Page 6 of Falling for My Boss

“Accident near distro,” I said, shaking a pan of vegetables and sprinkling salt over it at a high angle so it fell evenly. “Should be here two hours before dinner service.”

“Hallelujah.” Ally waved her hands in the air. Thankfully, she was a well-trained chef and had the sense to let the knife stay on the board, since I was walking past her to get to the oven.

“Indeed. Divine intervention at its best. Now let’s burn through this lunch rush and have a beer before shit gets nuts for dinner. We have the Baked Alaska on tonight.”

“Crap,” Ally muttered. “I forgot the Baked Alaska is tonight.”

I nodded. Neither one of us was entirely sure about adding it to the menu, not because it was difficult, but because it was so damned time-consuming. Between the ice cream, the crust, and the general assembly of the damn dish, it required multiple stages for it to cool and then rest. It was delicious, but it was a pain in the ass to make, and we were likely going to have to pump out dozens of them for the dessert menu.

Since it was the lunch service, it was, as usual, just Ally and me back there. There were a couple of line cooks that we brought in on weekends and for the dinner services on rotations, but daytime lunches were still the exclusive domain of one of my oldest and dearest friends and soon-to-be sister-in-law and me.

I was still a little miffed at her for what she had concocted on Sunday, but at the same time, it was sweet. I understood her point of view. I just didn’t agree with her. I was good being alone.

Lunch rolled by pretty easily, and I was starting to feel pretty damn good about things again. One of the line cooks showed up early, just in time to meet the delivery truck that pulled up at almost the same time. I sent him out to help with the delivery and went about finishing up the rush so I could break everything down and get ready for dinner service.

When we were down to just a couple of tables left and service officially over, Ally dipped out for a moment while I took care of cleaning up. It was the least I could do after she did such a great job of getting things going earlier.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, putting her hand on my arm.

She was gone for a few minutes before she came back into the kitchen. Everything was in the dishwasher that could go there, and it was nearly an hour before the preparation for the dinner rush would begin.

“Could you come out with me for a minute?” she asked, popping her head back into the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” I shot back, instantly suspicious.

“Just a for a bit. There’s someone you should meet.”

I was tired, irritated, and frustrated at how the morning had gone, but most of all I wanted to make sure it was a smooth night. The last thing I was expecting was to see Ally bring me to a table in the restaurant where an absolutely gorgeous woman sat, her green eyes sparkling in the low light of the room. Long brown hair was brushed to part from one side and fell gracefully around the other side of her face, and my stomach tightened when I saw her.

The realization hit me a few steps away, and anger bubbled up inside me. Hadn’t Ally meddled enough? Wasn’t Sunday enough of an indication that not only was her setting me up not working, but not appreciated? Noah must have either not spoken to her at all, or not gotten across how I found her inserting herself into my love life inappropriate and wrong.

No matter how gorgeous the woman she was setting me up with, I didn’t want the pressure. I didn’t want the help.

“Derek, this is Jodi,” Ally began, but I put my hand up to stop her.

“Hi, this is all too much. You are very pretty, and I am sorry you came out here. I am very happy being single and do not wish to meet anyone right now, thank you very much.” Then I spun on my heel and headed back for the kitchen. I only got a couple of steps before the woman’s indignant voice rose up and stopped me.

“Wow, I’m shocked to hear you’re single,” she said. “Probably cuz of that colossal stick up your ass.” I turned, making eye contact with her for only a second before she turned her attention to Ally. “Ally, it was lovely to see you again. Stay safe. I have to go.”

Ally nodded and hugged the woman briefly and then turned to me, glaring at me with an intensity that frankly surprised me. The woman, Jodi, stomped off and headed for the door. As soon as the door opened and she disappeared out of it, Ally opened her mouth to yell at me in the empty restaurant.

Before she could get a word out, I threw my hands up in the air and went back to the kitchen, smashing the double doors open with my foot and letting them swing back hard on their own. I normally detested when people did that, but at the moment, there was just far too much raw emotion going on. Part of me was so damned mad at Ally for making this situation happen in the first place.

But I had to admit, there was a part of me that was just angry at myself. That woman had been gorgeous, and now there was a doubt that she was there for the purpose I assumed Ally had brought her in for. Regardless of why she was there, I had been a major-league dick about it.

With my mind dark, full of conflicting thoughts, I went back to my station and continued preparing for dinner service.

4

JODI

That certainly wasn’t how I expected the day to unfold. When I went to meet with the woman I helped the day before for lunch, I thought we were going to grab something quick at a place like the diner or one of those little cafes around town. Instead, we ended up at a gorgeous vineyard apparently owned by her husband and his four brothers.

It was far more in line with the life I used to live, but that didn’t make me feel any more comfortable. If anything, it sent me a little bit on edge. I’d left that life. I’d put it behind me, and I chose to never look back. I knew it was ridiculous to feel like being somewhere like that was dragging me back closer to what I’d disentangled myself from. Yet there was still that touch of resistance I had to get through.

Ally made that easier for me. Now that she wasn’t in a potentially life-threatening situation, I got a chance to see more of her personality and was able to relax. She was friendly and fun, which was far more than could be said for the man she introduced me to.

It was the first time in a very long time I’d done anything I would consider even close to social. The lifestyle I’d adopted after making the decision to run didn’t exactly leave a lot of room for making friends and hanging out. I kind of felt like I had forgotten how to do it correctly.

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