With a full-on smile, Gabi nodded. "Thanks! You too. And may the best cook win."
Tossing her head back and laughing before looking back at Gabi, my mother said, "Oh, I will."
I COULDN'T BELIEVE it. Katerina was here. In the competition. I was screwed. Then she made the comment about me coming in second. Then about her winning.
Oh. Hell. No.
Watching her walking away with her group of Maria's, I spun around. Pointing to Liza, I said, "Menu. Change."
"What? You can't do a menu change. Are you crazy?"
I paced back and forth as I rubbed my temples and tried to think of one of my grandmother's best recipes.
"Uncle Dimitris says Italian food is just Greek food, but with no flavor."
My eyes swung over to the dark haired beauty in front of me. Without taking my eyes off of her, I said, "Nic."
"I'm on it," he said as he walked toward his cousins and ushered them away.
Turning back to Liza, I said, "We have got to win. I want to take that woman down!"
She nodded then said, "You do know that's your boyfriend's mom? Like, this may end bad."
"Bullshit! She's challenging me, Liza. Don't you see that? She wants to test me. See if I'm strong enough. Well, I'm strong enough!"
Nic walked back over rubbing the back of his neck. He always did that when he was worried or nervous about something. It was a habit of his I picked up on early on.
He grinned. "I took care of my cousins."
I nodded.
"Okay. I've got the menu and I know we have everything." Liza smiled as she took out a pen and paper to write it down. "We're going to start with Spinach pesto bruschetta."
"Yum," Nic said with a huge smile.
"Then steamed mussels in that Italian beer we brought for Nic to drink."
"Hey!" Nic said with a sexy smile.
"Two appetizers?" Liza asked with a slight shake in her voice.
"Then, hazelnut chicken. It's a one-pot dish and will be easy to deal with."
Liza nodded. "Okay dessert?"
"Not yet, Liza. It's time to go big or go home. The other main course will be lemon and herb branzino."
"You're gonna make a fish also? Are you crazy?"
I smiled bigger. "Then for dessert, we'll have the one Italian dessert everyone loves, cannoli's."
Liza breathed a sigh of relief. They were simple as hell to make and I could whip them out like nothing.
"And . . . the olive oil sobertto with raspberry and balsamic. Gotta love Giada for that recipe."
Liza shook her head. "What!"
"The sorbetto is already made. So that is an easy one as well."
Peeking over to Nic, he wore a grin from ear to ear. "Don't you dare tell your mother I'm going double."
He pretended to lock his mouth and toss the key. "Not a word."
"Okay, now that we have a menu, let's write it up for the judges and finish getting set up. It will start soon."
As Liza and I moved about getting everything set up and ready to go, I felt confident I was going to at least beat Katerina. If I could place better than her, then it would earn me the respect I needed from Nic's family.
Nic walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. His breath tickled my ear and my heart froze as I waited to hear what he was about to whisper in my ear.
"You're so fucking sexy right now."
"Yeah?" I asked with a smile as I attempted to plug in the mixer with Nic all over me.
"Yeah. You have no idea how hard I am for you right now."
I pushed my ass slightly into him. My stomach clenched as I felt his desire.
"Fucking hell, Gabi."
Turning in his arms, I glanced over to see Liza pulling out all the sugar and flour. I looked into his dark eyes and softly asked, "Tell me what you would do to me if we were alone."
Nic swallowed hard then leaned in closer. "I'd slip my hands up that dress of yours and slowly pull your panties off. Then set you up on this counter and slowly lick your pussy."
Holy crap'ole. I wasn't expecting him to be so dirty.
A small moan slipped from my lips.
"Then . . . then what?" I asked, nearly panting.
"I'd finger fuck you while sucking on your clit until you screamed out my name and begged me to stop."
I could feel myself getting wet and I had to squeeze my legs together. Another peek at Liza showed she was talking to the lady setting up next to us.
"Then I'd spread your legs wider so I could see those pretty pink lips that my cock was dying to slip into."
"Nic. Stop."
He smiled. "Turning you on, baby?"