Her Centaur Chef

By Mary Winter

Effie Daniels left nothing to chance. A determined CFO of an internet startup, she counted numbers, weighed the cost against the benefits, and always made the argument for the more frugal option. Which meant she hadn’t made her decision to hire a personal chef lightly. However being pampered the weekend before Valentine’s Day would give her the strength to deal with the endless parade of chocolate and flowers that always invaded the office, and would fill her freezer so she wouldn’t have to cook for a while. If she happened to hire sexy star chef Nessos Aragnos, well don’t let anyone say the company wasn’t doing well. She just had to remember, she’d paid him to be there and when the weekend was over, he’d leave only his delicious creations behind.

The instant Nessos had seen Effie’s picture on her company’s website, he’d known she was his fated mate. That she’d hired him proved it. Plus, it’d provide the perfect opportunity to seduce her with his food and with his body. He was more than ready to take on the challenge of convincing her they were mates.

When she discovers he’s also a centaur, Effie’s wondering if there’s a little magic, or something, in the food Nessos is cooking for her. She’s willing to accept that Nessos isn’t human. That they’re mates? Well that’s going to take a little more convincing, one delectable dish at a time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charmed Chicken Media
• Release date: Jan 25, 2019

Book preview

Author

Her Centaur Chef

Centaurs of New York Book 2

Mary Winter

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

This book was previously released from a publisher. It has been reformatted and edited, but is mostly unchanged from the original version.

HER CENTAUR CHEF

Copyright © Mary Winter, 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Cover Art ® 2019

Book formatting by Unscramblet Author Solutions (http://www.unscramblet.com)

Electronic Publication Date: January 2019

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.

Chapter One

Effie Daniels sat in her office, overlooking a crowded New York City street, and once again counted down the hours until her private chef would arrive. She’d promised herself one indulgent weekend, something she could treasure, before the flowers and chocolates and sicky-sweet relationship stuff went on at the office before Valentine’s Day. That she was single didn’t bother her. That there were no prospects bothered her even less. She had her work as CFO of a startup that kept her busy. She’d heard from some of the women working in the small firm about how their boyfriends hated the long hours, hated the fact that they seemed more married to work than them. No thank you. She didn’t need that kind of hassle in her life.

She focused her attention on the take out menu sitting by her hand and wondered if she should order something to bring home with her, just in case. Of course bringing home Chinese takeout when she had a private chef showing up seemed silly. A waste of money even, and she couldn’t abide any of that. Still, she might want a snack or even something to eat in case he cooked in small portions and the food wasn’t any good.

She laughed, not caring if anyone heard her. Who was she kidding? She’d hired the God of Pasta to come cook for her this weekend, and she hadn’t told a single soul about it. She’d seen him at a party one of the Venture Capitalists had thrown, and even if she just fantasized about it, having the sexy Italian chef in her home would at least fuel fantasies for the next six months.

She flipped the menu over and brought up the restaurant’s app on her phone. Why not? She might need a midnight snack and for some reason chicken fried rice and crab rangoons really helped her to focus. She placed two orders and said she’d pick them up around six-thirty. It’d be dark by the time she left the city, but that’d give her enough time to finish these reports and get some projections sent to the CEO.

Taking a breath and preparing to dive into another round of work, she picked up the fortune cookie and removed the cellophane wrapper. The crunchy sweet treats with their little nuggets of wisdom inside were probably always her favorite part of these meals, never mind that she could buy a box online, probably even at wholesale prices.

She cracked open the cookie and brushed the crumbs from the table, then pulled out the piece of paper. The word of the day, as well as some lucky lottery numbers she’d never played, were on one side. On the other, the elusive fortune.

Always face excitement on a full stomach.

Well that wasn’t much of a fortune. Or good advice, really, she thought. Probably some sort of silly subliminal message about coming back to get more food, and she’d have to pass along the fortune to her marketing person just as a joke.

Then again, perhaps she could find excitement this weekend with her sexy chef. Oh whatever, who was she kidding? She’d hired him to cook for her, to make her feel special, so she could nurse her wounds when she didn’t get anything on Valentine’s Day. She dropped her takeout