Ally’s words are like a knife to Eric’s heart. He stares at her in shock. The tears running down her cheeks are like salt in the wound. Eric lifts a hand to wipe the tears from Ally’s cheek. She pushes his hand away. He takes a step closer to her and she immediately takes a step backwards.“Ally. I didn’t know.” Eric tries to tell her that he searched for her but his voice breaks and he cannot get any more words out. Ally knows instinctively what he wanted to tell her and shakes her head as she finally gives into the tears she has been holding back for so long.“You do not get to choose which part of my life you want to be a part of. You cannot come and go as you please. Just sign the damn papers so I can have my freedom back.” Ally tells him through sobs.Eric looks at her for a long moment. His heart is breaking. He cannot look at her anymore. She now reminds him of ever mistake he made in his life, ever.“I do not want to divorce you.” Eric tells Ally in a last attempt to keep his
Ally pulls her clothes into place. She refuses to look at Eric. She cannot remember ever feeling this conflicted. She loves being in his arms but she hates that she wants to hate him.Eric looks at Ally as he gets dressed. He desperately wants to keep her in his arms. He knows if he had enough time with her, she would let her guard down and be close to him again. He takes a step closer to her.“Ally, please stay with me.” Eric asks her softly. His soft soothing voice calls to her heart. Ally keeps her eyes off him. She has come so far. She needs to keep going.“I have work to do. I cannot hang around here all night.” Ally regrets her tone as soon as the words are out of her mouth. She is not really used to mistreating people and she hates hurting others, but for some reason she needs Eric to feel her pain. She turns around and meets his gaze.“Sign the papers. I will pick them up tomorrow.” Ally turns and walks out of the office. Eric cannot help but stare after her. He really thought
The next week Ally forces herself to focus on recipe designs. She practices making old favourites and adding specific elements that she found to work well with combinations. Eric, watching her from his office, realises what she is doing and decides to start competing with her long before the competition starts. He sends Gareth to find him the best binoculars he can possibly get his hands on.Eric is amazed with the detail the device delivers. He can watch what Ally is doing as if he is standing next to her.Ally prepares a dish she always favoured and liked to prepare. She takes a whole day to make it perfect. Eric, seeing what she is doing, decides to make the exact same dish. He has the upper hand, being able to see exactly what she does. He decides to put his own spin on things and add a little of his own favourite personal touches.When he sees Ally standing back and eyeing her creation with satisfaction, he sends the dish he prepared to her with Gareth.Ally is startled when she
Two days before the competition starts, Ally and Eric book into a luxury hotel where all the contestants will be staying for the duration of the competition. They laughed as they booked into their separate rooms. Apparently, the organisers have not figured out that they are married yet.Ally could not bring herself to move back in with Eric. She avoids Bennet at all costs. She loves spending as much time as possible with Eric. They practiced making interesting dishes every day for the last two weeks and they have enjoyed their creations together every night.Sometimes, Eric would suggest that she changes the techniques that she uses to ensure that a certain element of her dish is toned down a bit or to make it stand out more. Ally would give Eric thorough reviews on his creations. Neither of them felt criticized by the others’ opinions or suggestions. Ally enjoyed being able to completely relax around Eric.Eric puts his luggage down in his room and takes his phone out of his pocket.
Ally receives a cocktail from a waiter. She knows immediately that it has to be Eric who sent it to her. She looks to the bar to find a very disgruntled Eric standing next to a man who she only knows from articles and things she read online. Rick Gust is one of the most prominent chefs in the culinary world. Her eyes meet his and the look he gives her instantly makes her uncomfortable.He is not an attractive man. He also has a reputation of being a serial player and the women who have had the nerve to talk to the press about him, had nothing good to say. He is not a good person and Ally cannot really fathom why so many women have given this man the time of day, or night, for that matter.Ally tries to focus on Eric and nod her thanks for the drink, but she finds her gaze shifting to Rick again. He is staring at her and he looks hungry. The kind of hungry she is not willing to feed. It bothers her that Eric looks so angry. Ally is sure that other people would not notice the little sig
Ally opens her door to find a very drunk Rick standing there, waiting for her. His one hand is holding onto the door frame while the other hand is still holding a half empty bottle. From the look of it, he doesn’t really need the rest of what is in that bottle. The smell of alcohol hits Ally even before she could greet the drunk man at her door.“You will be the perfect end to my day.” Rick tells Ally before pushing into her room. Ally quickly tightens her robe around her body.“I didn’t invite you in. Please go to your own room.” Ally tells Rick as politely as she can while still being very clear on the fact that he entered her room uninvited.Ally opens the door again so Rick can leave. He does not. Rick makes himself comfortable on Ally’s bed. He half lays down and takes another deep swallow of the alcohol in the bottle. Ally cannot think that a man in his state could possibly think that he would be successful in seducing a woman. What kind of women has this man been keeping compan
Ally spends the night with Eric. The next morning, she sneaks out for a change of clothes in her own room. When she enters her room, she stands in the door, shocked at the scene in front of her. Her whole room has been ransacked. Ally quickly dashes to get other clothes on.She goes through her things that has been strewn over the room. She cannot really see what the person was looking for, until she gets to her desk where all her files and notes were stored. She looks up to find Eric standing in her open door.“What happened here?” he asks as he steps into the room.“I have no idea, but my recipes and notes are gone.” Ally says as she goes through the papers still left on her table.“Are you kidding me?” Eric asks as he comes to stand next to her. “How did they get through the locked door?”“I am not sure that I locked it.” Ally says, her tone unsure.Two other contestants walk past the room and take a quick look inside before walking away while giggling.“We have to go.” Eric tells
Eric is immediately livid with Ally. He specifically told her to stay away from this man and she also already saw how he could be. Eric contemplates ignoring his instructions from the organisers and just following the two of them to see where they would go. He checks his watch. There is not enough time and he will be damned if he falls out on purpose and let Rick stand a chance at winning.Eric took a quick nap when he got to his room and just woke before he saw Ally leaving with Rick. He knows that when he just wakes, he is not in the best of moods. Ally should know better. Eric is very sure, though, that Ally is not interested in Rick at all.Eric goes to his meeting with the organisers. He walks past the restaurant and almost start laughing out loud when he sees Ally and Rick sitting at a table. He is one hundred percent sure that Ally chose the table. They are seated at the largest two-seater table in the restaurant. Ally put as much distance between the two of them as she possibl