Page 40 of Tall, Dark, & Ginger

He stands and walks around to my side of the counter, pressing his chest to my back. His hand slides down my belly to my dick, and he squeezes gently.

“Have a good day, rabbit. Hope to see you later.”

Then he’s gone, leaving me panting and hard. I have no idea what’s gotten into him, but I hope it gets into him again.

FIFTEEN

RIDLEY

“If this keeps up,we should put a few benches out front.” Stewart’s peering through the front window. “There must be twenty people out there waiting for us to open.”

“Damn,” Bane says, but he’s grinning. “This is so badass.”

I finish wiping down the table I’m working on before standing upright and looking outside. “It’s gotta be the news segment.”

“You heard about that?” Salem asks, glancing up from the bar where he’s stacking t-shirts with Indy. “I haven’t talked to Wren about it yet.”

“What do you mean? The segment was on TV.”

“Oh.” Salem smiles. “Not that one. We got a request for Wren to do a cooking segment onGood Morning New Onyx.”

“No way. That’s so cool.”

“I love the cooking segments,” Stewart says. “They always have good chefs come on.”

“Just got the email today,” Salem says. “I was planning to talk to Wren about it later.”

“Talk to me about what?” Wren enters the area, carrying a tray of garnishes for the bar.

“Oh hey,” Salem says. “Good Morning New Onyxwants to feature us and have you do a cooking segment.”

His face goes blank. “On television?”

Salem grins. “Yep. It’s a pretty big deal.”

Wren’s cheeks turn pink. “I don’t think I can do that. I’m a behind-the-scenes kind of guy.”

I can sense his anxiety building from here, so without thinking, I cross the space and put my hands on his shoulders, massaging gently.

“Wren, you’re an executive chef at a popular hot spot. You got into this position with your talent, and you elevated Moby’s with your food. You can absolutely step into the limelight and claim what’s yours.”

He looks over his shoulder to meet my gaze, the panic in his eyes subsiding as he nods and blows out a breath. “Right. Okay. They’ll coach me and stuff, right?”

“I’m sure they will.” I release his shoulders and walk around to face him. “This is a fantastic opportunity for you. You should be very proud.”

“I am.” He finally smiles. “It’s cool.” He turns to Salem. “You have more details?”

“Sure do. I’ll send you the email and then we can talk about scheduling and whatnot.”

“Okay.” His eyes meet mine briefly. “I’ll see you later.”

“You will.”

Wren walks off, and when I’m done watching him, I turn around to find all the guys looking at me. Indy grins while folding a t-shirt, but everyone else is obviously waiting for me to say something. I don’t though, returning to the task of wiping down chairs and tables.

“Well.” Kit chuckles. “Guess we’re gonna be on TV.”

I look up, grinning. “I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

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