For the Love of Cake (17 page)

As Maya made her way from one dessert to the next, her comments didn’t get any more favorable. She picked apart the plates, one by one, judging much harsher than both Wayne and Jacques. Shannon’s apprehension grew with every step Maya took toward her counter. She was ripping each chef apart. And Shannon would be willing to bet that none of
them
had pushed her out of an elevator and left her standing in the hall after being kissed senseless. So she didn’t expect to fare any better.

She had kicked herself the entire way back to her hotel room, or she would have if she hadn’t been too busy replaying the kiss in her mind. In fact, even today, she couldn’t stop reliving the incredibly sensual encounter in vivid detail. She’d always enjoyed kissing, and good lord, Maya was great at it. But one very hot kiss didn’t erase all the reasons she should stay away from Maya Vaughn.

Even if she set aside the restrictions of being mentor/mentee on the show, she couldn’t ignore her personal fears. The way Maya seemed to hold herself apart, never completely opening up, supported her well-documented reputation as a player who didn’t get seriously involved. Shannon had no interest in becoming attached only to be heartbroken when the show ended and Maya went back to New York without a second glance. She’d come to the set this morning conflicted, yet, almost against her will, eager to see Maya. Her reasons nearly faded into the background the first time they made eye contact. But she’d managed to shut down the quick burst of attraction and school her expression into something more neutral.

“Red velvet?”

Shannon flinched at Maya’s words and discovered her standing with the other judges directly in front of her. She met Maya’s hardened gaze and thought she saw a softening in her badass expression. Maya raked her eyes down Shannon’s body, then snapped them back up. The aggressive perusal sent a flash of heat through Shannon.

She exhaled a shaky breath and rounded her shoulders slightly, hoping to pull her chef coat away from her hardening nipples enough that they wouldn’t show up on camera.

“I wanted something more—creative from you. This far into the competition, this,” she waved her hand over Shannon’s plate, “just isn’t going to cut it.”

“Yes, Chef,” Shannon responded between tense jaws. A flash of hurt feelings warred with an even stronger shaft of arousal. Maya’s “in control” persona definitely turned her on. Wayne and Jacques both complimented her flavors but didn’t offer anything further. Given their bland delivery, she guessed they made the comments to counteract Maya’s obvious criticism.

Had Maya ripped only
her
dish, she might have thought her harshness had something to do with last night. But she spread her rancor evenly among the contestants. Shannon studied her surreptitiously as she faced the others. She moved stiffly and rubbed her temple often between sentences.

She got the chance to ask Maya about it ten minutes later when she caught her in the hallway while they were on break. She’d just left the restroom when Maya rounded the corner. Maya had been walking with her eyes downcast and pulled her head up in surprise as Shannon stopped in front of her.

“Hey, are you okay?” Shannon controlled the urge to touch Maya’s cheek. She looked fatigued, slight discoloration marring the skin under her eyes.

“Sure. Yeah, I’m fine.” Maya glanced around as if looking for someone else before she settled on Shannon.

“Okay, good. I—you look tired and I didn’t know if you—if last night—”

“No. It’s just a touch of sinus congestion.” Despite Maya’s impersonal tone, she searched Shannon’s face as if seeking a deeper connection.

“The climate’s catching up with you.” Shannon heard the hitch in her voice. She felt Maya’s eyes as surely as a caress and couldn’t keep from leaning closer.

“I guess so. Since you brought it up, about last night—”

“Actually, let’s just pretend I didn’t bring it up.” She didn’t think she could force herself to tell Maya it had been a mistake. But she couldn’t say anything else. She couldn’t tell her that she was afraid her crush might be developing into real feelings. She couldn’t admit that she’d replayed that kiss so many times and right now, she wanted another one more than anything.

“Shannon—”

“I need to focus on what I’m doing.” She forced a laugh. “After all, if I don’t do better than I did today, my hard-ass mentor’s going to run me off the show.”

For a moment, Maya didn’t look as if she would let it go, but then she nodded. “Okay.” When Shannon began to step around her, Maya touched her arm. “But if you’re taking any more late-night hotel hallway strolls, you should be aware that I’ll be in the gym tonight. You know, so you can avoid that part of the hotel.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling up to working out?”

“You know what they say, starve a fever, sweat a cold, or is it the other way around?”

“I don’t think it’s either. There’s something about eating in there. Maybe you should stay in your room and get some chicken soup.”

“I didn’t see that on the room-service menu. Do you know anyone who might want to bring me some later?”

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.”

“So, I’ll see you later then?”

Shannon laughed and, as she walked away, said over her shoulder, “Enjoy your workout.”

*

“Okay, ladies. Design time is almost up. What do you have?” Maya asked as she approached the three women gathered around a piece of paper on one of the workstations.

The contestants had been given the topic of the next challenge. Each group had four hours to construct a birthday cake with a Southern theme. No more specific direction was provided. During the last ten minutes of the designated planning period, the mentors could consult with their teams.

Alice launched into a description of their idea. “What’s more Southern than a good old-fashioned picnic? The kind where the whole extended family gets together and everyone brings their specialty. The main cake is shaped like a picnic table, complete with checkered tablecloth. On top of it, we have fried chicken, biscuits, corn on the cob—all made of cake or sculpted in modeling chocolate.”

“And a pitcher of sweet tea,” Shannon added.

“We haven’t decided on a miniature dessert for the table yet,” Lucia said.

“Maybe not red-velvet cheesecake.” Maya looked at Shannon with a raised brow.

“Funny.”

Alice snapped her fingers. “What about a birthday cake? It’s not specific to the South, but this cake is for a birthday. That could be the occasion for the picnic.”

“Grandma June’s eightieth?” Shannon quipped.

Maya looked over their sketch, penciling in a few suggestions of her own. Their idea could work, but at this point in the game, their execution had to be near perfect. When time was up, she took her place across the room beside Wayne and Jacques. Eric called for the start of work and the chefs sprang into action.

She watched her team work for a few minutes before she retired to her dressing room. She wouldn’t be allowed to coach them along, and she couldn’t sit silently and watch for four hours. Hugh would let her know when she was needed back on set. She settled on her couch with her phone and scrolled through her emails. She returned a few and flagged some for later.

Two hours later, she heard sounds outside her door. The chefs must be taking a break for hydration and using the restroom. Working under the hot lights could be draining. Though the show would be cut together as if they worked nonstop, with the exception of certain challenges where part of the goal was to physically and mentally exhaust them, typically they got short, frequent breaks.

Maya listened for Shannon’s voice, but she could hear only the sound of feet and the murmur of voices. She resisted the urge to leave her dressing room. Hugh had been watching her more closely since his warning. She refused to be mean for the sake of ratings, but she could strive to be more aloof and constructively critical of their work.

The noises faded and she imagined them jumping back into their work. She tried to picture the cake her team had described and hoped they were bringing it to life. She was surprised by how difficult the elimination process was. She remembered how hard she’d worked on her season—the stress of wondering if she’d survive the next cut—and watching these chefs go through a similar experience made it harder to judge who should go next. She’d always thought the mentors on her season had the easy job. Now she could respect both sides of the process.

Two hours later, she was back in the middle of that process. She stood next to Wayne and Jacques while Eric guided them through critiquing the three teams’ cakes. Jacques’s group, led by Ned, had the cleanest cake. She could already tell their creation was the front-runner. They’d built an antebellum mansion surrounded by beautifully constructed magnolia trees. So the race for second place came down to Wayne’s group or Maya’s. She followed the other two mentors as they all walked completely around the display tables.

When they were done, she took her place in front of the chefs again. She barely listened to Wayne and Jacques give their evaluations because she already knew the outcome. Her team had been edged out, and one of the three would go home. She glanced at Shannon, who was staring at the floor in front of her as if she knew what was about to happen as well.

“Maya?” Eric looked at her expectantly.

“I don’t think we need to deliberate, do we, guys?” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shannon jerk her head up. Maya looked at Wayne and Jacques. While they both appeared surprised that she wanted to bypass any general comments and jump to the elimination, they shook their heads. She nodded. Not bothering to consult with Eric about the slight change in plan, she turned to her team and made eye contact with each of them. “It wasn’t a bad idea, ladies. But we’re getting to that point in the competition where every little detail matters. The food pieces were good. Shannon, I could practically smell that fried chicken. Your sculpting has improved already. Who was responsible for the picnic table?”

Lucia raised her hand.

“The tablecloth looked great, but the wood grain on the benches lacked detail. It should have looked more realistic. Alice, the miniature birthday cake was very well done. But you spent too much time on that one aspect and not enough helping out with the rest of the project.” She checked again with Wayne and Jacques and saw agreement and respect in their expressions. “We needed a little more teamwork and communication today.”

Eric recovered quickly and sent the competitors out of the room so the mentors could determine which one to send home. Maya felt several pairs of eyes on her as they filed out, but she kept her expression neutral and avoided looking at them.

“Who are you thinking?” Hugh hurried over.

In her mind, the choice was between Lucia and Alice. She took a moment longer to ensure that she wasn’t letting personal feelings rule out sending Shannon home. But she didn’t have to worry. Shannon’s work today as well as thus far on the show had really earned her another week in the competition.

“Based on performance today, Lucia was the weakest,” Maya said.

“But Alice is weaker overall,” Hugh insisted.

Maya narrowed her eyes at him, and before he looked away she thought she saw guilt flash across his face. She shook her head. “In the beginning maybe, but she’s come a long way.”

“I have to agree,” Wayne added. “Alice and Shannon have both shown marked improvement, and Lucia, though slightly stronger in the beginning, hasn’t had much of an arc.”

“And Alice’s dessert during the immunity challenge was better,” Jacques said.

Maya pulled in a deep breath and slowly let it out, feeling relief pour in to take its place. Having Wayne and Jacques echo her decision took some of the stress out of the situation.

“Send Alice home.” With Hugh’s tense words, Maya’s anxiety ratcheted back up.

“I thought this was my decision.”

“The producers are taking this one for you.” Hugh’s voice was tight, as if he knew what he was saying was wrong.

“But Alice deserves to stay.”

“Don’t be naive, Maya. You know by now that it’s not always about who deserves to stay.”

“Why are the producers stepping in on this particular elimination?” She suspected she knew, but she wanted to hear him say it. He kept his mouth shut, though, so she tried another approach. “If my team hadn’t lost, would you be telling either of the guys who to send home?”

“If it were Wayne, I’d advise him to keep Mason.”

She stiffened her shoulders, feeling sick at the idea that no matter how hard the chefs had worked, their success depended on a trait so completely out of their control. “This isn’t fair—”

“Just do as I say,” Hugh snapped, then spun around and left.

Maya stared at the door he’d exited through. Not far away, the contestants awaited their fate. This far into the competition, every elimination got a little more nerve-wracking because the top three was now in sight. Both Alice and Lucia were strong chefs, and of course, she’d prefer not to send either of them home. But now was the time for tough decisions, and it irritated her to have that decision taken out of her hands. Especially when she’d already weighed the options and made her choice.

Now she had to walk back in there and send Alice home. But what would happen if she said Lucia’s name instead? They weren’t live so they could just make her reshoot the segment. But how would they explain to the contestants what was going on? They couldn’t admit the truth, which Maya was pretty certain had to do with wanting to ensure ethnic diversity in the final three.

“Don’t do it,” Wayne said quietly from beside her.

“What?”

“I can see the wheels turning in there. Just do what they ask.”

“It’s not right.”

“I know. But unless you want your affiliation with the show to end this season, don’t push it.”

Wayne and Jacques left the room, but she hung back. She didn’t even know if she’d want to mentor for another season, but she wanted the invite. This decision wasn’t a career killer, by any means, but it could potentially end her connection to the show that had launched her success.