Page 7 of Wrong Number, Right Valentine

6

REG

There was still a lot to do before we could call it a night, but when Banks asked me to join him, there was no way I was turning him down. Spending even a second with him that was focused on food and each other was too good to pass up on. Thankfully, Chef saw me taking a break as an opportunity to make food for everyone, ensuring others weren’t picking up my slack so I could get to know my mate.

“How about we go into my office, get away from the noise?” I didn’t mind the noise. I doubted he did either, but I was looking for some excuse—any excuse—to have a little alone time with him. For a split second it looked like he might decline, but then he grabbed his plate and told me to lead the way.

My office was small: a desk, a chair, a filing cabinet. Nothing fancy, definitely not the type of setup a “business professional” might have, but it worked. We sat on opposite sides of the desk, eating.

I didn’t like him being that far away from me, but it was probably for the best. He didn’t need his boss groping him, and it would be hard not to brush against him or ask him for a kiss. He washuman, and I needed to remember that humans didn’t move at warp speed. That was just shifters—and not even all shifters, only those lucky enough to find their mates.

Despite what others in my birth pack believed, true mates weren’t fairy tales, and the goddess had looked down upon me and deemed me worthy of one. Now, it was my job to make sure this story ended in a happily ever after. There were so many ways I could mess this up, so many ways I could frighten him away, so many ways I could thwart fate’s attempt. I needed to tread lightly, as difficult as that was going to be. Having some random guy say, “Oh, by the way, you’re mine forever,” was the stuff of horror movies—not the way most people decided to date or find their spouse.

“This is even better than it smelled.” Banks had a drop of sauce on his lip, and it was all I could do not to lean in and lick it off of him. Maybe this small enclosed space wasn’t a good idea after all.

“It’s a recipe Chef brought with him. It was his grandmother’s.” It was the recipe he made for me at his interview, and the job was his on the spot. I loved to cook and went to cooking school for it, but nothing I made compared to his signature dish.

“Well, that woman deserves a statue in her honor, because this is delicious.”

He was right—it was delicious. But not as delicious as sitting across from him, watching his lips curve into a smile, his eyes sparkling with the kind of warmth that made my wolf howl in joy. Nothing, I thought, could ever be as satisfying as this moment.

All too soon, our meal was over, and it was time to get back to cleaning up. After a busy night like this, there was a lot to do: finishing the dishes, turning over tables, making sure all of the tablecloths were ready for pickup in the morning from the cleaners, vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, preparing the deposit, and closing out the credit cards. It was a lot, but the team managed to get it done pretty quickly. Since we had stayed on top of things all day, even with the intense crowds, we were ready to go sooner than I had expected. Honestly, sooner than I wanted. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Banks.

My phone was still in the shop, and I wasn’t sure if it was going to be repairable, but either way, I was going to get a phone in the morning—repaired or transferred phone number. One of the two.

The rice hadn’t done much, but I hoped it would at least dry things out enough for them to recover the data. If I could get my phone working again, I’d call Banks—not about work, but maybe for a date. And if the phone was still dead, Foster could give it to me again. Whatever the case was, I wasn’t going to be pushy tonight. Technically, I was his boss right now and didn’t want to make things weird.

I grabbed the envelope of cash off my desk and brought it out to him just as he was gathering his things.

“Hey, I want to thank you for tonight. Here.” I handed him the envelope.

He opened it and looked inside, his brow furrowing. “I don’t understand.”

“You filled in tonight, and you get paid. Did you want to be on the books? We could do the paperwork if that’s what you’reasking. I just thought this would be easier since it was a one-time thing. Foster didn’t say either way. He just gave me your number.” And now I was babbling.Way to go, Reg.

“Foster gave you my number to work here?”

“Yeah. He didn’t tell you first?” That didn’t sound like Foster, but he had been on pain pills, so maybe.

Banks tilted his head, a look of realization dawning.

“After he broke his foot, he said you could cover his shift?” Maybe I had it all wrong.

“What’s Foster’s last name?” Banks scratched his chin.

I told him, and he looked up at me, his mouth forming a perfect “O.” I could think of much better things he could do with that mouth. I blinked away the thought. This was neither the time nor the place for that.

“I think there was some confusion,” he said. “My boss, Foster, said he was setting me up on a blind date.”

“And you thought this was the date.” Yikes. No wonder he looked so good. Worst first date ever.

He nodded.

“That’s why you were here, looking so nice.”

“Yeah,” he said with a half-shrug.

“Wow, bet you never wanted out of a date as quickly as this one before.”

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