and something alarmingly like respect were in the mix.
‘Hi,’ she said in a very hoarse voice, then covered it up with a quick cough. ‘Fed up with signing autographs yet?’
‘They’re a great bunch.’ Rob nodded and half turned to face the buffet. ‘You were right about the scholarships. Half of those young men wouldn’t be here if their fees were not paid. Good idea. I like it.’
He rolled his shoulders back and shoved both hands into his trouser pockets. ‘I like it so much I am going to do something about it. Leave it with me. I’ll come up with something to give that fund a boost.’
‘Really?’ Lottie squeaked. ‘That’s fantastic. Splendid. Great.’
There must have been something in her voice that made Rob turn and look at her.
‘Are you feeling okay?’
‘Never better. In fact I have just had the most fascinating chat with my old boss, Valencia Cagoni. Her twins are recovering from the chickenpox and she was delighted that I had found such an inspiring replacement chef for the fundraiser. But, of course, you know Valencia very well, don’t you, Rob?’
Lottie whirled around and stepped closer to Rob so that the few remaining guests would not be able to hear their conversation.
‘In fact, you know her so well that you sometimes pass on your personal recommendations for new apprentices in her restaurant.’
She took a breath and took one more step so that she could almost reach out and touch him if she wanted to. ‘Apprentices like me.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘You were the one who persuaded Valencia to give me that training place. You made the call, you told her that I would be coming to see her and that she should give me a chance.’
‘She told you.’ Rob winced. ‘Damn.’
Lottie stabbed Rob in the chest with her forefinger. ‘You are responsible for my entire career. You!’ Then she stepped back and looked around the ballroom. ‘I still cannot believe it.’
His eyebrows lifted. ‘Valencia Cagoni is an old friend from college. You needed a job in a hurry. I made the call. Happy now?’
‘No, I’m confused.’ Lottie blinked. ‘Why didn’t you just tell me that earlier and save yourself some grief? And Valencia never said a word. Not once in three years. She made me slave for that training post.’
‘I asked her not to tell you that I had called,’ Rob replied, and then dropped his shoulders back. ‘You know how chefs talk. It makes it feel a lot sweeter if you had to fight for what you want and get it on your own merit, instead of who you know in the business. You had to work, and work hard. What you achieved was down to you, not me.’
Then he flicked one hand in the air. ‘You know Valencia would never have taken you on unless she was convinced that you had talent. She is way tougher with her training than I am.’
‘You fired me, and then set up my replacement training position. Why? Why did you do that?’ Lottie asked, her voice trembling with emotion. ‘I would really like to know because right now my head is spinning.’
‘Because I knew Debra was never going to be a mentor to anyone with talent. You deserved a chance to show what you could do and Debra was not going to let another chef steal her star. Valencia needed someone who could step up. Okay?’
Lottie stared at Rob in stunned silence, her hands planted one on each hip, her gaze locked on to his eyes.
‘Has anyone ever told you,’ she breathed in a low voice ‘that you are the most infuriating man alive?’
‘Frequently.’ He grinned. ‘Has anyone ever told you that you are the prettiest and most persistent woman alive? Perhaps that is why I find you so intriguing.’
He glanced from side to side and then pushed out his elbow. ‘We’re done here. Might as well hit the road in style! How about it?’
Lottie glared at Rob’s elbow, then at his face and then back to his elbow, before sighing out loud and hooking her arm through his.
‘This has already been one crazy evening. Why not go the whole way? Because I really don’t know what to think about you any longer. First I think you are a complete...and then the whole image gets flipped over. It is so beyond annoying it’s not funny and it’s giving me a headache just thinking about it. I really don’t have a single clue who you are, Rob Beresford.’
‘Want to find out?’
‘Is this legal?’
‘Behave. I need to clear my head and the main entrance is too far away. Fancy a walk?’
Lottie stared at the wooden sign that read in large letters: ‘Keep Off the Grass’, inhaled sharply, pulled her arm tight towards Rob and stepped over the low wooden white fence that separated the London pavement from the grass in the public park.
It only took a minute to skip across the grass and onto the path but her heart was beating a little harder when they were back on tarmac.
‘You don’t like breaking the rules. Do you?’ Rob smirked.
He was observant, too. ‘Not something I do very often. But I suppose it is a lovely evening and my headache needs an airing. Why don’t we take a tour of the park? I haven’t been in there for years.’
And it was a lovely evening, and Rob Beresford looked hotter than fresh bread just out of the oven. He smelt just as good, too.
Her treacherous heart had not completely got used to the fact that she was strolling along the pavement arm in arm with this dazzling man as he casually chatted to her as though they were old friends out for the evening.
Occasionally Lottie had to fire a hot glance in Rob’s direction to make sure that she was not in fact hallucinating and this was the same man who breathed dragon fire at trainees and made grown men cry on TV.
The arrogance and attitude were gone and in their place was this astonishing man who she now knew was responsible for kicking off her career with the finest award-winning patisserie chef in London.
And the transformation knocked the feet out from under her.
‘Ian was telling me about your idea for a birthday cake book. I like it. Could be fun.’
‘I think so. My cake shop is right in the middle of the high street and these days a lot of mums and dads simply don’t have the time or, to be honest, the skill, to come up with that perfect birthday cake. So I get a lot of orders. And you would be surprised at how many are for old-style family cakes for grandparents and even great-grandparents.’
‘Are you kidding me?’ Rob asked with a lilt in his voice.
‘Nope. That’s one of the reasons why I started the Bake and Banter club. To teach adults how to bake a cake they can make at home which the family will love.’
She shifted closer to Rob to avoid a group of
