Page 16 of The Cinderella Prince

So when a hurrying newbie bumped into me and sent my nearly naked body slamming into the locker, I only managed to yelp once.

“I amsosorry. Christ, did I hurt you? I am…” And his words cut off as abruptly as my heartbeat had stopped.

That voice. That sweet, soft, husky voice. I had almost missed it now that it was speaking in a hurry.

My head had slammed the closed door of Roman’s locker, and stars swirled around me for a moment before I straightened and turned around.

“Tristan,” he said, all the joy flickering outof his eyes and leaving them cool and expressionless. His lips pressed into a line. His gaze dropped shortly from my face, and I remembered that I stood there in nothing but underwear and socks.

I licked my dry lips. “What are you…?”

“We need those plates, Newboy,” a girl shouted. “Chop-chop.”

Cedric stiffened, and his panicked glance shifted from me to the shelves containing five different kinds of plates. “Which ones?” he whimpered quietly.

It was Mama Viv’s Burger Bash. She would want the textured black round plates and no others. “Those plates,” I said matter-of-factly and pointed to the middle row containing thirty plates.

Cedric looked at me with something like gratitude in his worried gaze. As he stepped closer to the shelf, his gaze dropped over my torso, but he looked away. “I’m really sorry, Tristan,” he said clearly and lifted all thirty plates off the shelf. His biceps tensed with the effort.

I was light-headed, although I couldn’t tell you why. Maybe the shock of seeing him here in the back, wearing Mama Viv’s apron and uniform, or maybe I’d bumped my head harder than I’d realized. Or because his short sleeves revealed how perfectly sculpted his arms were. Whatever the case, my breath was shallow.

Cedric retreated down the hallway, cutting right through the middle.

“Right side,” I yelled after him.

He pressed his right shoulder against the row of fridges instantly and stuck to the right side until he disappeared from my view, which was just lucky because Bradley sweptin from the bar and would have crashed into Cedric had the sexy fucker not moved.

Bradley greeted me in a hurry. “It’s so good you’re here,” he said while swapping kegs of a particularly bitter pale ale. “Mama Viv underestimated the interest after the lukewarm response to last week’s brunch.”

It was the Burger Bash night. I could have told her people would show up. “We’ll survive,” I said, winking at Bradley while yanking a clean pair of pants up my legs. It took me a minute to get ready, strap on my apron, and secure a cap on my head to keep my hair from falling over my eyes or, God forbid, into people’s food.

I strode with a purpose when I headed down the hallway and into the kitchen. Bradley scurried before me, slipping to the left and behind the bar, while I took a right turn and entered the hectic mess that a busy kitchen always was. Glancing around, I knew all I needed to know.

“Hello, everyone,” I said loudly. “It looks like they’re getting slaughtered out there. Be sharp, be focused. Ana, fill up the fryer. Keep it full until I tell you to stop. French fries, chicken wings, fish fingers, and mozzarella sticks. Got it? Raj, start slicing fresh tomatoes, and watch where that knife goes. Cedric, dishes are piling up, start washing.” If I felt a sliver of vindication, I didn’t let it show.

“What do you have for me, Chef?” Roman asked, popping up out of nowhere.

It took me a second to process his presence. “What are you doing back here?”

“You should know by now that I’m always where the fight’s the thickest,” he said with a dark laugh.

A spatula was already in my head as I walked throughthe small, square kitchen. “Right,” I said, scanning. To my left, in the middle of the room, was a cluttered table where Raj was slicing tomatoes as I had requested. He knew how to use a knife. I didn’t worry about him. To my right, along the wall, was the assembly and serving station, a grill, and a row of busy fryers. Against the further wall straight ahead, more cluttered surfaces stretched all the way to the ovens. And against the left wall were crates with spare inventory, bread baskets, and clean dishes. A hole in the wall provided me with a view of Cedric’s back as he scrubbed the dishes.

“Sauce bottles,” I told Roman. “Fill ’em up and start assembling burgers. I’m taking the grill.” I tossed the spatula high. It swirled in the air until I caught it. The moment my fingers wrapped around it, an impenetrable bubble formed around me. I was in the zone and in the moment, keeping this thing running, overseeing everyone’s work, and measuring the meat patties on one grill, cheese on the vegetarian section, and the constant flow of orders being printed in the corner of Roman’s assembly station.

Cedric brought plates to Roman’s work table. Raj swapped empty containers with the full ones, and Ana kept the fryers full. Bit by bit, we caught up, and although seeing eleven patties—all with different requests—and eight slabs of grilled cheese gave me a sliver of panic, I knew how to use it to my advantage. Panic was fuel for efficiency, in my opinion.

The shouts of “coming through” and “hot plate” bombarded me, scents of grilled food opened my appetite, and the camaraderie of kitchen staff filled my heart.

Mama Viv showed up once, at some point, to see if there was anything she could do. Her eyes watered over thefreshly diced onions on Raj’s work table, and she retreated with loud exclamations that Bradley could use some help behind the bar instead.

“Did the class go well?” Roman asked once we caught up to the most recent orders.

I tossed a slice of cheddar over a patty and covered it with a metal bell to melt quicker, keeping the meat juicy and medium rare while getting that lovely cheese softness. “Perfect. But nowhere near as fun as this.”

“You really are a daredevil, Tris,” Rome said, sticking a skewer into the burger and sliding the plate away to make room for the next one. He rang the bell as soon as the plate was ready for serving.

I scanned the queue of orders hanging above the grill. “Ana, go low on wings, and double the mozzarella sticks. Looks like we got a vegetarian table.”

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