Page 1 of The Flirt

Chapter One

Chad

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"Dad, can I have another slice?" Bella asked.

I laughed. My daughter never could only have one piece of pecan pie. It was her favorite dessert—after the beignets from Café Du Monde, of course.

"Sure, cricket." I tilted forward, kissing her forehead.

Bella was small for an eight-year-old. She was dangling her feet in the empty space underneath the counter she was seated on.

As I cut another slice for her, I glanced at the clock. It was only seven thirty in the morning. We still had time before I had to take her to school. Usually we’d stop by my restaurant on the way, as the kitchen always had leftover pies from the day before. But it was best to get out once the staff arrived because it would become total madness.

"Aren't you going to have pie, Daddy?" she asked. Grabbing the slice before I’d even managed to put it on her plate, she quickly began devouring it.

"You know what? I will." I took off my cuff links, shoving them in my pocket, and rolled up my sleeves. I picked up a slice and ate it, just like my little girl, not bothering with a fork, and Bella grinned, making her whole face light up. "Hurry up, beautiful. We don't want to be late for school."

She pouted. "But I want to see the grans before we go."

"All right," I said. "They should be here any second now."

LeBlanc & Broussard was one of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans. We were located on Royal Street, right in the heart of the French Quarter. It had been in my family for generations. My great-grandparents from Dad's side started it, but it had grown by leaps and bounds over the years. Now the restaurant took up half the building. The other half was our offices.

My chef left last month, and it took the team far too long to find someone new, but thank God she was starting tomorrow. My grandmothers had stepped up in the interim, and although they did a great job, the kitchen staff was ready for a change. My grandmothers were forces to be reckoned with. I had enough practice dealing with them, but the restaurant staff didn’t.

The sound of the door opening caught my attention. I looked behind me. Joel, one of our sous-chefs, came in from the employee entrance. He startled, but then his face filled with visible relief when he saw it was me.

"Oh, Chad. Hi, Bella. I heard voices and thought your nans arrived early..." His voice faded, and I was trying very hard not to laugh. Joel was six foot seven and in his fifties, yet my grandmothers had clearly put the fear of God in him. "Anyway, I'm going to get things going."

Bella had finished her pie and had crumbs all over her mouth. I grabbed a napkin and cleaned her up, especially at the corners.

"Bella, let’s wait for the grans in the front of the restaurant. We don’t want to be in Joel’s way."

"Okay, Daddy."

I wrapped her in my arms, lowering her from the counter, and then took her hand.

"We'll be in the front, Joel,” I said.

"Sure. Have a great day, boss."

My brothers and I were running The Orleans Conglomerate, which encompassed a multitude of establishments throughout the city. But I was closest to the staff of LeBlanc & Broussard because my office was right above.

"Want to sit here?" I asked Bella. We had a few tables outside too.

"Yes." She yawned, rubbing her eyes. My baby girl wasn't a morning person, unlike me. I got up at six o'clock sharp every day and ran on the treadmill before she woke up.

We sat down in the sun. "Can I sit on your lap?" she asked.

"Sure." I liked that she still enjoyed being close to me. Some kids at her school were already pushing their parents away. I was dreading the day my Bella would do the same.

"Good morning, you two," Mom said. She'd come with her mother, my grandma Celine, the two of them walking arm in arm.

"Grans!" Bella exclaimed, jumping from my lap to hug them both.

"We didn't know you two would be here this morning," Celine said. “What a pleasant surprise.”

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