Page 1 of Culinary Chaos

Chapter

One

“Shit, I’m late.” The watch on Hope’s wrist ticked another minute, and she cringed. She wasn’t just a little late—she was over an hour late. The driver who had picked her up had waited patiently, but she couldn’t help it. Her agent had fucked up this schedule massively. How she could think that Hope could be in two places at once was ridiculous.

It was impossible.

“I’m so sorry for making you wait.” Hope leaned forward to catch the driver’s attention. She wanted her apology to be as sincere as possible.

“Don’t worry about it, ma’am.”

Ma’am?Hope cringed. Had she aged up in the last few years in a way she wasn’t aware of? That or she just had to admit that thirty-five was finally showing on her face. Suppressing the turmoil roiling inside her, Hope quirked her lips up and plastered a smile on her face. “I’m sure you have other places to be.”

“No, ma’am. I’m your driver for the day.”

“Oh.” Hope swallowed the lump in her throat. She wasn’t used to this special treatment. Then again, she was going from just a regular daytime cooking show, which she’d been doingfor several years to build up her brand, into something more challenging and exciting. To say she was a little bored with the routine was an understatement. She needed something that she could sink her teeth into. “Like all day?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The woman gave a little chuckle from the driver’s seat. “I’m Lyric.”

“Gorgeous name.” Hope curled her lips upward, easing into the conversation. She was never one to remain quiet for too long. She always needed to be able to talk and chat, even if it was about nothing other than the color of the sky or the shape of the clouds. “I’m Hope.”

“I know.” Lyric laughed lightly. “Otherwise there might be a problem if you were in my car.”

“Right.” Hope eased back into the seat. “How long of a drive is it? Not that I’m worried about spending time with you in a car, but I’m curious how late I’m really going to be.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lyric said again, and Hope honestly believed it.

Something in Lyric’s demeanor said she wasn’t upset about the fact that Hope had messed up the entire schedule. Or rather, her manager had. She frowned slightly, but caught it quickly and turned it upside down.

“It’ll be about forty minutes.”

“Great.” Hope bit the inside of her cheek. This wasn’t exactly how she wanted to meet the co-star of her new show—late, frazzled, and definitely not ready for this preliminary photoshoot, but she couldn’t really control that now, could she? “Do you know anything about what you’re taking me to?”

“No, ma’am. I’m just the driver for the rich and famous.”

Hope choked. “Rich and famous? Ha. That’s amusing, and definitely not me.”

“You’ve been designated a driver to take you from one set to another location, ma’am. I’m pretty sure that qualifies.”

Whistling, Hope shook her head. “Nope, just me. Chef Hope Lawrence, ready to cook up the next great meal that will blow up your taste buds.”

Lyric laughed. “Really?”

“Well, I like to think so.” Hope’s cheeks tightened into a grin. “Most days. I’ve definitely burned my fair share of meals and have screwed up another fair share of them because of my own stupidity. It happens.”

“That’s my motto in life.” Lyric glanced in the rearview mirror, and for the first time their eyes locked. “Shit happens.”

“It’s a good motto.” Hope smiled again.

The drive to the studio didn’t take as long as she thought it would, and Lyric got her there in record time—at least according to Lyric. But after that pleasant ride, she was hopeful that Lyric would be there to take her home at the end of this brutally long day. Because she wasn’t sure that she was going to be able to drive.

Hope got out of the car and was ushered into the studio by an assistant. She didn’t catch the woman’s name, but she’d make sure to do that later. She seemed so frazzled about the fact that Hope was now two hours late for this photo shoot and that they were going to be butting up against Angelica’s shoot.

But, shouldn’t they be doing some photos together?

Hope didn’t say anything as she was settled down into a makeup chair and told to stay put. The flutter and flurry of activity around her was insane. She wasn’t used to this many people being around her and fussing over her at once. She tried to make small talk, but was often told to hold still or move a certain way as they removed the makeup she had put on that morning to shoot an episode and started from scratch.

Had her makeup really been that bad?