Page 178 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

“Thank you,” I gave him my most charming smile. He blushed and went on his way.

Reuben slid a plate across the table to me. “Try this,” he said.

I looked at it suspiciously. “What is it?” It was a pink and brown mush of some kind with seeds sprinkled on top.

“Delicious,” he answered, and scooped some onto a piece of bread for me, holding it out.

I leaned forward and sniffed at it. It smelled weird.“No thanks,” I made a face.

“It wasn’t a request,” he said, his voice seeping with humor. While his face remained stoic as ever, his eyes twinkled with something sly and conniving.

It’s a trap,I thought. “Uh... I’m allergic to whatever that is.”

“You already told me you have no food allergies.”

“Well, it’s a very recent development.”

“Alice... you’re going to try everything I offer you tonight and give me your honest feedback.” He held the piece of bread up closer to my face. I glared at it as he spoke. “You don’t have to like it, and you don’t have to swallow. In fact, I encourage you not to if you legitimately don’t like it. But you’re going to put it in your mouth whether you like it or not.”

I wrinkled my lips, squeezed my eyes closed, and opened my mouth, leaning forward slightly to take the proffered bite.

Just as he promised, it was delicious. Damn him.“Eww,” I said, just to be obnoxious.

He said nothing, just raised an eyebrow.

“Okay,” I complained. “It’s amazing. Now tell me what it is.”

“Very,veryexpensive beef.”

“Well, beef is fucking amazing,” I whispered, and took another scoop of the stuff.

Reuben was right about the ordeal that night. Every fifteen minutes, there was a new plate of something in front of us. We’d eat a few bites, and then he’d set it aside before I could eat it all and get full. He wouldn’t let me finish any of my drinks, either, because they kept bringing me new cocktails and mixed drinks. He was right, I would have been sloshed in an hour. Even so, two hours later, I was much more loose-lipped than I thought I would be.

I asked him about his mysterious days without me, and he filled me in on the restaurant he was trying to re-brand and re-staff. “One cook was legitimately good, but he’s already left and found another position. I’d reached out to him and asked him to stay on and even offered to pay him a severance pay while I rebranded the restaurant, but he didn’t want to wait around. He’s good, has a lot of potential. I can’t blame him. Still, it feels like a loss.

“The other interviews this week can’t cook for shit. It’s been a nightmare trying to find decent talent.”

“Why not use some of your cooks from your more established places? Like, for example,” I said, setting my drink down and lifting a finger as if to make a point. He swiped it and set it aside.“Hey!”

“You were saying?”

“Let’s say you have a chef at Oak City Grille. That restaurant has a good reputation and it’s well established. But you have a chef that is good, but not essential to the restaurant. Move him to your new one, give him a chance to be a super-star, and then re-fill his position. Oak City Grille has a good name, you’ll find someone fast to replace him. Or some lower-level guy who only gets to work a few nights a week but wants more hours can finally get those hours he wants.”

“Clever, Alice. I had considered something like that, but I like the way you think.”

“It’s a good idea, right?”

“It is.”

“I know, ‘cause I’m super smart.”

“Yes you are,” he said. “How far did you get on your project today?”

“Oh, I got the fridge cleaned out, and I started on the pantry. And I think I came up with a good way to organize everything. See there’s this app, and you can keep track of things you have, and all we’d have to do is record what you buy, and what you use. It even synchronizes to your recipes and your grocery list if you want it too. I played around with it a little bit and I think it’ll work... but I should warn you... I barely started on the pantry, and I almost ran out of time, so there are cans of soup and boxes of pasta all over your counter.”

He pursed his lips and chuckled under his breath. There was something so sexy about the way he tried to hold himself together and resist his laugh. He was so distant and stoic, but he was finally letting his guard down. I loved it. I sighed in happiness, rocking slightly in my chair. The bruises on my ass and my inner thighs and the side of my sex ached a little.

“Feeling good,” he asked me. He leaned back in his chair, and I could see the tension of the day practically evaporating from him. “Or bad?”

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