Page 13 of R for Rough

“I haven’t decided yet.” He rose from the stool and reached for a paper towel next to the walk-in freezer. “I had every intention of joining, but then I learned I’m sharing my kink community with a coworker.”

A thrill buzzed through me, and I couldn’t help myself. “And now you’re scared you’ll stumble upon him out in the woods and discover he’s stronger than you?”

Banter with me, please.

He let out a laugh, a good and proper “Ha!” and wiped his mouth. “Yeah. That’s why, Tracy. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to overthrow you.”

I beamed at him, downright giddy we could talk like this. “Understandable. Your arms are kind of puny.”

Boy, was I full of shit.

He shook his head in amusement and threw away the paper towel. “Get back to work.”

But, ugh! I wanted to joke around and see if maybe I could move into flirting territory.

“Okay, but I hope you’ll consider joining,” I replied honestly.

His mirth faded a little, giving way to something else. Pensiveness clouded by…I wasn’t sure. Trepidation, maybe? Caution? Skepticism?

“I’ll think about it,” he said eventually, and then he left the kitchen.

I blew out a breath as something settled in my stomach. Nerves, hopes, anticipation, a millionwhat-ifs.

I yawned and put on my windbreaker, itching to get home to shower and crash on the couch. To a movie. I was in a Pixar mood. Maybe cocoa too.

“Tracy? Before you leave…” Adam came over to me and handed me a piece of paper. “This is for our Christmas event this year. I wanna get started early on the planning so we don’t have to stress ourselves out.”

“Yes, Chef.” Good call. Last Christmas had been a hit, but we’d miscalculated the interest. In the end, we’d had to add services and days to the calendar, and we’d been so exhausted by the end of it.

I eyed the list Adam had so far. He would be in charge of the turkey and main dishes like ham, brisket, and lamb. Griffin was on specialty courses that showcased local food culture, including his passion for seafood, and I was on side dishes and all things carbs.

“The buffet will be open throughout December this year, and you have six weeks to present your dishes to us,” he told me. “It’s important that the Christmas theme ties it all together. We’re going traditional for this—obviously with our steakhouse twist.”

I nodded. “Understood, Chef. Thanks.”

“All right, good job today. Get some rest.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I pocketed the printout and stepped outside, just as Griffin got ready to leave too.

He must’ve talked to Adam about the holiday stuff already. “Are we doing regular services alongside the buffet?”

“No, not this time,” Adam replied. “We overdid it last year. Tracy and I didn’t go home until two in the morning most nights,and we didn’t get enough customers who wanted the regular menu anyway.”

Word. It’d just added extra work to our plates to keep the ingredients for our regular menu on hand.

“Okay, good.” Griffin nodded and zipped up his jacket.

They wrapped things up within seconds, both men as tired as I was, and Griffin stepped out into the fall cold too.

It wasn’t like I’d deliberately waited for him; it just felt weird to bail when we were leaving at the same time.

We’d been too busy today for me to get a decent number of interactions with him.

Now probably wasn’t a good time either because when I was tired, my filters took a hike. I could already feel my adultisms slipping. I wanted my jammies, my movie, and sound in the background when I fell asleep.

Griffin side-eyed me briefly as he aimed for his parking spot, and he halted his steps. “Do you live far away?”

I shook my head. “No, Sir. Just over on Alder.” So, five blocks.

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