Page 92 of Under the Table

“Is it what?” Hope’s cheeks burned. What the hell was it about Christian and this conversation that set her off so much?

“On the menu?”

“No,” Hope said, holding her breath. If the lesbian army of social media got ahold of this exchange they would run to hell and back with it. Hopefully Rex would cut it from the final episode.

“So you’re making my sister a special meal because…”

“Because she, like the rest of the world, needs to eat.” Hope flashed him a smile. “And why not give her something delicious in the process?”

Harold laughed lightly and clapped Christian on the shoulder. “She does always get what she wants.”

Christian wrinkled his nose and made a sour look. Hope ignored him as she used the opportunity to flip the steak over in the skillet. It did fascinate her that Christian picked up so quickly on the fact that the lack of potatoes meant the dish was for Angelica.

“You know she’s not actually allergic to potatoes, it’s all for attention.” Christian nearly sneered.

Hope furrowed her brow in his direction because it absolutely was an allergy. She’d seen it firsthand. “I never judge or second-guess someone when they tell me they have an allergy. The most sacred part about being a chef is recognizing that I have the ability to give someone the greatest amount of pleasure they’ve ever tasted or kill them swiftly. I don’t take that power lightly.”

“You know Lisa has quite the bucket list of allergies.” LaRae said, coming over with her latest plate. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her eat at the restaurant because of them. Cross contamination could be enough to send her into the hospital for a week.”

“Does she?” Hope looked at LaRae surprised. None of that had come up yet, but then again, she hadn’t actually seen Lisa eat anything in front of her.

“We have EpiPens stashed all over the hotel for her.”

“Huh.” Hope canted her head to the side. “Is there any dish on the menu she can eat?”

“I don’t know.” LaRae put the plate in the sink to be washed after Hope approved it. “I haven’t asked and she hasn’t offered.”

“We’re revamping the menu this week, anyway, so wouldn’t it be a good thing to add in an allergy-friendly section to it?” Hope used a spoon to baste the steak with melted butter from the pan, halfway looking at what she was doing and looking directly at LaRae and Christian. “Heck, we could always toss the idea of making the entire restaurant allergy-conscious and -specific. I’d have to look at comps in the area, but I’m not sure I’ve seen one in Tucson. It’s more an LA thing.”

Hope snagged the red wine and the balsamic vinegar and poured them into the pan after reducing the heat. She basted the steak immediately, making sure that it was covered in the sauce. She probably should have added in another one for herself, but she wasn’t going to have a chance to eat with Angelica today, despite the fact that she wanted to.

Ever since having that time in California together, Hope just wanted more of it. She wanted sweet dates and time that didn’t involve work. That had been interrupted by the investors they were courting and by the fact that Angelica was also a workaholic and had dived back in as soon as she’d woken up in the morning.

On instinct, Hope started to sauté the asparagus, her hands working when her brain was lost in thought.

“That’s not a bad idea, you know.”

Hope started, nearly jumping out of her shoes. She looked up to find Rex standing next to her a curious gaze in his eyes.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I was just lost in my head.” She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “What’s not a bad idea?”

“An allergy-focused restaurant. It wouldn’t be hard to do here at all, especially with Lisa being the owner. You shouldbring it up this afternoon in your scene with Ange. See what she says about it.”

Hope had a feeling she knew how that conversation would go and it wouldn’t easily be in the way Rex wanted. “She probably will think I’m bringing it up for other reasons.”

“What other reasons?” Rex looked confused now, and he pulled away from her, as if this was putting a wedge between them.

“She’s allergic to several different things, so she’ll think I’m bringing it up because of her.” Hope rolled her shoulders. “Ange is a very private person, Rex. She won’t want that.”

“Oh, I thought it was something else.” Rex grimaced and stepped away from her. “Bring it up. Josef will like the tension it creates, but don’t feel like you have to push her on it.”

“Okay.” Hope sighed, her hands hesitating before she basted the steak again. The tension that had entered the conversation between them didn’t go unnoticed, but she wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it either.

Pushing that worry to the side, she finished prepping the meal and plated it up, popping a cloche on top of it and grabbing some silverware. One thing that Hope had noticed in the twenty-four hours they’d been there was the lack of room service orders.

“LaRae?” Hope caught the chef’s attention.