Page 39 of Needing You

His lips parted like I’d surprised him. “Well, um. Shit, you’ve scrambled my brains. I don’t know.” When I pulled my mouth to the side and blinked at him like that wasn’t good enough, he dragged his hands through his hair in frustration. “Honestly?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe because it reinforces something I’ve always known,” he whispered, burning me from the inside out with his unyielding gaze. “You’re mine. You’vealwaysbeen mine, and now I know you’veonlybeen mine. So if you’re confident enough to take charge like you did the other night, it’s because you’re confident in who you are and what you like. And even better—it has nothing to do with what you’ve done with another man, so yeah, all of that put together has me sitting here half hard, wishing this diner was closed so you could have your fucking way with me right here in this booth.”

Ho-ly shit.

“Ready to go?” Jackson asked as he neared the table. Will and I launched backward in the booths, causing Jackson to chuckle at us and hook his thumb over his shoulder. “Sorry, did I interrupt something? I can come back.”

“It’s fine,” I said quickly, trying to erase the need and longing that made my legs feel like jelly as I clambered out of the booth. “I need to get back to work.”

“See you at home later,” Jackson said with an easy smile.

“See you then. Bye, Will.”

He lifted his hand in a stilted wave, then let it fall onto the table with the posture of a man who’d been thoroughly cock-blocked by his teenage son’s impeccable timing. I walked away with a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

I had to admit, it felt good to rattle the bad boy for once instead of the other way around. I’d spent plenty of lonely nights thinking about the way he could make me blush with only a look, and as I refilled a coffee mug at a table nearby and watched him subtly adjust himself as he followed Jackson out the door, I’d say that little conversation did a hell of a lot worse to him than it did to me.

Okay, maybe not, considering the clenching in my belly and… other places. But it was still fun, and I couldn’t wait for more.

18

WILL

After finishing as much of the prep for tonight’s service and anything I could do in advance for tomorrow’s, I thanked the rest of the team and cleaned up my space. Walker’s didn’t close completely between meals, but things slowed down considerably between two and four. We used that window to do final prep for dinner, and on Fridays during football season, I’d use that time to do anything I could to make sure dinner went perfectly.

“Chef, did you need anything else? If not, I’m gonna take off if that’s okay?” Pat, my sometimes sous-chef, asked as I washed my hands.

“I’m good if you’re good. See you tomorrow.” I appreciated the staff rolling with me as their new chef. I’d ruffled more than a few feathers when I came in, but it helped that the former head chef had left for his own reasons and not because I’d edged him out.

“Thanks. See you then.” Pat waved and exited the kitchen. We already clicked better than many chefs I worked with, and the fact that she was happy and definitely capable of manning Friday nights was awesome.

A place like Walkers needed more than one lead. Eric had done an impressive job setting things up so if one person was sick or something went wrong, the kitchen didn’t have to close or operate at half-speed. I’d worked in more than one tiny kitchen that had far fewer capable cooks on hand.

In the small office just outside the kitchen, I hung my apron and went over to the computer, checking to make sure I had everything necessary attached to the email I’d just drafted before I hit send. While Eric didn’ttryto be an asshole, he could absolutely be a stickler for details.

As a chef, I appreciated that, and I’d never had issues with my managers, buyers, or anyone else reading and understanding my inventories or plans. I wasn’t about to fuck it up now with my own brother. Especially since—as well-managed as it was—this was still one of the smaller kitchens I’d worked in since I’d started cooking.

That said, I’d been insanely distracted. Dangerous game when half your job is wielding a knife, and yet my usual focus at work was no match for the recent revelations about Kate.

She hadn’t been with anyone else. Part of me couldn’t believe I’d told her that made me want her more, but it was absolutely true. Not in some kind of sick double standard way where I should have all the experience and she should have none—fuck no. It was simply what I’d told her. Being her first andonlypartner made it feel even more like she was mine.

And maybe even more than that, I was out of my mind with the need to give her more experience—for her to figure out what she liked … and to use me to do it.

Trust that I’d spent plenty of mental energy imagining what that might be. Would she want to be on top? Tie me up? I’d never done that—at least not being the one tied—but the idea of her taking control and using me for her pleasure?

“Fuck,”I whispered to myself, annoyed that yet again visions of Kate having her way with me had caused me to have an extremely ill-timed physical reaction.

I didn't know when we’d have time alone together, but I hoped it would be soon. Rushing into sleeping together wouldn’t have been smart, but it’d been five days since we’d even kissed, and I had a feeling that by the wedding trip, I’d be verging on desperate for her.

Who the hell was I kidding? I was already desperate for her. I’d showed up in Granite Springs that way, and I hadn’t even known she was here.

After a few more minutes to calm the lust storm, I sent the email and made my way to Eric’s office. It was a whopping two-minute walk, but I wanted to make sure I was with him when he opened it. We’d butted heads over menu changes and sourcing ingredients more than once. I’d promised him I wasn’t going to put foie gras on the menu—and I wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean we had to keep everything else the same.

Walker’s menu didn’t need a complete overhaul. It needed a refresh. And I could do that without rattling the locals too much while also elevating things, so we were doing something unique. It’d pair more effectively with Jake’s top-notch beer, and I refused to believe the locals wouldn’t get on board.

The biggest question was Eric.

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