Teresa's Hungry For The Food Critic: Bubble Bath Romance, #8

By Max Watson

Teresa

I finally realized my dream of opening my own café. Trouble is, my grand opening just so happened to coincide with the entire world shutting down. Can my luck get any worse than a freaking global pandemic right when I finally took my nose off the grinding stone? So while I waited for the world to open up again, I've been stuck here, in my lonely café, obsessing over a pie recipe like it could save my dying dream. Then one day, Eren, a local celebrity food blogger shows up! With delectable gifts and simmering glances, Eren has me wondering…could this be luck turning in my favor?

 

Eren

After a year long hiatus from the crazy fame of blogging my passion, I decide to dip my toe back in with a visit to a new local café. But Tea's House offers more than a yummy bite and good company. The owner has a passion for food that matches my own and soon, I find myself stopping in every chance I get. Teresa—or Tea as she likes to be called—is passionate about more than just my foodie advice. But I've been burned before. Is she another spotlight chaser, hungry for fame like my ex? Or is the simmering tension between us worth exploring?

 

Teresa's Hungry For The Food Critic is part of Max Watson's Bubble Bath Romance collection. Each standalone short story is intended to be read in one sitting—in a hot and steamy bubble bath! Each book features steamy romance with an HEA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Max Watson Books LLC
• Release date: Apr 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9781955527095

Max Watson

Max Watson braves the sweltering heat of Dallas, Texas along with her husband Spencer, their son Jack, and their three kitty overlords. From roofing, to flipping houses and businesses, to building race cars, to ladder-climbing in corporate America, Max Watson loves to jump from one challenge to the next. In her career working for the man, she frequently found herself enthralled by the human psyche and was always daydreaming twisted tales. Running away screaming from corporate America, she decided to tackle the itch just under the skin and begin her writing career.

Book preview

Teresa’s Hungry For The Food Critic

This book is part of Max Watson’s Bubble Bath Romance collection. Each short story romance is intended to be read in one sitting while you sit back and relax in a hot and steamy bubble bath!

Chapter One

G ah, that’s disgusting !

Lesle laughs her throaty laugh but the screen freezes and her face gets pixelated, her gaping mouth distorting into a garish blocky cave.

Les? Can you hear me? You’re frozen again. I smack the laptop screen in frustration.

Her chortling laughter starts up again, but in a robotic tone. Tea, you know I have terrible connection when I’m on the road. Don’t smack that dinosaur around or you’ll have to fork over for a new one. And I know you can’t afford one. Right when her mothering starts in, her face morphs back to normal, her look of disappointment restored to perfect resolution.

I roll my eyes, leaning into the camera so that she can clearly see the whites. Can you see me? Or have you frozen again? I’m rolling my eyes at you.

Okay, boomer. Back to the recipe. What’s so disgusting about it this time?

I look down at my plate and poke my fork into the pie in front of me. I thought I for sure had it this time. A sinking feeling settles in my gut.

While Lesle sucks her teeth and goes on her soothing rant about how I’m trying my best and she knows I’ll be great, I gaze over the red light blinking beside the webcam. Outside the windows, the streets are empty. No cars are fighting for that one free parking space. No overconfident driver is holding up traffic to parallel park his Hummer where only a Smart Car could fit.

I know this goes against everything I’ve researched, but I’m ditching the peas.

Not the peas! Lesle clutches her chest and sways out of view.

I chuckle but the sound is empty as it echoes around my tiny corner café. I’d bought it September 2019 in a cute little block in Waxahachie, Texas. How could I have known one month before my grand opening the entire world would shut down? There have been blips of lifted restrictions that have people, bleary-eyed and awkward, stumbling from their homes only to quickly scurry back to safety at the first alarm on the news.

Yeah, I’ll ditch the peas and try again. I mumble to the plate. An offending green orb rolls from my plate and onto the newly varnished hardwood floors. I won’t give up! My grand-grand-grand re-opening is gonna put me on the map. Just you watch! Les? Les? Dammit.

Lesle’s face freezes on a tight, patient smile before a dialog box notifies that the chat ended abruptly.

Now that vaccines have been rolled out and restrictions lifted, I thought bored customers looking for something to do outside of the homes they’ve been confined for so long would line up and around the block for a taste of my food. But then the only cars passing by on the street were the countless delivery drivers. And nobody’s willing to order from a new restaurant with no reviews.

Maybe I should just give up and deliver people the tacos they really want.

Um, excuse me, Miss. Is this place open? A couple stand in the doorway, squinting into the dim interior.

Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. I leap from my chair in a rush to gather menus, silverware, napkins. Yes, yes, please sit anywhere you like! As my ass leaves the chair, it sends the ancient wood flying back to smack against the floor. The thwack of the two woods meeting bounces around the room. I chuckle awkwardly without looking up as I right the chair.

With freshly laminated menus and polished silverware in hand, I straighten my shoulders and stride toward a table with a view. Seated in the front of the café, gazing out at the lonely scene on the street outside, the woman drums her fingers on the table. The man with her meets my eyes and watches me with a patient smile not unlike the one frozen on my laptop screen moments ago.

The early evening sun dips just low enough to stretch fingers of orange light through the windows. The light catches the man’s eyes. Their golden hue ignites, glowing and beckoning any soul unfortunate enough to gaze upon them. Caught in his predatory stare, my feet carry me closer until my thigh bumps the table’s edge.

The woman sucks her