A/N: This little fic was spawned from a random thought that popped into my head while making dinner three weeks ago. Then my muse had a plotting fest with it and I haven't been able to let it go. I had a few other fics I wanted to wrap up, but have now started this, and it will be fairly short, most likely only three chapters. (but on the longer side)
Two shoutouts, first to kmomof4 for suggesting the title for this. And second I want to thank romanceapologist for beta reading for me again. (the same who beta read my HOOK fic, I just wrote her as a different name in that fic.)
Hope you enjoy this little, hopefully hot, interaction between our favorite couple, CaptainSwan.
Chapter 1"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Emma groaned and cradled her face in her hands, elbows resting on the worn-out table near the kitchen. Her eyes were glued to the spectacle happening at the entrance of the shelter she worked for.
"Because we need the publicity to find new sponsors or this place will be shut down," Ruby said as she leaned back in her chair, fingers weaved behind her head, "the view is nice, good lord, who'd have thought a cook could be that hot."
Emma shifted her gaze to the man in question; the country's hottest and one of the most famous world-renowned chefs: Killian Jones. She had to agree the man had his appeal; currently clad in skintight leather pants (god she hoped he didn't prance around in a hot kitchen in those), a dark blue shirt with cuffs rolled to his elbows and a leather vest with some silky material on the back, he was quite the sight to behold.
"Mary Margaret was damn lucky she managed to worm her way into the good graces of his manager." Emma mused, looking at her boss talking with Regina Mills, the one person who held all the power on where and when Killian Jones would show up for anything.
"Yup, MM is tenacious when it comes to fundraising." Ruby agreed, "but having that dude gallivanting in here and making a cook-off on national tv? Now, that might be her best score yet."
"Well, you won't be the one next to him trying to make my own killer version of a lasagna," Emms grumbled, feeling more regret than usual at being the unofficial master of making lasagnas at work.
"Phew, it's going to be damn hot in that kitchen." Ruby fanned herself with one hand and laughed when Emma shot her a glare. "What? You can't deny he is hot, and with sizzling hot food between you two, anything can happen."
"Shut up." Emma turned her gaze to the entrance again. She tilted her head curiously when a small woman entered, her hair cut in a short pixie cut, wearing a dark green suit jacket and black skirt. "Who's the pixie?" She saw the woman hurry toward Killian and gave him a travel mug filled with whatever beverage he might prefer. Well, the guy was British so perhaps tea.
"That will be his assistant, Annabelle Tink." Ruby said and shifted in her seat so she sat in a similar pose as Emma, her arms resting on the table. "Been loads of rumors going on about those two."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, you know after he lost his fiance five years ago? Well, the press has been following him around closely to find out if he's found love again." Ruby shrugged.
"You certainly know a lot about this guy," Emma mumbled, "perhaps you should do the honors of defending our prime lasagna?"
"Nope, the boss wants you to do it." Ruby laughed.
"Fuck off." Emma groaned and hid her face in her hands. This was not going to end well. She'd sworn off men after her failure with Walsh last year, she didn't have time for this shit. Raising a ten-year-old kid was enough for her.
"I'm sure he would have some smart-ass remark to that statement." Ruby laughed, "you do know how he can be."
"Yeah, I have seen a few of his cooking shows. That mouth is more suited for a pirate than a world-renowned chef." Emma shook her head. The man was a walking nightmare that could make things all the more complicated for her.
"Well, then it's a good thing that the charity party tomorrow night is pirate themed." Ruby laughed when Emma groaned aloud once more.
"I'm going to look so ridiculous in a pirate wench costume." She hid her face in her hands, picturing the low-cut loose blouse Mary Margaret had shown her the other day.
"That dude will look hot dressed up as Jack Sparrow." Ruby mumbled and nudged Emma's shoulder, "you could be his Elizabeth Swann, you share her last name." Emma glared at her friend from between her fingers.
"Shut up."
"Hi, guys." Elsa pulled out a chair next to Emma and asked, "So, how is it going so far?"
"All the big shots are doing the talking for now," Ruby said and nodded to the group by the entrance. It seemed as if a few more had joined the party, two guys carrying equipment cases and what looked like tripods began stockpiling their stuff against the wall.
"Who are they?" Emma asked.
"I don't care. I love what I see." Ruby was practically drooling by now as the guys turned their back to them, giving them a good view of their assets.
"You're such a pig."
"Nope, a wolf, and I smell something good coming." Ruby pointed between the two equipment guys, "I want one of those, you keep the cook, Emma."
"I don't want to keep anything." Emma nudged her friend with her elbow and rolled her eyes. She loved Ruby but she was an animal when it came to men.
"Who's that?" Now it was Elsa's turn to draw their attention to a guy with a mob of dark curly hair that seemed to keep falling into his eyes.
Emma glanced at her blond friend in surprise, it was rare that Elsa paid much attention to men, but the interest was clear in her ice blue eyes. Emma looked back at Ruby, "Do you know?"
"Oh, that will be the brother…"
"He's got a brother?"
"Yup, he runs all his social media stuff." Ruby nodded towards the man, "Liam Jones is the one making any posts Killian shares on any platform." Emma could see that Liam carried a small tripod with a phone attached.
"Awesome." Elsa breathed out and when she realized her two friends were watching her she exclaimed, "Come on! That guy is hot."
"And at least 15 years your senior," Ruby said, giving Elsa a waggle of her eyebrows, "but you always liked them a bit older, hmm?"
Elsa rolled her eyes and kept her mouth shut but Emma could see a red tint bloom over her pale cheeks.
When the group of people came over to the three friends, Emma prepared herself to meet the man she would be working alongside for the next few days. She rose from her seat and walked over next to Mary Margaret who smiled as she said, "This here is Emma Swan. She will be doing the cook-off alongside you, Mr. Jones."
Killian Jones stepped forward and offered his hand, "Nice to meet you, Miss Swan. I'm sure this will be a fun experience for us all." His eyes crinkled in a genuine smile and Emma was surprised to see how at ease he seemed. She'd seen him working furiously in his kitchen and, as per her prior knowledge of him, he was known to yell and shout profanities left and right to make sure things went according to his plan. Anything else be damned.
"Likewise." Emma managed to get out as she took his offered hand. When their palms pressed together Emma felt a shiver run up her arm, making her skin tingle. She pulled back and rubbed her palm over the denim of her jeans.
Mary Margaret proceeded to introduce the group, and as Ruby had already sorted out who's who, Emma didn't pay too much attention. When Mary Margaret began introducing the two camera guys, Ruby let out a small displeasing groan when one of them was introduced as Regina Mills's husband, Robin.
Emma glared at her friend silently asking her not to make any more comments. Then tried to keep up with the chatter around her. She knew that today would just be a meet and greet and that they would set up a schedule for filming the live cook-off. It was still quite unsettling knowing that her skills would be shown on a national live television show but Mary Margaret had assured her that it would be an all-friendly competition, set between a world-renowned chef and a feisty social worker, Mary Margaret's words, not her own. Suddenly, she realized that Killian Jones was speaking directly to her.
"What?"
He lifted his eyebrows with a smirk plastered over his face as if he knew that her head had been so far away from their current little tête-à-tête.
"I asked if you could show me your kitchen." He nodded to the doors behind them.
"Oh, yeah, sure." Emma twirled around and walked past Ruby who mumbled aloud about something else Emma could show Killian, but this she ignored without even gracing the other woman with a look and she pushed open the doors to the kitchen.
The volunteers had scrubbed down the kitchen yesterday, so she knew it was clean, but she imagined it would still be a far cry from the polished and state-of-the-art kitchens he usually worked in. The bright yellow walls could use a fresh coat of paint and the teal green tiles were cracked in several places.
Emma walked to the center of the spacious room, and hid her hands into her pockets, letting him peruse the appliances on his own.
"It's large." He smoothed his hand over the long stainless steel table that lined the wall next to the swinging doors leading out into the large dining hall they'd just exited.
"Yeah." Emma shrugged, "I know it's not what you usually work in, but we get to feed loads of hungry people in this kitchen."
"An admirable feat in and of itself," Killian said and leaned against the table, crossing his arms over his chest. "When Regina told me about the work you do here, I knew I wanted to help out."
"We think this will help get us more sponsors and God knows we need the extra funds, especially with how expensive everything is right now." Emma swept her hand to the row of eight open-fire burners. "Only four of those work now."
"Good thing only two are needed for making lasagna then," Killian smirked, but Emma detected a sort of weariness in his eyes as if he was a little uncertain about something. "I hear you make the best lasagna here?"
"I learned from the best." Emma smiled proudly, "Granny taught me her secret recipe. Everyone wants seconds when it's on the menu."
"Your grandmother must be an amazing woman."
"Oh, no, she's not my grandmother. We all just call her Granny." Emma explained. "Well, technically, she is Ruby's grandmother, but she just kinda adopted us all. Granny only comes in here when she has her good days." Emma looked down and shuffled her feet. Ever since she started working here as a social worker she'd felt as if this was her home, and everyone here was the family she'd been missing her whole life.
"I'll be looking forward to meeting her." Killian smiled and pushed off the table, "So, yeah, this place will be large enough for our film crew to take some good footage." He circled the room and stopped a few times lifting his fingers in a square in front of him, assessing possible angles for shots. Or whatever it was he was doing right now. It was certainly going to be very different to have a camera following her around while cooking.
Not nerve-wracking. Nope. Not at all.
The doors swung open and Regina Mills breezed in followed closely by Mary Margaret.
"How are things in here?" Regina asked and looked around, Emma noticed a small pinched frown on the dark-haired woman. Then, she plastered on a smile and exclaimed, "It certainly has enough space for the film crew to move around without getting in the way too much."
Killina nodded in reply then asked, "Could you have Graham and Robin come in here? I'd like to go over some possible angles they can try and use to capture the cooking." Regina turned on her heel and left the kitchen. He glanced over at Emma, "You should join us. We need to prepare you for the filming too."
"Oh, yeah, sure, that will be fine." Emma ran a nervous hand through her hair.
"Are you comfortable with the camera?"
"Nope, but I'm willing to give it a try." She shrugged, "I mean all I need to do is cook up our famous lasagna. It's not as if I need to remember any lines."
Killian seemed satisfied with her answer and proceeded to tour the kitchen. Moments later, the two film crew guys came into the kitchen, and Emma had to roll her eyes when she spotted her friend Ruby lurking in the doorway. Seems as if her friend had set her eyes on the guy not married to Regina, but who knew if Graham had a girlfriend or not? Emma just hoped that Ruby would test the waters before taking the big plunge.
The three men immediately began talking about the technical stuff that was going to happen once they started filming. Emma tried to pay attention but she was trying to mentally prepare herself for sharing a kitchen with the attractive chef. She gulped down when he crouched down, and tilted his head from side to side, assessing something related to a possible angle for filming. The leather stretched pleasantly over his backside and somehow his shirt had come loose and a sliver of skin was visible.
"Yummy," Ruby whispered in her ear, making Emma jump, clutching her hands to her chest.
"Fuck off." Emma said through clenched teeth, hoping that Killian would be occupied with his technical talk with the two men.
"That is some fine piece off…"
"Don't even." Emma lifted a warning finger to her friend, glaring at the wolfish grin washing over Ruby's face.
"Well, it is." Ruby chuckled and lifted her eyebrow, "And I saw a little drool slip out of your mouth before."
"Nothing of the sort happened." Emma licked her lips, hoping to god that it wasn't true. But, who was she kidding? That man was one hot chef and tomorrow she would be sharing a kitchen table with him.
"It is really going to be hot in here." Ruby fanned herself with both her hands and when the three men looked over at them she gave them all a cheeky wave, "Carry on gents, we're just here…" Emma jabbed her friend in the ribs with her elbow.
"We're doing nothing." Emma tapped her temple, "I'm just taking notes for tomorrow. Carry on." She waved her hand in the air in a way she hoped showed indifference to the sudden heat in the room.
Killian eyed them both with a curious frown but then proceeded to continue planning out the filming for the next day.
Emma pushed her friend out of the door and, once they were back in the dining hall, she hissed, "Can't you keep your mouth shut for one second?"
"Well, can you blame me?" Ruby said and slumped down on a nearby chair, "Killian Jones is hot."
"Why are you not hunting him down then?" Emma huffed out, noting the stab of something green flash through her mind, jealousy?"
"I like my men a bit more rugged," Ruby waggled her eyebrows, "and that Graham-guy is a fine example of just that."
"You're nuts." Emma rolled her eyes.
"So, are you looking forward to cooking with the hot chef tomorrow?"
"I can't wait to show him what a real lasagna tastes like," Emma smirked as she sat down next to Ruby.
"You do know that the guy has a handful of world-renowned Michelin star restaurants." Ruby stated with a chuckle, "How is Granny's recipe going to match that?"
"Oh, I'm sure we'll be able to teach him a thing or two," Emma said.
"I know a few things you could teach him too…" Her words stopped when the door opened and the three men walked out.
Emma glanced around the large hall and saw her usually shy friend speaking with the other Jones in the room. To her surprise, they had their heads stuck together as they looked at something on her phone. Emma nudged Ruby and whispered, "What's going on there?"
"Oh." Ruby twirled around in her seat and chuckled, "I think they are comparing notes."
"Yeah, Elsa does a fine job showing what we do here on social media platforms." Emma smiled. It was Elsa's way of helping at the shelter. She wasn't outspoken or loud, but a quiet thinker who had a keen eye for detail that would boost the awareness of their work, taking the occasional photo and sharing it with the world in ways that made it all seem meaningful in a way Emma never could have done.
Regina and Mary Margaret walked out of the office and headed for the table where Emma and Ruby were seated.
"Emma, have you made sure that you ordered everything you need for tomorrow?" Mary Margaret asked.
"I have, I'm all ready and prepped too."
"Fantastic." Mary Margaret pointed to Killian, "Mr. Jones will prepare his food now, and be ready for tomorrow."
"Will you need me more today?" Emma asked. She wanted to go home and relax.
"No, go home and rest up for tomorrow." Mary Margaret said, "It's going to be a long day, with cooking and the charity party after."
"I can't believe I'm going to be on live TV tomorrow." She cringed, then wondered, "So, people will be looking into an oven while the lasagna cooks?" Emma asked and looked around, her eyes landing on Killian who had a bemused look on his devilishly handsome face. Ugh, why did his eyes have to be so blue?
"We have interviews lined up, and some fair stuff going on outside," Regina said and looked at her clipboard. "The local community is going to band together and help raise awareness of this place."
"This is going to be big," Emma mumbled, ignoring the blue eyes glued to her right now, "but we're doing this for the shelter and the people we help here."
"Yeah, don't forget the kids." Ruby chimed in. "Our new kids' outreach just started a while back. It will definitely help Anna and her group gain some publicity."
"I know." Emma knew from her many years here that it wasn't just adults that needed help, but she tried to balance her work-life with also being a mother herself. Therefore, she'd not had time to follow up on what went on beyond her line of work.
"I can't wait to dress up for the party tomorrow." Ruby clapped her hands together, "It's gonna be an awesome pirate feast."
Emma groaned inwardly. She didn't want it to be known that she honestly couldn't care less about dressing up in any sort of costume. Her son was far too excited as well, and her free time this past week had been spent on making sure his costume was ready. She was proud of the result and to see the joy in his eyes that morning when he saw the finished result was payment enough for her. Then, she'd be able to survive cooking on national television the next day and the whole dressing up as a pirate wench thing.
Emma realized that Ruby had asked Killian if he would be dressed up as Jack Sparrow, and she bit her cheek when the chef blinked at the brunette in stunned surprise. Then a smirk came over his face.
"No, not Sparrow but another famous pirate." He grinned.
"Oh, who?"
"Ruby!" Emma nudged her friend and looked at Killian apologetically, "Sorry about my friend here, she doesn't know when to shut up."
"Hook." Was all he said.
Ruby spluttered a suppressed laughter behind her hand, "Oh, I hope that is including a poofy wig and stupidly large hat?"
"I might have changed him up a bit from the Disney version." He waggled his eyebrows and his eyes landed on Emma, clearly waiting for her to respond to this information.
Emma pursed her lips and looked at him with narrowed eyes, "Look buddy, I honestly don't care what you come dressed up as. We're doing this for charity, and that is all that matters to me."
"And who makes the best lasagna in the northern hemisphere." Ruby added and wrapped her arm around Emma, "And this girl here makes my Granny's recipe to perfection. You won't know what hit you when she wins tomorrow."
"Bring it on," Killian said and did a sassy snap of his fingers and a slight tilt of his hip to the side, in an overdramatically way of showing indifference. This had Ruby double over in laughter, ignoring the grumble coming from Emma.
"Little brother, stop flirting." Liam came up behind his brother and clapped Killian on the shoulder, "Shouldn't you be prepping food by now?"
"It's younger brother," Killian whispered through the side of his mouth, "And I wasn't flirting." He bowed to them all. "My presence is requested in the galley, goodnight ladies, I'll see you tomorrow for the cook-off."
"I'm sorry for this." Regina huffed out, "but that man is hard to handle sometimes and his ego is far bigger than his…"
"Penis," Ruby whispered in Emma's ear, making her choke on her own spit.
"...head." Regina finished and looked at Emma with worry. "Are you alright Miss Swan?"
"Yeah, sorry." Emma waved her off and mumbled, "I'll be going home now, I'll see you all tomorrow." Emma waved to the group and headed for the door, wishing to get away from the awkwardness. She waved to her friend Elsa who was hunched over her phone, doing her magic online.
She picked up Henry from his friend's house on the way home and she spent the rest of the evening hearing him jabbering on and on about the costume party tomorrow. He even inquired a bit about the famous chef Emma would be working with. For a ten-year-old kid, he certainly knew a lot about the chef Killian Jones. Tomorrow would be coming far too soon, but Emma knew it was going to be one crazy day with a cook-off between herself and a world-famous chef. She just hoped that the kitchen wouldn't get too hot while sharing the same space as the leather-clad chef.