Sweet Talk Ch. 03

"Why do I have to be punished just because Mr. Incompetent here screwed up?" Sam protested as he and Jay followed her.

The elevator doors opened and they all got in. For a few moments, Anna seethed in silence. Then Sam started snickering again and Jason, damn him, joined in.

"This is not funny," she said, crossing her arms. "And it's also the last time I go anywhere with either of you," she muttered.

"Oh, come on," Jason crooned, throwing an arm over her shoulder. "It'll be just like old times. We used to have lots of fun at those camp-outs when we were kids."

"No," she returned, "you and Nate had fun. I was the one who ended up with a sleeping bag full of crickets."

"Oh, yeah," Jason grinned, tilting his head back at the memory. Then he smiled down at her. "I still say those crickets got there under their own power, though."

Looking up at him, Anna was irritated that even when she was ticked off at him, he still managed to be so damn gorgeous. She glowered at him. "I don't like you right now," she muttered.

"You love me," Jay countered, planting a quick kiss on her cheek. "I am sorry about this, though," he said, looking genuinely contrite. "With writing my column, filming at KIRA, working at Sugar and practicing for the competition, the hotel thing just kinda slipped my mind." He grinned. "But, look on the bright side: now you get a first-hand glimpse at what I look like when I'm sleeping."

Oh, God, Anna thought, that was the very last thing she needed.

She rolled her eyes. "Been there, done that—it's not pretty." The elevator doors opened and she walked out. "And," she added, "you snore."

"Lies!" Jay protested, following her out.

Sam turned in the direction of his room and smiled at Anna. "Well, I don't snore, so—" he started.

"Good for you," Jason cut him off with a small scowl, then grabbed Anna's bag from her as he headed for the room. They might be friends now, Jay thought, but if Sam seriously thought Anna was going to share a room with him, he was out of his damn mind.

"Wait, what're we doing?" Anna asked, standing between them. "Showers, first? Or dinner? I think—"

"Dinner," both Sam and Jay interrupted, making Anna wonder why she'd even bothered asking.

Between the two of them, they ate more than was probably humanly possible. And it figured that fate or DNA or whatever kept them both as slim and fit as if they lived in gyms.

Bastards.

"Meet downstairs in twenty minutes?" she asked Sam as Jason stuck his keycard in the door a little ways down the hall.

"Yeah, sure," Sam said, then nodded toward Jay. "Good luck with that."

Anna sighed and headed toward the room. Which she would be sharing with Jason for the next few nights. God, she thought, Sam had no idea how much luck she'd need in order to come out of this in one piece.

************************

Half an hour later, Anna was seated downstairs in the hotel restaurant with Sam and Jason. She was really trying to keep her mind off the fact that, sooner or later, she'd have to go upstairs. And get into bed with Jason. For a brief moment, she wondered if hotel security would let her sleep in the hallway…

Feeling childish, she pushed the thought away and glanced up at Jason and Sam who were studying their menus. They were all still waiting for their waitress who seemed to have been swallowed up in the extremely busy dining room.

"Do you think it's so busy because of the competition?" Ann asked, hoping some conversation would help ease her nerves.

"Yep," Sam said, not looking up from his menu. "Stuff like this is a pretty big deal in the culinary world. Plus, with all the cash prizes and the national TV coverage, it's—" he stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the uncomfortable expression on Jay's face. "Sorry," he laughed. "No pressure, right?"

"None at all," Jason grimaced, picking up the wine list. "Hey, Anna," he said after a minute, "they have your favorite—that merlot, you like."

"Really?" she leaned over to look at the list and saw that they did have her favorite wine, one produced on a Sweet Water vineyard. It was kind of cool to see something from their small town on a menu in big-city Chicago. She decided to order a glass.

"At least something's going my way today," she mumbled.

Both Jason and Sam decided to order a glass of pinot blanc, which had Anna shaking her head at how similar they were.

"You can't fault us for having good taste," Sam said.

"The man has a point, Anna," Jason added. But looked at Sam with a quirked eyebrow, "Except, speaking of taste, Sam, I have to say—I really hate that new cocktail you added to the menu at Sugar."

Oh great, Anna thought. Whenever they got started talking about something to do with the shop, it'd take a miracle to get them to stop.

"What? The Sucker Punch?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Jay nodded. "It sucks—and I don't mean that as a pun."

Despite the peeved expression on his face, Sam laughed a little. "Whatever. You're the one who told me to do anything I wanted with the cocktail menu."

"Uh, yeah," Jason said, shaking his head, "but I didn't tell you to create a friggin' craptail."

Laughing in spite of herself, Anna asked, "What's a craptail?"

"A cocktail…that's crappy," Jason informed her with a smirk. Then he looked at Sam, held up his fingers and started ticking off ingredients. "Jaeger? Good. Coconut rum? Fine. Pineapple juice? Okay. But sour apple liqueur and a lemon wedge?" He raised both eyebrows. "Crap. Tail."

Now, Anna was really trying not to laugh because she could see that Sam was about ready to defend his drink to the death.

"Have you even tried it?" Sam countered.

"No. No, I haven't," Jay replied. "And you wanna know why? Apple freakin' liqueur. What the hell is that?"

Sam's eyes narrowed. "I bet if you—"

"Okay," Anna said, standing up. "I've had about enough of this delightful little conversation. I'm going to the bar to get the wine. Hopefully, you'll be done talking about this by the time I get back."

They weren't really paying attention to her, though, as Sam tried to explain why his newest cocktail addition was worthy of Sugar's menu.

Anna wound her way through the crowded dining room and made it to the bar. It took a few minutes to get a bartender's attention, but when she did, he was back with the three glasses of wine in a matter of moments.

Eyeing the glasses, Anna was trying to figure out how she was going to carry all three and still navigate the crowded dining room when a man sitting a few seats down at the bar walked over.

"You need some help with that?" he asked.

Anna looked up, taking in his soft, almost feminine features. He had gray eyes, set off by an olive skin tone, high cheekbones and long eyelashes. But he was saved from being too feminine by a slightly square jaw-line and a physique that, even in his three-piece suit, was obviously toned.

Glancing around her, Anna replied, "No, I think I've got it." His gray eyes lingered, though, and as she turned to pick up the glasses, she felt them travel down, then back up, the length of her body.

She was wearing gray slacks and a fitted, button-up blouse, but he almost made her feel like she was half-naked. He was a good-looking guy, but still, this was a little awkward. Trying to edge around him, the glasses clinked together in her hands and one slipped. She would've dropped it if he hadn't caught it.

"Ah," he said, "just a little helping hand? I'd hate to see this lovely wine end up all over the carpet." He had a bit of a lyrical accent. Italian, she thought. Or maybe French.

Anna peered up at him. He was holding her glass of merlot, one finger stroking along the stem, and she really wanted to tell him no thanks. But she figured it was a little rude and, well, she did need the help.

"Okay," she said with a small smile. "Thanks. My table's this way."

"Lead the way," he replied, sweeping a hand out. He fell into step next to her and said, "My name's Andreas, by the way."

She flicked a glance at him, noticing the way he seemed to stare at her.

"I'm Anna," she said.

A corner of his mouth curved up. "Anna and Andreas. They sound nice together, don't you think?" he asked, then before she could respond said, "I assume you're from out of town?"

"Uh, yeah," Anna replied, trying to decide if he was hitting on her or just curious. She wasn't used to men, especially good-looking men in expensive suits, singling her out like this. "I'm from Seattle," she said. "In town for a baking competition."

His gray eyes lit up. "The Sara Lee competition?" Anna nodded. "Another coincidence," he told her. "I'm competing in it."

"Oh. Well…good luck," she lamely offered.

They were nearing the table and Anna saw both Sam and Jay staring her down with dark expressions on their faces. She frowned for a moment, wondering what their problems were, then realized they weren't looking at her, but at Andreas.

Confused and suddenly uncomfortable, she set Sam and Jay's wine glasses on the table and turned to take hers from Andreas.

"Thanks," she murmured, but noticed that all three men were staring at each other.

Not knowing what else to do, she made introductions.

"Guys, this is Andreas," she said, feeling incredibly awkward. "He, uh, helped me with the wine glasses. Andreas, this is—"

"Jason Blake and Sam Wyatt," he interrupted.

Surprised, Anna looked up at him, then at Jay and Sam who were, still, staring at the newcomer.

Andreas laughed. "Yeah, we all know each other. Went to the Culinary Institute together. How long's it been, guys?"

Oh, this was the last fucking thing he needed, Jay thought, eyeing the man standing next to Anna. Andreas Giordano. Yeah, they'd gone to the CIA together but they'd always rubbed each other the wrong way. Mostly because Andreas was one of the most deceitful, conniving bastards he'd ever come across in his life.

"Been about four years," Jason said, standing up to pull out Anna's chair for her. He didn't want her anywhere near this prick. "Thanks for the help," he told Andreas, before sitting down again. "You can go now."

He heard Anna gasp at his rudeness, but just kept staring at Andreas.

Andreas' eyes narrowed a bit, sliding between Jay and Sam, then he adjusted the sleeves of his charcoal gray suit, revealing a gold Rolex on his wrist.

"I assume one or both of you is here for the competition," he said with a slow smile.

"I am," Jay said. "And I guess that means you're competing, too."

"That's right," Andreas replied, his gray gaze moving to Anna who was sitting between Jason and Sam. "And here I was worried I might not have any worthwhile competition."

Noticing the way Andreas was looking at Anna, Jason wanted to stand up and slam his fist into the bastard's face. Fuck, as if he wasn't already wound up enough…

He clenched his jaw and let out a deep breath. "Well, I guess we'll just have to see how things go, then," he said, working like hell to keep from telling Andreas to get the fuck away from them.

"I guess we will," Andreas said after a tense pause. Then his eyes, again, slid to Anna. "It was nice meeting you Anna. I hope we'll be seeing more of each other."

"I…yeah. You, too." Anna said, completely dumbfounded by the way he was looking at her. Then, he turned and walked away.

After he was gone, Anna glanced between Sam and Jason. Sam was watching Jay with an anxious look on his face. But Jason was just staring off in the direction that Andreas had walked, one fist clenched on the table.

"Jay?" she started, and when he didn't respond, she put a hand on his sleeve. "Jay, what was that all about?"

He looked at her, his hazel eyes gone dark. "Nothing. Don't worry about it," he said.

She knew he was lying. It was obvious from the way he was all tensed up—and from the way Sam was eyeing him like he half-expected him to run off and tackle that Andreas guy.

But, she also knew from experience that when he got like this, it was best not to push. Let him tell her what the problem was in his own time.

"Anyway," she said, after a moment, trying to lighten the mood. "What's the verdict on the Sucker Punch?"

*********************

After dinner, they all went upstairs to bed. It was only a little past nine, but they'd been traveling since noon and Jay had to get up early for orientation in the morning.

Anna showered first and Jason was glad about that.

Sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows propped on his knees, he was trying like hell to unwind after that run-in with Andreas.

Fuck.

He would be here, wouldn't he? All through culinary school, they'd butted heads. It'd even gotten to the point a few times when they'd almost taken things physical, and Jay would've been fine with that, only Sam was always around to step in.

Except for once.

And that's all it'd taken to damn near get his ass booted out of school since Andreas happened to be the dean's nephew.

Not to mention a fucking prick who'd—

"Shit," Jason muttered, running both hands through his hair.

He didn't need to think about this right now. He needed to keep his head clear and focused for the first round of competition tomorrow. Letting Andreas mess with his head was exactly what that son of a bitch would love.

The bathroom door clicked open and Anna emerged, looking all pink and dewy from the shower. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and, in her pajamas, she looked like she had when she was still a teenager. Then, for a second, in the middle of his agitation, Jay stared at her legs, bared all the way up to mid-thigh where her blue cotton pajama shorts ended.

She usually wore jeans or fitted slacks and, right then, he was wondering when the hell her legs had gotten so damn long. And smooth-looking.

"I'm done in there, if you want to take a shower," Anna said.

Her quiet, familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Making him realize what he'd just been thinking. And about who.

What the hell? He needed to pull himself together and quick.

Standing up, he mentally shook himself and headed for the bathroom.

"I'll try to be quiet when I finish," he told her, closing the door behind him.

***********************

After getting into the bed, Anna laid awake, staring at the ceiling. Listening to Jason in the shower. Trying like heck not to imagine him naked. It wasn't really working, though.

Okay, she told herself, she could do this. It was just sleep. In a bed. She did it all the time at home.

A semi-hysterical laugh bubbled up in her throat. At home, she was in bed alone. There wasn't the Jason factor to deal with. But she did need to deal with it. Either that, or take herself out in the hallway.

Letting out a frustrated breath, she rolled over to her side, trying to get comfortable.

Damn, she was so irritated with him for forgetting to book her a hotel room. Honestly, who did that? But, at the same time, he had a valid excuse—he had been ridiculously busy these past few weeks. And, yeah, he'd done a pretty good job of keeping himself together without her around to nag him. She was proud of him.

Okay…so, she could've done without the having to share a bed with him, but he'd made a lot of progress otherwise, so he deserved some credit. He really was turning into a new and improved Jason Blake, she sleepily thought. The only problem was that he was making it harder and harder for her not to love him.

*************************

Anna was asleep by the time Jason finished up in the bathroom. Climbing into the bed next to her, he tried to ease slowly beneath the blankets without waking her up. Once he'd slid all the way underneath, he could feel the faint warmth of her body and, for some reason, he felt the last bit of his Andres-fueled tension easing.

It was dark in the room, but he glanced at her sleeping profile. She was lying on her back, a few loose strands of hair on her forehead, her chest slowly rising and falling in sleep.

God, he was glad she was here. Hell, he was glad she was even talking to him after that shit he'd pulled when she told him she was quitting. The idea of it still made his gut clench, but, he knew having her friendship was at least better than her hating him.

Those two weeks had been the longest of his life. And, he admitted to himself, as he slipped into sleep, he never wanted to go through that again. The last thought he had before sleep took him was that she was his family and family belonged together.

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Your guys' comments so far…GREAT. Thank you! Keep 'em coming. (Even you Jason-haters). And, hopefully Jason's starting to redeem himself! All of the anti-Jay email I'm getting is a bit worrisome…haha.

As always, happy reading.

~EVE