Cat Schield - A Taste of Temptation

By the end of the first season, his viewership had increased threefold. Inspired by the flood of emails from viewers asking how they could help, the network partnered with a world help organization to bring aid to the areas hit hardest by war and poverty. It was somewhat surreal to discover he did more good with his half-hour television series than his parents did in a year with their missionary work. And it was sad to realize no matter how much he did, they would never approve of his methods.

Still, money had been raised. People had been fed and given medicine. Sources of fresh water had been brought to villages that needed it. But no matter how much Ashton accomplished there was always another town ravaged by unrest or burdened by poverty. His gut told him he shouldn’t walk away from all those who still needed help. Yet wasn’t it this exact sort of arrogance—that he was somehow special and necessary for others’ salvation—that made him so angry with his father?

“Chef Croft, are you ready to begin?”

Ashton swiveled around and gave the assembled group an easy smile. “Whenever you are, gentlemen.”

He could see that his manager was on the call from his L.A. office. Vince’s expression gave away none of the concern he’d voiced to Ashton late last night, but he wasn’t looking as relaxed as usual. This show would take Ashton from celebrity chef to household name. From there the possibilities were endless.

“Chef Croft,” began Steven Bell, a midlevel executive who’d been acting as the group’s mouthpiece these past several months. He was the third in a line of conservatively dressed, middle-aged men with a talent for pointing out problems and little else. “We have slotted the new show to begin the end of February and would like to start taping in three weeks. Is that a problem?”

“Not at all.”

Several of the men exchanged glances, and Ashton picked up on it. If he’d learned anything in the past several months, he’d discovered the path to superstardom wasn’t a smooth one.

“We’ve been told your restaurant in the Fontaine hotel is behind schedule,” said the man Ashton thought of as Executive Orange because whatever spray tan he used gave his skin a sunset glow.

“Untrue. It’s set to open in two weeks.”

“And your expectation is that you’ll have it running smoothly immediately?”

Ashton knew what was going on. Vince had warned him that since Ashton was unwilling to give in on the matter of quitting The Culinary Wanderer they were looking at other chefs in an effort to force his hand.

“I will be leaving my kitchen in good hands. I offered Chef Dillon Cole the head chef position.” He left out the fact that Cole hadn’t agreed to take the job.

“He’s out of Chicago, correct?”

Unsure which of the six executives had spoken, Ashton nodded. “A talented chef.” Which was perfectly true, despite his earlier criticism. Ashton just wasn’t sure he was the right man for Batouri, but he was running out of time and options. If he wanted to host the new show, he needed to be available.

“We’d like you to come to New York next week and spend a couple days working with our producers. We feel you should be on the set and run through a couple versions of the show to get some film that we could run past a couple of our current hosts for their input.”

“What days did you have in mind?”

“Wednesday and Thursday. We could schedule something in the afternoon, say around two?”

Harper was going to filet him when she caught wind of this impromptu trip. “I’ll be there.”

“We’re looking forward to seeing you.”

After a few more niceties and good luck wishes for his restaurant opening, the New York executives signed off. When it was just Ashton and Vince still on the call, the manager let his true feelings show.

“Those bastards are not making this easy, are they?”

“Did you really expect them to?” Ashton countered. “This isn’t a travel network with a couple hundred thousand viewers. This channel draws over a million viewers for some of its least popular primetime shows.”

“What I expected is for them to be falling all over themselves to bring you in. They’re looking to give their lineup more sex appeal. While the numbers have been slipping for cooking shows lately, home improvement segments are on the rise.”

“Any idea why?”

“If you listen to my wife and daughter, it’s all due to the hunky carpenters they’ve been hiring.”

Ashton grinned. “So you’re saying they aren’t as interested in my culinary expertise as my impressive physique?”

“How does that make you feel?”

“Like we should be negotiating for more money.”

“Maybe I should suggest you do the episodes shirtless.”

“Don’t give them any ideas.” Ashton grimaced. “They’ll probably turn it into a bit. Stay tuned for the next segment when Chef Croft will burn off his shirt.”

“Well, you’d better get that restaurant of yours open in Vegas or you won’t have to worry about what they want you to wear.”

“Have you heard from the guys over at Phillips about the proposals I made regarding next season’s location?”

In addition to negotiating with the Lifestyle Network, he was in talks with Phillips Consolidated Networks for his seventh season of The Culinary Wanderer. They were pushing him to film next season in Africa. They’d reasoned that since he was South African, he would enjoy returning to the land of his birth. The exact opposite was true, but since he’d created an elaborate backstory that had nothing to do with his true history, he couldn’t provide an excuse strong enough to dissuade them.

“They rejected England immediately. Apparently your best ratings come when you are off the beaten track. The Indonesian stuff has been a huge hit with everyone who’s seen it.”

“What about South America? I could get six or seven episodes out of Brazil alone.”

“They said they’d consider it for next year.” Vince rolled a pen between his palms. “I think if you want to keep doing the show, it’s going to have to be Africa. Of course, that’s dependent on whether Lifestyle Network gives up on getting an exclusive on you.”

Frustration with the producers of The Culinary Wanderer had led him to talk to Lifestyle Network. He wanted to grow his career in a big way and the new show could do that. Becoming a household name would open a lot of doors. But it wasn’t where his heart lay. He’d never stop craving new adventures in exotic locations. It’s why he intended to find a way to do both. Being forced to choose between his passion and his ambition wasn’t an option.

“I really don’t want to go to Africa.”

“Come on. How bad can it be? You still have family there, don’t you?”

“Sure.” In fact, he had no idea if his parents were still alive. He hadn’t spoken to them since he left home at fifteen. A lot of bad things could happen in twenty years, especially in the sort of places his parents took their missionary work.

He heard the door open behind him and noticed the change in Vince’s demeanor. His manager sat forward in his desk chair and ran his fingers through his short sandy-blond hair. Glancing over his shoulder, Ashton noticed Harper had entered the room. She didn’t look happy.

“Gotta go, Vince. Keep in touch.” He ended the network connection and the monitor in the room went blank. “Thanks for letting me borrow your equipment. This is some nice stuff.”

“Chef Cole tells me he’s not going to be our head chef.”

“I offered him the job just like you wanted.”

“I wanted you to hire him.”

“He turned me down.” Ashton pushed his chair back from the conference table and stood up.