Personal Chef

Chapter 13

I woke up before dawn and took a long shower. My room had a private bath, which was nice. After putting my hair up in a pony-tail, I put on a pair of khaki capris and a pale pink v-neck t-shirt. I'd decided to relax my dress code a bit since this situation was so unique. I put on a pair of white converse, because cooking barefoot felt very unprofessional, and went downstairs.

After my first cup of coffee, I got to work. I made Shawn's favorite chocolate chip muffins, a spinach and gruyère cheese quiche, and a huge fruit salad. I was pulling the quiche from the oven when I started hearing people stirring upstairs.

Andrew was up first. He smiled and wished me good morning before helping himself to a muffin and some coffee, which he took to the dining room. Several other teams members got up and did the same, helping themselves to what they liked. I was making a mental note of what people chose the most so that I could cater to everyone's specific likes.

I was preparing my third cup of coffee when Shawn came down the stairs. He wore athletic shorts and a loose t-shirt and had the worst case of bed-head I'd ever seen. I was so unaccustomed to seeing him like this that I found myself staring.

"Do I look that bad?" he asked with a smile.

"No, um, not at all," I stammered. Truth be told, he looked incredibly sexy.

Shawn loaded up his plate and got a coffee. "Did you eat yet?"

I shook my head.

"Then get something and come sit outside with me."

I cocked an eyebrow at him phrasing this like a command instead of a request.

"Please?" he added.

I got some quiche and fruit and followed him to the patio. The view this morning was fantastic and I stood in awe of it for several seconds before taking a seat.

"Ben texted me this morning," Shawn said before taking a large bite of his muffin.

Shit! I'd completely forgotten to reply to his messages from yesterday. My phone was on the counter in the kitchen and I considered going to get it so I could text him, but figured it could wait a few more minutes.

"Oh?" I said.

"He asked if you'd made it here okay. He said you'd left him on read."

"It was too late last night and I forgot this morning," I explained.

"How's it going for you two?" he asked as he looked towards the ocean.

"It's pretty much the same."

Shawn nodded and continued to eat. Was I supposed to ask him about Kat? He hadn't mentioned her since he'd told me they'd broken up.

When I was done eating, I told him I needed to start on lunch, so I went into the kitchen. Everyone had loaded their own dishes in the dishwasher, so I put away the food. There was enough left that I would only need to make one additional item tomorrow.

For lunch I was making two chilis. They had the same base, but one had ground beef and the other was vegetarian. I made a huge pot of the vegetable, tomato, bean, and spice mixture and then divided it. I added cooked ground beef to one and left both to simmer covered for a couple hours.

After lunch I was going to go back to the store. Andrew has registered me on one of the rental cars, so I had the freedom to shop whenever I pleased. For now I had some time to myself. Everyone else had gone to the studio to start doing whatever it was they did. Last night they'd told me to come in and observe whenever I wanted, but I wasn't comfortable doing that. It felt like a sacred process, and I didn't want to get in the way.