Je t’aime

You can read Je t’aime free below.

Blurb:

A French man, interracial, marriage, billionaire, whirlwind romance book. Kendra is a culinary prodigy, known all over for her skill as a chef. Her talent has brought her up to the top, and now she’s working at a prestigious Parisian restaurant.

Soon she crosses paths with the strikingly handsome French billionaire and shipping heir, Remy. Sparks fly, igniting a whirlwind romance filled with fiery passion and undeniable chemistry… And soon their passionate love story leads to marriage! It seems like this would end in a happily ever after for Kendra…

But now the honeymoon phase is over, and Kendra finds herself supporting her husband and his career, determined to steer the company back to success. Will they emerge triumphant in the end? Or will the weight of responsibility and adversity threaten to capsize their love story? Find out in this European man, BWWM romance story by Shanade White.

Chapter 1

Kendra set the phone down slowly, afraid if she let her emotion have full rein, she might just break it. The only words she could have used to describe what she was feeling, was pure elation. She wanted to jump up and down, squealing like a teenager who finally sees her idol in person. It was hard to believe that at only 29 all her hopes and dreams were coming true. Admittedly, she had sacrificed and worked hard to get where she was today, but she still couldn’t quite process that phone call and all its implications.

Her first phone call would be to her mother, who had scarified as much as she had, if not more. Since her father had died when she was very young, her mother had been a single parent of two young children under the age of ten. With little education, she had been forced to work menial jobs to pay the bills and keep them clothed and fed. She and her brother had repaid her sacrifice by doing their best in school as well as helping around the house.

Kendra had taken over the cooking as soon as she had been old enough to push a stool up to the stove. Truly, it had been an act of desperation. Her mother while talented in many ways, was admittedly a terrible cook. As if that wasn’t bad enough, their neighbor who watched them while their mother worked, couldn’t cook either.

Kendra had never minded cooking and had fallen in love with the process. It must have been the simplicity of the craft that appealed to her. Although her mother provided a good life for them, even at a young age Kendra knew that they were always just on the brink of disaster. She longed for a life that was predictable and secure, in cooking she found the predictability she craved.

She knew what would happen when she chopped, baked, or sautéed the things she found in the kitchen. She could take the cheapest cut of meat and turn it into a meal that even a gourmet would love. In the kitchen she had the control that she lacked in life, she could chart a course of action and know that the result would be exactly what she wanted. In the kitchen she could forget the cold, unpredictable world and retreat to a world of her making.

By the time she was ten, her mother recognized her talent and took steps to ensure that those talents were developed to their maximum. Like all mothers, she had dreams of her children attending college and moving up in the world, it was clear that Kendra’s talent would lead her to culinary school, if given the chance to develop.

Developing those talents would have been much easier had Kendra been good at sports or music. There were many avenue’s available to develop those talents in children, but the culinary arts tended to be geared to adults. Programs for children were few and far between, and very expensive. Additionally, they typically involved nothing more than fancy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

After much research and study, her mother moved Kendra’s grandmother in with them, took a better paying job at night and hired a private chef as a tutor. Chef Angela was a member of their church and was aware of Kendra’s talents, and charged much below her usual hourly rate, for the chance to work with Kendra. She could see a master chef in the making and was thrilled to play a part in Kendra’s education.

For two years, Kendra and Chef Angela worked together, building Kendra’s skills. From simple skills like knife handling to more complicated baking projects, Kendra soaked up everything Chef Angela taught her. As her skills grew so did the grocery bills and Kendra’s mother knew that she couldn’t continue to keep up with the expenses. The more complicated recipes, required ingredients that even with her increased income she couldn’t afford. She still had bills to pay, never mind saving for the children’s education.

When one of the most popular television cooking competitions announced a junior edition, Kendra’s mother entered her immediately. The grand prize was $100,000, which would go a long way towards paying for Kendra’s education. With her talent, it was possible that she would receive scholarships but her mother didn’t want to rely on that alone.

The world was an unpredictable place and sometimes luck just wasn’t enough, you had to make your own luck. This was a lesson she had taught her children from a young age. She encouraged them to work hard and always do their best. When Kendra was in the kitchen it was easy for her to follow her mother’s advice. She made her own luck with delicious meals that could charm even the toughest critic.

The contest had been both a difficult and rewarding experience. Being away from home had been difficult, but had helped her to grow more independent. The pressure of timed cooking had forced her to learn to think on her feet, a critical skill in the world of cooking. At the end of the show, she emerged, not only the winner, but a much more confident cook and young person.

For the next year, Kendra was in the spot light, cooking on morning shows, creating her own cookbook for publication, and going to school. While she still enjoyed cooking with Chef Angela, she had adopted the attitude that she had mastered the art and no longer needed instruction. In true teenager fashion she believed the world revolved around her and acted accordingly. Her mother put up with her daughter’s attitude knowing that one day she would be brought down like everyone is at one time or another in life.

When she turned 16, Kendra was hired as a sous chef in a popular restaurant and did indeed find herself at the bottom of the ladder for the first time in her life. The head chef had little respect for television cooking shows and hired her not on the basis of her appearance on that show but on her skills in the kitchen. Instead of showing Kendra the respect she believed she deserved, he ridiculed her every move. Having never been treated this way, Kendra quit the job within a week, sobbing that she had been mistreated.

*****

Kendra had spent two days in bed, pretending to be sick, before her mother decided it was time to call in some reinforcements. In retrospect, it might have been a mistake for Kendra to participate in the show, winning had given her an inflated opinion of herself. But the money had been much needed, and would provide for an excellent education, no matter where Kendra chose to go. Never one to dwell on the past, she made the phone call, that she hoped would bring her gifted daughter out of her funk.

Chef Angela showed up at the front door just a few hours later. She went straight to Kendra’s room. “Time to get up. We all know you’re not sick, unless a good dose of reality can make a person sick.” She said.

“I am too sick.” Kendra said, burrowing her head in the covers. “This has nothing to do with that jerk of a head chef.”

“I think it has everything to do with your recent experience in the real world. It’s not all glamour and cameras. In the real world, people who go to restaurants, like the one you were working at, expect a meal that lives up to the restaurant’s reputation.” She explained.

“I just don’t see how berating me and criticizing everything I do, is going to make me any better. I know how to cook, it’s not that hard to make the stuff they’re serving. I make more complicated dishes in my kitchen.” Kendra said.

“Well, that may be true, but have you ever cooked for more than a few people? Have you ever had to have those meals ready at different times? Have you ever had to worry about the cost of the food and profit margins?” Chef Angela said, standing up and crossing the room to the closet.

“Well….” Kendra said.

“I didn’t think so. Put some clothes on. You and I are going on a little field trip. It’s time you learned what the real world of hospitality involves.” She said, throwing some clothes at Kendra. “Don’t take too long, our first appointment is in less than an hour.”

Knowing an order when she heard one, Kendra hauled herself out of bed and got dressed. She was in the front room and ready in 10 minutes, knowing better than to keep Chef Angela waiting. Their first stop was one of the hottest restaurants in the city and Kendra was excited to meet the chef.