Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“See you later,” I called over my shoulder, ignoring Andy’s attempts to ask me more questions as I hurried out the door.
When I got back to the restaurant, Brooke took one look at me and grinned. “Got a hot date tonight?” she whispered.
She sounded so enthusiastic and eager for details. I wished that I could give them to her, if only to distract her from her mother being there.
“Something like that,” I told her. “How’d everything go while I was gone?” Looking around, the kitchen seemed to be running smoothly, with things starting to wind down for the night.
“Oh everything was great, nothing to worry about!” Brooke poked me in the shoulder. “So, who is he?”
“What?”
“Your date, who’s your hot date, why’d you get all fancy?” She grinned at me. “It’s Cameron, isn’t it? He’s been sniffing around you for weeks.”
“I noticed.” The guy was far from subtle about it.
“Be careful,” Brooke warned me. “He’s a real Casanova.”
“I’m going to be fine,” I promised her. Because, you know, I wasn’t actually going to be doing anything with Cameron. “I can handle myself around a guy like him. I know how they work.”
Brooke relaxed a little and I squeezed her hand. “Hey, how are you feeling?”
“Better.” Brooke sighed, glancing through the door out to the dining room. “Mom left about ten minutes ago. I think she tried talking to me, I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, y’know? But I just stayed in here.”
“You don’t have to talk to her if you don’t want to. Go on home and have some ice cream or something and read a book before bed, calm yourself down. Take a nice bath.”
Brooke hugged me. “You’re the best.”
I felt a twinge of guilt in my gut at that. Yeah, I was the best… except for that bit about sleeping with her father behind her back.
Though I did feel guilty, though, it wasn’t enough to make me stop or change my plan. I saw Brooke off, and then supervised the shutting down of the kitchen. Soon, Michael was the only one left in the restaurant besides me.
He was in his office, and I was glad that Brooke had told me her mom had left—otherwise I’d be fucking terrified of going there to see Michael with Virginia. She didn’t deserve him, and it honestly would’ve broken my heart if I’d seen them together again.
I quickly put together a new dessert recipe: a lemon and strawberry cheesecake with limoncello infusion, chocolate chips, and a chocolate graham cracker crust.
This was a dessert I’d been working on for a while, trying to find just the right balance between the lemon and the strawberry, and not letting the chocolate element overwhelm everything. My kitchen had been a mess the last few days as I’d worked on it. I always tested things in my own kitchen first before subjecting the restaurant to them.
Once I made the dessert, I set it aside, then went to knock on Michael’s door.
“Come in,” he called.
I entered, forcing myself not to touch my hair or try to fiddle with my appearance. I looked good, and once I got my chef’s coat off and he saw my lingerie underneath… I shivered in anticipation, my gut starting to heat up as I imagined all the ways he could touch me.
Michael looked up as I entered, his expression cautious, guarded even. Fuck. I’d forgotten, with the whole Virginia thing, how he’d been avoiding me for the last couple of weeks. Right.
“You got a minute?” I asked. I tried to keep my tone casual.
Michael nodded. “Sure, what’s up?”
“I’ve got a new recipe, a dessert, I was hoping that you could try it and see if it’s something we want to add to the menu.” I gave him a soft smile.
Michael nodded, getting up. His lips quirked up into a smirk. “You just can’t seem to stop coming up with ideas, can you?”
“Oh, I’m always full of new ideas,” I said, unable to stop a bit of a purr from entering my voice.
Michael gave me a heated look, and I felt myself melting a little. It was so easy for him, all he had to do was give me one look and I was ready to beg him. I had touched myself in the days since we’d fucked and my fingers or even a toy just weren’t the same thing, weren’t as good, as having his fingers or his cock inside of me, stretching me wide.
He stared at me as if he could read my thoughts, as if he knew I was already aching for him, and for a moment I wanted to just forget my plan and kiss him right there, slide his hand into my pants, beg him to fuck me again.
But no…no fuck dammit I had to do this right.