Title: Yes, Chef by T. Neilson
Amuse Bouche Series Book Two
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary, Gay, Romance
Length: 193 pages/Word Count: 51,399
Summary:
Amuse Bouche: Book Two
A savory slice of first love.
Simon’s dad died when he was young, leaving Simon to take the reins of the family restaurant business—and the responsibility for his mother and brothers. His commitment to his duty left Simon time for little else, least of all romance.
Argentinian celebrity chef Luke Ferreya has wanted Simon since their culinary-school days, but for Simon, family always came first. Now Luke’s back in Simon’s life—briefly before he returns to South America—and he’s determined to give Simon a sample of everything he’s missed out on.
Simon’s brothers are grown, and his mother is doing fine on her own, and Luke is offering a second chance for a future full of the pleasures of fine food, wine, and especially love. Without his obligations to hide behind, can Simon finally allow himself to say “Yes, Chef”?
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Excerpt
Luke sat back with a satisfied grin and swirled the wine in his glass to gaze mildly at the legs. Simon couldn’t help himself. He looked Luke up and down, from his black hair to the sinews of his neck, the shoulders hidden under that dress shirt to the taper of his hips and the bulge in the crotch of his tailored trousers.
Someone touched Simon’s arm. Ginger. Her expression had gone from mildly amused to definitely and publicly amused. He bundled her out of sight of Luke’s table and the dining room.
“No,” he said, not sure exactly what he was addressing.
“Of course not,” she softly chided.
“No,” he blurted, “it’s not like that….” And then he glanced back around the corner at Luke because he couldn’t help it.
“Oh, boss,” Ginger said again, that time with a hint of scandal in her voice.
“It’s not.”
“It is.” He shook his head. He had two gay siblings. He wasn’t gay. He wasn’t anything. He ran a fucking restaurant and a hotel. He was surrogate dad for six brothers. He looked after his mom. He didn’t have time for it.
Ginger nodded in the direction of the chef’s table. “Even I will acknowledge that one is awfully pretty to look at.”
Simon wished he could do or say something… anything. He wanted to locate some scrap of dignity and tell Ginger to mind her own business. Instead, all he felt was dizzy. Ginger gripped his forearms.
“Breathe, boss, or you’re going to faint.”
He wanted to slide down the wall and curl up into a ball or make a break for it and leave nothing but a Simon-shaped hole in the wall of the hotel. And Ginger wasn’t helping matters even a little.
“I’m not hot for him,” he hissed at last. “He’s a fucking two-star chef, and he’s here with a food critic, and I am woefully unprepared.”
Ginger gave him a look that was more than a little pitying. “Of course. Anything you say.”
Author Bio
T Neilson is a writer and foodie who lives on Vancouver Island where the bread, beer, and coffee scene is a thing to behold. A romance writer since 2015, and a food industry die-hard for over a decade, Neilson decided to get out of coffee tasting and get into writing for good. These days Neilson spends a lot of time chasing after a toddler, thinking about upcoming books, and working toward the perfect hand-pie crust. It’s not an easy life, but someone has to do it.