Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Michael looked up at me, blinking in surprise. “I’m not sure. Theo used to make changes every six months or so, but I asked the replacement chefs to leave the menu as it is.”
“Theo left three years ago.” I folded my arms. “That means this menu is at least three years old. It needs to be redesigned.”
“Or perhaps you need a bit more experienced to handle the menu,” Michael replied, his voice gentle.
Right, yeah, my inexperience, that’s the problem here and not the goddamn menu. “Oh, really, that’s what it is? Fucking hell that’s what it is. Tap dancing Jesus Christ on a cracker, Michael! When you’ve had, what, fuck knows how many chefs cycling through after Theo and not a single one of them can make the menu work, it’s time for some changes! This isn’t my inexperience, this is the menu just not fucking working. You have to look at the common denominator and, shock of shocks, it’s Theo’s menu!
“That menu was Theo’s, not yours, not mine, not one that belonged to any of the other chefs. You have to let them make their personal mark on it, you have to make your personal mark on it. It’s not going to work unless it’s Theo doing it, and he’s gone! He’s going to stay gone!
“You might have owned this restaurant for, what, ten years? I’m not going to knock on that. But I am the one who graduated top of my class from culinary school. I know what people want and I know that this menu is stuck in the past and stuck on a chef who isn’t here anymore to make it what it was. You have got to make changes if you want to keep the clientele you have and hopefully attract more. There is no other way to do it. No way but forward.”
I braced my hands on the desk. “Do you know what’s wrong with this restaurant? Why you’ve been struggling this whole time? It’s a fucking time capsule. It’s a time capsule as you try to hold onto what it was when you were happy, when you had Virginia and you had your best friend, and I get it. It fucking sucks that you lost them. But you can’t keep holding onto the memory of people who honestly? Don’t fucking deserve to be remembered! They shit all over you, they screwed you over, so screw them! Who cares if it’s still Theo’s menu or not? You gotta do what you gotta do to make this restaurant great again and who gives a fuck if it’s loyal to Theo or not because he sure as fuck wasn’t loyal to you.”
Michael was staring at me with a strong light in his eyes that I’d never seen before. At first my heart skipped a beat because I thought it was anger. But then, as my heavy breathing started to slow, I realized that it wasn’t anger at all—that it was stirring heat inside of me, making me want to squirm—
That it was lust.
It was like getting smacked in the face by electricity. Michael was looking at me with this—hot, heavy desire, like he wanted to take me over his knee and show me how to use my mouth for something other than berating him. I could hardly breathe for a second. God, yes, please, do something about that heat in your gaze…
Hardly believing my own daring, I stepped back, fanning my face with my hand. “And shit, it’s hot in here.” I started unbuttoning my jacket.
Michael’s gaze trailed down my chest as I undid each button. My breathing got even quicker and I could feel a flush creeping up my neck to my face. Michael kept staring as I shoved the jacket off, and he looked like he was second away from getting up and ripping the rest of my clothes away. I kept shivering, unable to stop imagining what it would be like if he did, if he tore off my pants and fucked me right there, on his desk, his large hands spreading my thighs apart…
Underneath my jacket I was wearing a tight white t-shirt, the kind where you could see my hot pink, lacy push up bra through the fabric. Michael’s eyes were glued to it.
I was so wet I hardly knew what to do with myself. I wanted to keep stripping and then beg him to fuck me.
Breathe, I reminded myself. This was going to take more than just stripping off my clothes to convince Michael to give me a chance as his life partner. And I had to stay focused on the professional front as well.
Tell that to my voice, though. It came out all flirty and breathy as I asked, “What are you doing tomorrow morning?”
Michael tore his eyes away from my chest and brought them back up to my face. “What?”