He headed back into the competition area, hating how idiotic he felt. Suddenly the atmosphere in here resembled a high school dance. Everyone seemed to be immersed in the business of impressing one another. Song, the Korean drama star, caught his eye and gave him a self-conscious wave from across the room. She was the only person in the crowded studio standing by herself. Her partner, an impressively tattooed Mexican American chef, was off talking to the mystery writer.

Rico turned around to see if his own chef had followed him. Not that he needed to check. Rico had always somehow known if she was in a room.

That was more than ten years ago, you knob.

He made his way toward Song.

She gave him a grateful smile when he stopped next to her and it felt like reclaiming his dignity.

“Pretty wild setup, huh?” He threw a glance at the six fully functional kitchens under one roof.

“My mother used to give me a hard time about never entering one kitchen—now I’m inside six at once!” she said brightly, eyes shining with humor.

For a moment, they absorbed their surroundings in companionable silence.

“So this is for her then, for your mother, you being on the show?” He leaned back into the counter, trying to take the weight off his leg.

Her smile dimmed. “My sister lives in San Jose, I wanted to spend some time with her. Haven’t seen her in years. We . . . well, I’ve been working nonstop for the past ten years and she’s got a family, children, a dog, you know, a real life.” She blinked at him and waited for him to respond, but he knew she wasn’t done. “That sounded a little regressive, didn’t it? Sorry, I guess I’ve heard my mother repeat it too many times. She must have gotten inside my head.”

This time the smile she gave Rico was so stoic, he patted her shoulder, not her bicep, thank God. “Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be, that all women eventually turn into their mothers?”

She looked mock-horrified, “Please tell me that isn’t true.” Her voice had a happy lilt to it that made everything she said sound enthusiastic.

“Well, based on what I’m seeing, if you have turned into your mother, she must be quite lovely.”

The research Rico had done on each contestant indicated that after him Song was the biggest star here in terms of fan following. How entirely unaffected she seemed by it was even more impressive than her stardom itself.