBN:
978-1-59748-080-2

This
dedication is for all women who find men who can cook very sexy :D

Prologue

T
aryn Cummings bit her lower lip as an excited
thrill shot through her. Her taxi pulled up in front of the building she`d be
calling home for the next little while… if all went well.

Here
in front of her was the International Institute of Culinary Arts, and her
future, her dream of joining the ranks of top chefs.

“Taryn? 
Are you still there?”

“Oh,
Mom,” Taryn shouted gleefully into her phone as she pulled a few Euros from her
wallet.  “Yes! Yes! Oui! Oui! I’m just now arriving at my apartment. I’m so
excited, Mom. Paris, can you believe it? This is more than I ever dreamed of.”

“I
know,” Samantha said.  “And I’m happy for you, honey.”

Taryn
heard the strain in her mother’s voice.  While she knew her mother was indeed
happy for her, she also knew she desperately needed a helping hand back home.

“Mom,
I won’t let you down. When I`m through here, I’m going to come home a great
chef and you’ll see what I’ll do with our little East Side restaurant. I’ll
turn it into the greatest place in all of New York City. Errol King is the best
chef in the world and I hear he’s a pretty good teacher, too. I’m going to soak
up all the knowledge he has to offer. ”

Samantha
chuckled. “Yes, I’ve heard he is quite the teacher.”

“Mom,
just because the guy is young and good looking doesn’t mean he can’t be a good
teacher.”

“No,
but it does mean a lot of young and impressionable young female students are
going to have a hard time concentrating on cooking… a meal, that is.”

Taryn
grinned. Chef King was certainly charming. He’d even taken to showing off his
charms in a recent print add wearing only his very brief briefs.  Fanning her
face, Taryn tried to put the heated image aside. “I’ve seen cute guys before,
Mom.  I’m here to work and nothing else.”

Samantha
let out a warm laugh. “That’s funny.  I could have sworn I saw a few magazines
that talked about the handsome young chef along with a lot of interesting
photos, too.”

The
sexy photos of Errol King’s muscular tanned body, barely covered by skimpy
thong underwear came back to Taryn’s mind. “There were some very interesting
articles with those photos, Mom.”

“Hmm,
yes, I’m sure there was. Look, don’t worry about the restaurant for now,
sweetie. I’ll do just fine. You have fun in Paris and call me once you’re settled
in.”

“Oui,
oui!” Taryn paid the fare, grabbed her coffee and stepped out of the taxi. “I’ll
call you tonight.”

She
slipped her phone into her purse as the taxi driver pulled her bags out of the
trunk and set them on the curb.  He nodded and mumbled as he made his way back
into his cab.

“Thank
you,” Taryn called out.  “Merci!”

As
she turned to grab her luggage, a rambunctious chocolate Lab came around the
corner and slammed into her. “Oh no!” With her warm and sweet coffee splattered
across the front of her dress, she looked at the dog with affectionate
reproach.  “And why are you in such a hurry?”

The
big dog sat and looked woefully at her, his big, dark eyes begging her for forgiveness.

“
Ah,
mon Dieu. 
Javier, mais que fait tu la
?” 
An older gentleman with a distinguished
air about him, came up to Taryn, an empty dog collar hanging from the end of a
short leash. “
Milles pardons, Mademoiselle
.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm, sir.”  Though she understood
little French, it was easy to see he was dismayed by his dog’s behavior.

“
Mais, il à tout renverser votre café
.”
He quickly slipped the collar around the dog’s neck then took Taryn
by the elbow. 
“
S’il vous plait. 
Laissez-moi-vous acheter un bon café chaud.
”
 

Taryn politely disengaged herself, but the man persisted. He took
her by the arm, chattering all the way as he led her to a nearby café. 

“
Le moindres que je peut faire c’est de remplacer votre café
.”

Frustrated
by her inability to understand him and confused by his actions, she struggled
to free herself.  “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t really understand French very
well, but I’m fine.  And my bags… my luggage is there on the…”

The
gray haired man relented and released her arm, but put his hand to the small of
her back and gently pushed her toward the coffee shop. 
“
Vous
aller voir.  Ici c’est le meilleur café du quartier
.”  The man
pointed to the waiter.

“Really,
sir, I have to get my things into my apartment and I have to register at the
Institute.  Please…  What do you want from me?”

“He
just wants to buy you a cup of coffee.”  The deep, velvety voice behind her
sent a thrill down her spine, and her skin felt a distinctly strong male
presence close to her. With a bit of a European accent, the voice held a hint
of humor.

Taryn
turned to face the source and instantly blushed as she faced the gorgeous young
man whom that velvety soft voice belong to…a face whose smiles and piercing
blue eyes with dark hair gazed at her so many times from all those magazines. In
person, he was even more impressive; tall, strong and imposing with broad
shoulders and a chest that filled out his tight v-neck black sweater.

He
glanced down at her soiled dress and smiled. “I imagine he feels bad for his
dog’s faux pas.”

“Oh.” 
Taryn could think of nothing else to say.  As the blush that heated her face
intensified, she hoped he’d simply think she was embarrassed by the situation
and not flushed by his horribly, terribly, debilitatingly excruciating
proximity. He stood so close to her, she could smell him.

Damn,
she thought. He even smells good; like a man who worked hard, but took
meticulous care of himself. His sultry smile exposed perfectly aligned teeth
that gleamed.  His dark hair fell in thick curls almost to his shoulders and it
wasn’t hard to understand how he’d landed the brief brief’s ad campaign.  Dark,
sexy and talented… perhaps even a spark of danger in his eyes; tempting danger.

She
was overwhelmed with a sudden need to touch him, to get close to him. The air
around her grew suddenly too warm, and her face felt flushed. Without realizing
it, she’d leaned in closer to him and when her knees buckled slightly, he
quickly took a hold of her arm and held her steady.

“You
okay?”

“Yes,
I’m fine.” She got control of her emotions and straightened up. “I’m sorry. I
should have studied a little more French, but…”

Errol
looked at the older man. “
Ca va aller, Monsieur. Merci
.”

“
Il
n’y a pas de quoi
.”  The gentleman nodded at Taryn and turned to speak to a
waiter, all while holding his dog leash close to his hip.

“American,
I take it.”  Errol looked pointedly at Taryn.

“Maybe.”
Taken aback by his question, she looked at him with a slightly defensive
scowl.  “What of it?”

“Nothing,”
he said with a chuckle. “I heard you mention you’d be a student at the
Institute.  It’s been a while since an American has studied there. Most
students are from Europe, some from Asia and a few from Africa and the Middle
East. We barely get a handful of Americans, and they’re mostly men.”

“Oh.”
For a moment she wondered if her American status was an asset or a bad
disappointment.

“Having
an American woman at the Institute is a delightful surprise.” Heat smoldered in
his gaze as he took her in. “I’m Errol, Errol King.” He shook her hand.  “I’ll
be teaching a class this semester.”

“Really?”
Taryn said, trying to keep the excitement she felt hidden.

The
older man returned with a steaming cup of coffee.  “Voila.”

“Oh,
no.  You don’t have to…”

“You
should take that” Errol whispered.

Taryn
glanced at the man then back at Errol who nodded.

“This
is Dr. Philippe Emanuelle, Head Administrator at the Institute.”  He turned to
the man.  “Dr. Philippe, this is a new American student at the Institute, a
Mademoiselle…”

“Taryn,
Taryn Cummings.” She extended her hand to greet the prominent Frenchman. “I’m
so pleased to meet you, Doctor.” In the far reaches of her mind, a few French
words came to her.  “
Heureuse de vous connaitre, Docteur.”
 

“I
think he wants to make sure you have your dose of caffeine before you get to
the Institute.”

“Oh.” 
She accepted the cup of coffee.  “Thank you.
Merci
.”

“After
all, the Institute is the toughest culinary school in the world.  We churn out
the best… we’re that good, but we do want to make sure everyone is well
prepared to succeed… so, if caffeine is what you need, well, caffeine is what
you’ll get.”

“I
appreciate it, but it’s not that dire a need.”  She held the cup up to show the
man her appreciation and gently patted the dog on the head.

“Dr.
Emmanuelle is very fond of taking Javier for a walk on his break.  Every Friday
he brings him to school then takes him to the park at the end of the day.”

“I
can understand why.  On the taxi ride over I saw a beautiful park, and it’s
such a lovely day.”

“
A
tout a l’heure
.” Dr. Emmanuelle nodded and led his dog out of the café.

Errol
stepped closer to Taryn, his blue-eyed gaze intense and heated on her. “I
suggest you take advantage of this lovely day while you can.  Classes can be
very challenging and demanding.”

“You
make it sound so hard.  I love to cook and I’m sure I won’t have any trouble
keeping up.”

“A
passion for culinary arts is admirable and much needed, but you need more;
determination, perseverance… stamina.” His gaze went from her eyes to her lips
and back up to her eyes. The small glance, as simple as it was, made her lower
body clench. Errol held her gaze. “This isn’t fun and games. It’s serious.”

“I
fully expect it to be… and I’m very serious about it.  I want to come out of
this a top chef,” Taryn managed to say.

“Good.”
He licked his lips while his gaze dipped down to the coffee stain at the front
of her dress and down to her exposed legs.

The
heat was suddenly more than she could handle and she stepped out into the fresh
air. The moment she turned around to face him again, the heated intensity of
his gaze sent a wave of arousal over every inch of her body. His sapphire eyes
seemed to undress her slowly, taking in her every curves. Her clothes seemed
inadequate and she felt nude and exposed before him. It made her both thrilled
and embarrassed at the same time.

She
knew the fabric of her bra was thin, as was the cotton of her dress. In
addition to that, the thin cotton of her dress was plastered to the thin fabric
of her bra with brown coffee, drawing attention to her erect nipples peeking
through her dress. She didn’t even dare to look down at the picture she
presented him.

Could
he see through all that thin fabric and see how aroused she was? Could he see
the glow of perspiration on her skin, the sensual flush of her cheeks or the
pulpy flesh of her lips?

“You
know, you have the kind of passion I like seeing in my students.” His gaze
trailed over her body again. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”  He lightly touched his
fingertips to her shoulder and leaned in closer.