Page 30 of Slow Simmer

She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes, still chuckling. “Oh, I don’t care. Ignorance isn’t the same as deliberate disrespect.” She went off into a stronger fit of giggles again, choking out “Hot dogs!” when Carlo looked at her quizzically.

He had to laugh along with her. The rapper asking Suzannah to prepare hot dogs was just so ridiculous. She was taking it better than he’d expected, certainly better than she would have years ago, when her prickly dignity wouldn’t have allowed such a demeaning request to pass without losing her temper.

A knock on the office door startled them both, and Suzannah glanced guiltily at Carlo, both well aware they’d have been having sex on her desk by now if they hadn’t had to make contact with B-Rex.

“Come in,” she called, and the door opened to reveal the sommelier, Edouard.

“Good afternoon, Suzannah,” he said, as always speaking in French and completely ignoring Carlo’s presence. “I was just speaking with Luke, who said you would be contacting the client this afternoon.”

“Yes,” Suzannah had successfully quelled her laughter. “Yes, we just spoke to B-Rex and his manager.”

Annoyed by Edouard’s attitude, Carlo folded his arms and leaned against the wall by Suzannah’s desk, deliberately remaining close to her.

“And did the client mention anything about what wine he would like?” Edouard enquired.

Carlo suppressed a snicker. “Probably Budweiser,” he said. “To go with the hot dogs.”

Suzannah lost her hard-won composure and collapsed into another fit of the giggles.

Edouard looked completely horror-struck. “Ibegyour pardon?”

“B-Rex isn’t exactly a gourmand. He asked for hot dogs.”

Carlo honestly though Edouard might faint. The sommelier groped for the edge of the desk, leaned on it heavily as though afraid he might fall down.

“Hot dogs?” he gasped in tones of purest disgust before putting his nose in the air as Carlo started laughing too. “I’ll wait for further information from the producers, then,” he said, turned on his heel and left them alone.

“You’re gonna throw up if you keep laughing that hard,” Carlo told Suzannah. She’d now progressed to snorts and cackles, clutching at her stomach.

“Hot dogs,” she said on a final snort. “Oh, God. I’ll never be able to hear that again without laughing.”

“I don’t think Edouard shared your amusement,” Carlo said dryly. She waved off his concern, plucking a tissue from the box on her desk and wiping her eyes.

“He’s far too stuffy. A good laugh never heard anyone.”

“It’s good to hear you laugh,” Carlo said softly, reaching out to touch her hair lightly. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Go wedge that door shut,” Suzannah ordered, grinning, “and you’ll hear me make a lot more happy noises.”

He was more than happy to obey.

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