Page 20 of Sunshine

I picked it up as I slumped in my chair. “Afternoon.”

“Everything okay?” His gruff voice was tight. “You never call me out of the blue.”

If we were working on an event together, Logan and I talked specifics, or set up meetings. But we weren’t working any events together right now, and we had the menu for the corporate retreats at Cosmic Bonds ironed out already.

“Sorry. Mrs. Cullen just dropped in, so I was trying to get the dirt before talking to her.”

“Already?” He sounded shocked, and pots and pans clattering faintly in the background. “She just left the restaurant.”

“And headed straight here, I guess.”

“Sorry. I was going to let you know, but I thought I had more time.”

“No worries.” I sighed. “She’s a handful.”

Logan snorted. “She’s a pain in the ass. She’s a good person but too used to getting her own way all the time.”

“I can tell.”

I pulled up my internet browser so I could start researching her charity and any news Mrs. Cullen had made. I had other work to do, but now that I had a shiny new challenge it was hard to let go.

I’d tried and failed to schedule research time into my planner. But whenever I put it off that just meant doing tedious research when I was no longer excited about it.

“You eat yet?” he asked, and I glanced around quickly. I should have found something to shovel into my face, so I didn’t have to lie.

“Uhhh, I was going to eat. But I had some last-minute schedule changes. And then Mrs. Cullen stopped by. I thought about it, though. That counts, right?”

“It does not.” Logan growled. “I’m not going to ask when the last time you ate.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I had a bagel for breakfast but then stopped. That was yesterday. Around lunchtime. I couldn’t remember if I’d had dinner or not.

“You have more work at the office, or can you come by the restaurant? We can talk about Cullen, and I’ve had some ideas about menus.”

I checked my schedule and didn’t see anything I couldn’t put off until tomorrow in favor of hanging out in the restaurant kitchen with Logan.

“Nope, I am free as a bird.”

“See you in a few.”

He hung up before I could say bye, but that was just how he handled phone calls. Why speak in entire sentences when you could just grunt?

Looking forward to real food, I packed up my laptop. The day was looking up.

Chapter 7

Sunshine

Idrove over to Main Street, humming a song that had been stuck in my head for days. Logan’s restaurant was always crowded, even though it was later in the day so most of the lunch rush had died down. I was allowed to come in through the kitchen entrance, since I worked weird hours with Logan.

Between catering and his restaurant, I wondered when Logan had time to sleep. He employed a full staff for both the restaurant and catering business but oversaw both. If he didn’t have events scheduled, he was in the restaurant, but I wondered if he ever actually took a day off. I filed that away to shoot back at him the next time he gave me a hard time about forgetting to eat.

The scent of meat, garlic, butter, and herbs greeted me, and I was instantly ravenous.

Alejandro, the sous chef, nodded at me while adding some fish into a piping hot pan. He was good looking, with light brown skin, and curly black hair that escaped his bandanna. “What’s shaking, Sunshine?”

“Nothing much,” I said, pointing at Logan. “Crashing your lunch rush for food.”

“Don’t let me stop you,” he grinned and gestured at Logan.

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