Page 36 of About That Night

It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. It was actually kind of exciting. Navaeh did one too, and we’ve been going through the profiles together.

He eyes me, but his expression is casual. “Wow. That is impressive. You been swiping?”

“I have. Several matches so far and a couple of conversations, though I ignored the ‘what’s up?’ guy.”

Hank nods in approval. “Good girl.”

Why does that sound so damn sexy coming from his mouth?

I firmly ignore that thought.

We get to the holding cells. There are three, and they’re narrow and dusty, the bars rusted. There’s an ancient toilet in the corner of each one.

“What are you going to do with these?” I ask, a little intimidated by how crime-and-punishment they actually look.

“Men’s room, ladies’ room, family bathroom,” he says, pointing to each one. “The toilet will be boxed off, then the wall will be here.” He gestures. “The bars will be the divider between the sink area and the entry. I have an obsession with a double-entry to restrooms. I hate in a restaurant when the door opens and you can see women at the sink or men at the damn urinal. What happens in there needs to be a secret, entirely separate from consuming food, you know what I mean?”

“I love everything about that. It’s one of those things that, when you have the two-door system, no one even thinks about it, but when you don’t, you do. What are you calling the restaurant, by the way?”

“Conviction.”

Hank is very clever. “Oh, I love that.” I step inside one of the cells, curious about the space. “This is all so amazing. I’m so excited for you. This must be quite an investment.” I can’t help but think about how expensive this must be.

“Everything I’ve got.” He leans against the bars. His sleeves are rolled up, showing off his tattoos, one of which is a prominent chef’s knife. “Go big or go home, right? Life is just a series of risks.”

“You’re much braver than me. I feel secondhand anxiety for you right now. My shoulders and buttcheeks are all tensed up with how much I want this to work out for you.”

Hank laughs. “Relax your buttcheeks, Chastity. I have faith this is going to be a success. I make fucking amazing food.”

“Fucking amazing, huh? Is that the critical review?”

“Yep. Food critics everywhere call my food fucking amazing.” He straightens up. “Now come away from that toilet.”

I surge forward. “Is there a bug? A snake?”

“Jesus, no, relax. It’s just not sexy.” He steps aside as I power past him, brushing all over my shoulders and shivering. Invisible legs are suddenly everywhere, all over my bare skin and clothes.

“Is it a spider?”

“There’s no bug.”

“I feel like something’s touching me.” I brush my ass and then actually try to turn and look at my butt. “What’s on my jeans?” I’m panicking, and I can’t rein the feeling in.

Hank brushes at my ass, hard, several times.

I bounce up and down, frantic. “Did you get it? What was it?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to touch your ass.”

My jaw drops open. “Hank Williams Young!”

He winks at me. “The Williams is silent.”

“I should…”

“What?”

“You really shouldn’t…”

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