All Your Loving (Bachelors & Bridesmaids) Read Online Free

big events."
    "I'm busy, too. We're talking about one meal. If you can't teach me something I can make, then I can't participate. I'm not going to embarrass myself."
    "I'm sure you could hire a chef to give you a lesson."
    He could hire a chef, and that would probably be a smarter move, but right now all he could think about was locking down a date with Julie Michaels, and he knew she wasn't going to willingly spend time with him unless she was getting something out of it.
    "I'm not interested in hiring someone. That's going to take effort and time. So here's the deal—you give me one cooking lesson, and I'm yours for the cook-off. What do you say?"
    She had no choice, and they both knew it.
    "Fine," she said with a sigh. "What night?"
    "How about tomorrow? Friday night? Or do you have a date?" It occurred to him that he didn't even know if Julie was single, although there was no ring on her finger.
    "I can make tomorrow," she said slowly.
    "Great. What are we going to make?"
    "I won't make anything—you will. I'm just going to be advising." Julie paused. "What do you like to eat?"
    "Anything and everything. I'm not picky."
    "I'll look through some recipes and pick something that isn't too hard and that will be easy for the hotel kitchen to recreate for all the guests. While your entry will go to the panel of judges, everyone in the room will be tasting the same dishes prepared by the hotel chefs. We'll need to change the recipe to give it a more personal Matt Kingsley spin, but that should work. Do you like hot and spicy?"
    He smiled at the question. "Hot, sweet, spicy, sexy…it's all good."
    Her cheeks warmed at his words. "You're a troublemaker, aren't you?"
    "I've been called worse. Give me your number, and I'll text you my address. If I'm going to learn to cook, it might as well be in my own kitchen."
    "Where do you live?"
    "I have a condo near the ballpark at Brandon and Second."
    She nodded. "There's a supermarket not far from there. I'll meet you there at six-thirty tomorrow night, and we can buy the ingredients together."
    "Shopping and cooking?" he asked doubtfully, suddenly wondering what he'd gotten himself into.
    "They do go together," she said with a smile as she got to her feet. "You're quite spoiled, aren't you?"
    He stood up. "It's been a good decade," he admitted. "But my mother would be horrified to think I was spoiled."
    "Really? Even though she never taught you how to cook?"
    "She worked two jobs when I was growing up. She didn't have time to cook or to teach me how to do it," he said, remembering the long days when he'd waited for her to come home, only to have to see her rush out the door again for a second job late in the night. He'd made a promise to himself when he was very young that someday he would find a way to make sure she didn't have to work that hard.
    "Sorry," Julie said, guilt in her eyes. "I seem to be really judgmental when it comes to you."
    "To me? Or to everyone?" he couldn't help asking.
    "You seem to have brought out the worst in me, but it's not really you, it's what you do for a living. However, I do want to thank you for agreeing to participate in the cook-off. Your support at this event will make a huge difference. Let me show you out."
    She walked him down the hall, past the darkened conference room and empty cubicles.
    "You're closing down this place," he commented.
    "I have a few things to finish up. When you work for a non-profit, you do what has to be done, no matter how long it takes."
    "I can see that you're a hard worker."
    "I don’t know any other way to work," she replied.
    He smiled. "You might be surprised to know it's exactly the same for me." He paused at the door. "Goodnight Julie Michaels. See you tomorrow."
    "Tomorrow," she muttered, then shut the door behind him.
     
    * * *
     
    Julie leaned against the door and let out a breath. She still couldn't quite believe Matt Kingsley had tracked her down, that he'd agreed to participate in the cook-off, and most