Page 33 of A Little Harmless Pleasure

She punched him, and he laughed. A knock at the door interrupted them. The door handle jiggled, and she thought she heard someone cuss. “Boss, we have a situation in the kitchen.”

Chris didn’t even turn around. “Be there in a minute, Lee.”

Lee’s sigh was audible through the door. “We need you now.”

“And I said I will be there in a minute. I own the restaurant, so I think I can determine when I will get there.”

There was a pregnant pause, then another disgusted sigh. Cynthia wasn’t surprised to hear the woman stomp away.

“Chris…”

“Don’t worry. Lee isn’t going to be nice to you, so just avoid her.” He bent his head and gave her a quick, hard kiss. “You want something to eat? You must be exhausted.”

“A little tired, but I slept a lot on the trip over.”

He nodded. “Can you give me about an hour?”

“Sure.”

He kissed her again and left her alone with her thoughts.

Chris broke up the argument two busboys were having over a woman neither would probably be able to handle and helped with some more prep work. After that he went out into the restaurant, talked to guests, and made sure May was resting her ankle. He was anxious to get back to Cynthia—pathetic, but at this point there was nothing he could do about it.

Starting back to his office, he thought about the changes in her. It seemed that moving out of her parents’ house had done her a world of good. She’d put on a few pounds, though she still needed more, and with her curly hair and casual attire, he’d been hard-pressed to keep his hands off her. In fact, it had been impossible. And now that she was in Hawaii…

His cock twitched. Where Cynthia was concerned, he had little or no control.

He saw Evan at the bar, flirting with the new female bartender. When his friend caught sight of him, he signaled him over. Knowing he had snubbed Evan earlier, Chris changed course and took a stool beside him.

“So, your magnolia showed up.”

He didn’t miss Evan’s sarcasm, but he ignored it. “Yes.”

Evan shot him a look, and Chris smiled. Evan rolled his eyes. “Good Lord, you’re useless. You are definitely whipped.”

“Happily. You saw her.”

Evan took a long pull off his beer bottle before answering. “You think this is the one?”

Chris grabbed a few nuts. “No, sheisthe one. I can feel it.”

“You can feel it? Fuck, you sound like you’ve been listening to Dr. Phil. Women are never to be trusted—you should know that. Believe me, I learned that at an early enough age.”

Chris understood why Evan detested women, where the deep-rooted hatred came from, but it still didn’t sit well with him. Chris was raised by a strong woman, who taught him to respect them. “You really need to learn how to treat women better.”

“I treat women just fine. I’ve never heard any complaints.”

Chris decided not to have the usual argument. “I guess the plans for the weekend are off. I’ll give you a call.”

Evan nodded, his attention going back to the new bartender. As Chris left, he heard Evan sweet-talking her and knew he’d probably lose a bartender soon. Shaking his head, he walked back to the office, only to be waylaid by Lee. He gritted his teeth, trying to quash his rising irritation. There were a multitude of problems every night atDupree’s, from fighting busboys to drunk customers. But tonight, he didn’t give a damn. He just wanted to get back to Cynthia.

“What do you need, Lee?”

Her eyes narrowed at his tone. Chris hadn’t even tried to hide his annoyance with her.

“I just thought you’d like to know that I made sure we were covered tomorrow.”

“I appreciate it. Is there anything else?”

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