One More Taste by Melissa Cutler
Melissa Cutler, author of One Hot Summer is back and ready to quench your thirst for romance with her new novel ONE MORE TASTE where one man will discover that revenge is a dish best served sizzling hot…
Welcome to the Briscoe Ranch Resort, where love is always on the menu.
Chef Emily Ford has the talent and ambition to make it in the cutthroat culinary world—which is why she refuses to accept her demotion at the hands of Knox Briscoe, the new CEO of Briscoe Ranch Resort. He has grand plans that include bringing in a celebrity chef to helm an exciting new restaurant at the resort, but Emily has plans of her own—to do whatever it takes to change his mind…
Cut out of the Briscoe fortune by an old feud that left his family in ruins, Knox grew up dreaming of revenge. Out-maneuvering his uncle for control of Briscoe Ranch is merely the first step in a grand plan that doesn’t include the brazen and beautiful Emily Ford…or the attraction that sizzles between them. With both their futures on the line, can they keep their desires on simmer—or are they headed from the frying pan straight into the fire?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Melissa Cutler knows she has the best job in the world writing sexy contemporary romances and romantic suspense. She was struck at an early age by an unrelenting travel bug and is probably planning her next vacation as you read this. When she's not globetrotting, she's enjoying Southern California's flip-flop wearing weather and wrangling two rambunctious kids.
One
More Taste Excerpt
End of Chapter 1
Emily
pushed a loaded food cart behind the resort’s main reception desk, then through
the maze of cubicles and offices tucked away from the guests’ view. She nodded
to Ty Briscoe’s secretary, then let herself into his corner office.
Knox’s
fierce intensity beat like waves of power through the air in the room. Emily
froze near the door, stunned to find herself suddenly, uncharacteristically, intimidated.
…
Knox
rose slowly, buttoning his suit jacket as he loomed over Emily. “Are you asking
to be fired, Ms. Ford? Because I was hoping the chef I hire for the new restaurant
would see the value in keeping on some of the resort’s restaurant workers as
line cooks.”
Oh,
this man. Emily visualized the way his perfect suit would look covered in
mushroom reduction, sweet potato puree, and bits of roasted pheasant. In the
end, she decided against the childish act, more out of respect for Ty than any
sense of dignity or self-preservation.
Ty
jabbed his spoon in the air at Knox. “You watch your tone with her. Emily’s too
valuable an asset at this resort to work as a line cook.”
Spoken
like the father figure he was to her. Emily’s heart warmed for the man who’d
taken a huge risk in hiring her right out of chef school, homeless and without
a penny to her name. Of course, she didn’t reveal any of that. She carefully
schooled her features, refusing to splay open her chest and give Knox Briscoe
one single glimpse of her heart. His careless response to her peaches was proof
enough of his lack of a soul.
The gleam in Knox’s eyes turned cool
and calculating as he turned his focus to Ty. “I wouldn’t have expected that
from you, Ty. Sleeping with the special event chef. Interesting. And against my
business policy.”
Emily’s
self-control snapped. She pushed up from her chair, ready to get in Knox
Briscoe’s face and give him a piece of her mind. She slammed her hands onto the
table for emphasis, but instead of hitting the table, her right hand caught the
rim of the soup bowl. As though in slow motion, the bowl launched itself at
Knox. Emily lunged for it, but she was too late. Bright orange soup splashed
all over the front of his suit.
Mortified,
she stood over him and watched glops of peach and brûlée topping ooze like lava
into the creases of his waistband and belt.
For
his part, Knox didn’t rise or curse at her—as Ty was doing, she noticed out of
the corner of her eye—nor did he attempt to clean himself off. He kept his
cucumber- cool gaze locked on hers, a slight smirk curved on his lips. “Did I
hit too close to home on that observation, Ms. Ford?”
Holy
shit. She’d spilled soup all over her new boss. There was no way she was
getting the restaurant now. She’d be lucky to keep her job. What she refused to
give up was the last shreds of her dignity. Nobody insulted her by insinuating
that she’d slept her way to the top and got away with it, not even the
intimidating Knox Briscoe.
She
rose to her full height. “I may not know what your father did to get disowned
by the Briscoes, but it’s no wonder you’re trying to deflect some of that shame
you inherited from him onto the people of this resort. Even after all these
years, it still stings, doesn’t it? Whatever he did to get shunned? The shame
of it all?”
A shadow crossed Knox’s face. Good.
She’d meant for that to hurt.
A
hand closed around Emily’s arm and tugged her away. Ty pushed between her and
Knox, scolding her, apologizing to Knox. When did the giant she’d long revered
as a force of nature turn into a spineless, apologetic noodle? She would’ve
never expected her idol to fall from grace in the blink of an eye.
Emily
glared past Ty, to Knox. “It makes sense, now, this whole alpha power vibe
you’ve got going on. You know what they say about men who seem like they’re
overcompensating for something.”
The
shadow vanished from Knox’s eyes and the shark- like calculation returned.
“That they have big feet? Or am I mixing my old wives’ tales?”
“Emily,
please. Leave us,” Ty said. “You’re embarrassing yourself and insulting me.”
That
pulled her up short. She was way beyond dam- age control when it came to her
own embarrassment, but she did care about insulting Ty. She might not trust Ty
to know what he was doing, not after this crippling deal with the devil
himself, but she still respected Ty enough to honor his plea. With a nod, she
walked with stiff, proud steps to the door.
“Ms.
Ford, the suspense is killing me. What do they say about men who seem like
they’re overcompensating?” Knox said, sounding amused.
Gritting
her teeth, she paused with one foot out the door and tossed a look over her
shoulder, startling all over again at Knox’s aura of cool perfection. The cut
of his jaw, the fullness of his lips, eyes that were as cruel as they were
wise. How had she ever thought she could win over a man like that with peaches
and pheasant? Whatever family shame Knox was overcompensating for, it wasn’t going
to save Emily or her beloved resort. Knox Briscoe was beyond redemption, her
career was over before it had even gotten off the ground, and life was never
going to be the same again.
“Haven’t
you heard?” she said. “The thing about men who seem like they’re
overcompensating for something, is that they always are.”
CREDIT: From
ONE MORE TASTE by Melissa Cutler. Copyright © 2016 by the author and reprinted
by permission of St. Martin's Paperbacks.
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