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“I saw him this weekend barking out orders.” Cole laughs. “Your mother was scolding him while Gian and Lusanne argued about putting red pepper flakes on pizza. Business as usual in the DeLuca clan.”
That sounds about right.
“Lusanne isn’t any better. The woman puts grated cheese on hers.”
Cole makes a face. “Speaking of grated cheese—”
“This oughta be good.”
“What’s with you cozying up to the owner of Leoni’s?”
I sit back in the plush leather chair, silently cursing Cole for bringing up the woman I’ve tried not to think about today. Unsuccessfully.
After the cooling off Saturday night—Evie clearly wasn’t thrilled about my Cucina nomination—we hardly talked at all yesterday. And now that the festival is over, who knows if we will. I’m pretty sure our ruse is dead, even if it did seem to be working.
“Where did you get that idea?” I hedge.
Cole isn’t taking the bait. “Zara’s a stickler for facts, and Lee isn’t known to write rumors. So?”
Today’s About Town was pretty explicit.
“She saw what she saw.”
Now Cole sits back too. “That seems . . . involved.”
“If you only knew.”
“I guess it could work.” Cole thinks the biggest complication is Evie being my competitor.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. I guess we were both nominated for a Cucina Award, and Evie doesn’t seem pleased.”
Cole loosens his tie. It is after five o’clock, so he probably doesn’t have any more clients today. “I only know what the hell you’re talking about because Zara mentioned it. She seemed pretty excited for Evie. You were nominated too?”
Shit. She really is after this award.
“Yeah, it was kind of a last-minute thing. Someone at the magazine who runs this award called me last week. Pretty much anyone can nominate. It’s only after the judges come and advance you to the next round that it becomes an official nomination. One you can use in marketing. They split it up by regions every four years, and the Northeast gets a crack at it this year.”
“Northeastern PA?”
“No, Northeast U.S. But from there it is further broken down by region, so we aren’t competing with all of PA.”
“Makes sense, I guess. You couldn’t go two blocks in Old Town without hitting an Italian restaurant. I wouldn’t want to compete with the rest of Philly. Not that you’re not as good as any of them.”
“Yeah, yeah. You already dug the hole.” I laugh. “Go ahead and shove me in.”
“Seriously, though. You and Evie Fuller.”
“Seriously, there is no me and Evie Fuller.” Pushing up, I start to stand. “Are you done for the day?”
Cole shakes his head. “With clients, but I still have some paperwork.”
“I’ll let you to it. You coming Thursday?”
Cole gives me an “I let you off the hook easy” look. Luckily, no more talk of Evie.
“You still coming?” he asks.
Shit, forgot for a second.
