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)
“Lead the way,” Michael murmured, his voice like sin, and I swallowed hard, nodding, leading him back into the kitchen.
“Here you are.” I handed him the plate and a fork. “It’s been giving me fits, getting the balance of everything right, but I think I’ve figured it out.”
Michael took a bite, and the noise that he made was…oh God. I could feel myself getting wet, my stomach going tight, aching all the way up my spine for him.
“Divine,” Michael assured me. The way he said it, looking at me, his gaze hot and heavy, made me wonder if he really meant the cheesecake.
“How did it go?” I blurted out.
Michael gave me a look of confusion. I cleared my throat. “With Virginia, I mean. I saw that she came tonight… Brooke was really upset, so I talked her down. She still feels betrayed, I think even more so because Virginia doesn’t seem to understand what was so wrong about what she did.”
“Ah.” Michael got a hard look on his face, and I was glad that I wasn’t the one on the receiving end of his wrath. “She wanted to try and convince me to let them shoot an episode of Theo’s show here. As if I’d ever let that happen.”
“I hate to play devil’s advocate but… it would be good publicity for you, if the restaurant was featured on an episode. It’s airing nationwide, and all that.”
Michael snorted. “I’m not interested in that kind of publicity.”
Well. That I didn’t expect.
Chapter Thirteen: Michael
Stevie looked concerned as I told her that I wasn’t interested in, well, that.
She also looked… fresher, tonight. A little different. Normally after a long day in the kitchen she looked tired and who could blame her? I certainly couldn’t. But right now she looked like she was ready to go out afterwards, her hair done up, some sophisticated eyeshadow on. She looked amazing, mature, ready to go from business to sensual, and it was driving me fucking nuts.
I’d been trying all this time to ignore the attraction I felt to her and it had just been getting worse. Now it was a struggle to concentrate. The dessert was divine, all right, and I knew it would be a hit, but when I’d said that… I hadn’t been thinking about the dessert. I’d been thinking about the woman who’d made it.
Down, boy. There were good reasons why we shouldn’t keep doing this. I still couldn’t believe that out of all of the possible first times Stevie could have had, she’d had it with me. In a tryst in my back office. She’d deserved better than that. She deserved better in general.
“Was it difficult?” Stevie asked, her voice soft. “To see her again? I know that… it’s none of my business but I know the whole thing was hard on you. It hurts to be cheated on and left like that and I—I want to make sure that you’re okay.”
That was the thing about Stevie. With all her bluntness and cockiness and swearing, she was really a thoughtful and soft-hearted person. She looked out for the people around her. It was something, I now realized, that Virginia had never had, and it was something I valued deeply in Stevie.
I finished the cheesecake and set the plate and fork down to the side. “It was easier than I’d expected.” I paused. I hadn’t really talked to anyone about this. A little bit, yeah, to some of my friends, but… not really. “I’d thought that it would be really painful. That I’d sink back into anger or despair all over again. But I’m kind of glad that she came. I’m glad that I was able to see how little she affects me now and how little I care.”
“I noticed things seemed more cordial than I would’ve…I figured you’d run her out on a rail.” Stevie gave an embarrassed laugh, blushing. She was fucking adorable when she blushed. “In fact, it looked like Virginia was maybe… interested in getting back together with you.”
“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “She was just trying to convince me to give in. She’d never been above using sex or flattery or anything else she thought would get her what she wanted. You—”
I paused as I turned to look at Stevie.
She was unbuttoning her chef’s jacket, and underneath…
My mouth went dry, my cock growing hard in my pants, straining against the fabric. Oh, holy fuck, Stevie wasn’t wearing anything underneath the jacket. Just lacy black lingerie that hugged her everywhere, teasing me with bare skin and glimpses of more underneath the patterns of fabric. Her breasts were on full mouth-watering display, and I itched to rip the rest of her clothes off.
“What,” I growled, “do you think you’re doing?”
Stevie shivered in response to my tone. “Virginia’s not the only one with wiles,” she whispered, sliding off her slacks.