Page 11 of The Holiday Fail

He wrinkled his brow, then asked, “Are you Henry and Peter’s son?” I nodded, and he laughed. “Oh, wow. What are the chances? After you left my room this morning, I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, I knew he’d said exactly the wrong thing in front of a group of very nosy women. I looked over my shoulder, and as I expected, four pairs of shining eyes were watching us.

They quickly flicked their gazes away when they saw me looking and focused on their ice cream like they hadn’t been eavesdropping, but I could practically see their ears perk up in attention to our conversation.

“Ladies, I’ll see you later,” I said with a beaming smile,acting like I was clueless about their antics, then nudged our new chef and gestured for him to follow me in the kitchen.

I couldn’t help but smile as they grumbled behind us. One of the ladies was complaining to the others about making it too obvious and chasing us away.

They really were a funny bunch.

Alone in the kitchen, I turned back to the man from this morning. “So, you’re Andy, our new chef,” I stated.

“And you’re my new boss,” he replied in the same tone and a teasing smile on his lips.

“Which makes last night even more complicated,” I grumbled under my breath, but apparently not low enough because he heard me.

“If this makes things too awkward, I don’t have to stay with you during my time here. Maybe I can find a rental in town or something,” he said, which reminded me of a very important fact.

Our new chef was supposed to stay with me for the next six months, and sincehewas our new chef, that meanthe’dbe staying with me.

Fuck my life.

Making a drunk fool of myself wasn’t exactly the first impression I wanted to make on our new employee and my new roommate.

“It’s fine,” I quickly said, trying not to make this a bigger deal than it really was. I couldn’t scare our new chef away as soon as he got here. We desperately needed him for the upcoming winter rush.

We didn’t get many applicants, which made sense since not many wanted to travel to our small town, and we weren’t able to offer much without breaking the bank.

What wehadoffered was a place to stay, and I wasn’t going to take that away just because of a little embarrassment.Besides, I doubted he’d be able to find a place for a six-month rental on such short notice anyway. Not when local hotels and B&Bs could charge more for shorter stays during our winter season.

“Let’s just pretend last night and this morning didn’t happen. We’ll start over. Hi, I’m Levi,” I said, holding my hand out.

“Andy. I’m excited to work with you,” he said, accepting my handshake. His grip was tight, and with the sleeves of his chef’s shirt rolled up to his elbows, I could see the bulging veins on his arms. All muscle and power.

Damn, that’s hot.

Andthatwas a totally inappropriate thought to have about the newest addition to the B&B.

I quickly dropped his hand and rubbed the back of my neck, attempting to focus on something else.

Anything else.

“Pops mentioned you have a grocery list? If you wanna give it to me, I’ll make a run into town for everything you need. I’ll take your stuff to the house and give you a tour when I’m back.”

“You don’t want some lunch first?” he said as he handed over a folded piece of paper. I opened it to find it was filled with all types of spices and condiments that I’d never even heard of before.

Wasn’t sage a flower? When did they start using it for cooking?

I stuffed the list in my pocket without question. I could barely cook, so it wasn’t my place to question the chef.

“I’ll grab something quick in town,” I replied. I didn’t want to spend any more time with him than I had to at that moment. I needed some time away to calm down and bury the embarrassing memories of last night.

I turned to go but paused before I left. Why did I suddenlyfeel like a hamster running inside a wheel, doing the same things over again?

“Also, thanks for helping me out there. You saved me from an awkward situation just now with that group of ladies,” I said, because I had manners drilled into me.

A smile that was too bright for my liking appeared on his face. “Andy to the rescue two days in a row, huh? It seems saving you is part of my routine now too,” he teased.

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