The Beast Gets His Cowgirl in the Show Me State - Jessie Gussman Page 0,2

of booking them, and she wouldn’t book someone who was going to be able to figure out that Madeline wasn’t what the entire world believed she was.

She tossed the bacon around until she felt it was cool enough to put in her mouth.

“Oh yeah, this is good stuff. Here.” She handed the other piece to Khalil, who set the tongs down and took the bacon, putting the whole thing in his mouth at once before picking up the tongs again.

“Handy. To have a mouth big enough that it can hold an entire piece of bacon.”

Khalil grinned at her. “It makes everything better.”

It sure did.

Cheryl’s voice came through her earbud. “Have him put the lid on and turn it on low and tell everyone that it needs to cook for six hours.” There was relief in her tone. Every single show they taped, they ran the risk of their scheme being exposed.

“Grab the lid and put those babies to bed. In six short hours, you’ll have a meal your mum will be proud of.”

Khalil was a sweet guy, and, like most of the football players she had on her show, when she mentioned his mum, his smile got huge. He looked in the camera, waved, and mouthed a “Hi, Mom.”

She just loved it when they did that. So adorable.

“Now it’s time for you to get the chicken out of the warmer and put some on two plates for you guys.”

She had Khalil do that, relief making her a little giddy. Giddier than usual anyway. The folks at home were used to it and expected it from her show.

Brits were supposed to have a stiff upper lip and be maybe a little stuffy, but while she had the accent, she totally missed the personality. It was all because of her dad, who had been half Italian, half French and could never resist a good time. Which was probably the reason he only stayed with her mum long enough to conceive a child and not long enough to raise it. Madeline had never even met him.

She only knew him through her mum’s stories, which always seemed sad at the end, like her mother would have gone with him if she hadn’t been tied down with a baby to raise.

Maybe that gave her daddy issues. Maybe that’s why she sought the limelight and what had started out as a YouTube sensation with Cheryl sitting on the floor behind the counter telling her what to do while Madeline stood and flashed a grin while putting together whatever recipe Cheryl would come up with.

Their quirky popularity had eventually landed them a contract and a ride to Hollywood.

She and Khalil both took a bite of the chicken on their plates, declared it good, and smiled at each other.

She mentioned the special guest in a hook for the next show, then Stella, the director, called, “That’s a wrap.”

Another one in the books and still not outed.

“Thanks for being such a great sport, Khalil. And for coming on the show,” Madeline said, holding out her hand. Khalil switched his fork to his left hand and grabbed her right.

“This stuff is actually pretty good. It didn’t even seem that hard to make. I think I could do it. Can I take the rest of this home and maybe that stuff in the crockpot, too?”

She often sent the leftovers home with guests or stagehands. Whoever wanted it. Whatever was left went to homeless shelters. “I’ll make sure that you get all that we have, and I’ll have the staff get you a printed and autographed recipe.”

“Thanks,” he said, his fist out.

She bumped his fist, and they grinned at each other.

“I thought this would be boring, but you’re kinda cute. What’re you doing Friday night?”

“She’s busy,” Stella said as she walked out and put her arm around Madeline. “And she’s leaving now. She and I have to talk about the new show that’s in development and just had the schedule moved up on it.”

Madeline’s heart stalled and seemed to hang suspended in her chest for long moments as her stomach gesticulated in ways that had nothing to do with the food that was in it.

She swallowed, and her voice came out harsher than what she’d expected. “They moved the schedule up? By how much?”

“They want to start filming in two weeks.”

Unconsciously, Madeline’s hand went to her middle, and her mouth hung open. What was she going to do?

Thankfully, Cheryl came stepping down from the overhead room from which she always watched. It