Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 52100 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52100 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
“Hey Carl, do you happen to have a phone number for Shea Grady?” Addison said into the phone, pausing. “Because there’s someone here who wants to talk to her.” Another pause. “Oh, okay. Thanks.”
She hung up the phone. “She’s still here. You can go back to the kitchen.”
I let out a single note of laughter, my emotions riding a roller coaster. “She’s here?”
“Yeah, she’s working out a two-week notice.”
I pushed away from the desk. “Thanks.”
Had she given notice because she was going to work for Keller? If so, I was going to do everything in my power to stop her. The timing wasn’t perfect for us to go all in on a relationship, but I no longer cared.
I walked quickly, not wanting to knock anyone over, and when I finally made it to the kitchen, Shea was standing alone at the island, rolling something out with a rolling pin.
“Holt,” she said, surprised.
“I’m in love with you.”
She released her hold on the rolling pin, giving me a confused smile.
“Don’t work for Keller,” I said as I approached her. “Stay here and be with me. And my kids. I’m a package deal, but you know that.”
She put a palm on my chest. “I told Keller I can’t accept the job with him.”
I frowned, confused. “But Addison just said you quit your job here.”
“I did.”
“But you’re not leaving the Beard?”
“No. This is my home. I don’t know what I’ll do now, work-wise, but that doesn’t matter. Can we get back to the part about you being in love with me?”
I took her hand. “I am. And I was a fucking idiot for not telling the entire world until now. I thought my kids would be bothered about it, but they adore you and...I guess it was all in my head. All the worries.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “So what are you saying?”
“I want you to be with me. Be my girlfriend, for now. Fuck the job thing, I’ve got more than enough money. Just do what makes you happy, and please, for fuck’s sake, tell me that being with me is one of those things.”
“Being with you is definitely one of those things.”
I grinned, cupped her cheeks in my hands and kissed her; a couple of people in the kitchen cheering. She kissed me back, laughing when we broke apart.
“I just got flour all over your shirt, sorry about that.”
“I don’t care. Cover me in flour if you want, as long as you love me back.”
She smiled up at me sweetly. “I do love you back.”
“I don’t suppose you get off work anytime soon?” I murmured against her lips.
“Not until after dinner. I’m counting the days until I don’t have to be here from sunup past sunrise.”
“Come to my house when you get off. I want to show it to you. I’ll make you dinner.”
She arched a brow, surprised. “Oh, you will?”
I grinned. “With an assist by my mom.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. You deserve the world, Shea. I want to show you how great it feels to be cared for. The way you make me and my kids feel.”
“Okay, don’t make me cry,” she said. “You won me over already. No need to make me weepy.”
I kissed her again. “I guess I should let you get back to whatever you’re working on.”
“Chicken potpie.”
“So I’ll see you tonight?”
She nodded, her eyes bright with happiness.
“I can’t wait,” I said, wishing I didn’t have to leave.
At least we wouldn’t be apart for long. I had a lot of lost time to make up for, and I could hardly wait to get started.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Shea
ONE MONTH LATER
“Change two teaspoons of brown sugar to three,” I said after tasting the butter sauce I was trying to perfect.
“Two to three. Check.”
Holt stood next to the stove, a clipboard in hand, as he took the recipe notes I needed to get my cheese ravioli with butter sauce recipe just right.
Before I’d even finished working out my two-week notice at The Sleepy Moose, Holt had come up with an idea I was excited about: teaching cooking classes. He’d found and bought a downtown building that had been vacant for a couple of years and was planning to oversee its renovation.
I had plans to teach kids’ classes, host themed cooking parties and teach aspiring cooks how to make staple recipes. And the best part was that with the business plan Holt had created for me, he’d shown me that I could afford to bring Nina with me.
Somehow, he’d convinced Keller to partner with him financially on this venture, even though Keller was still disappointed I’d turned him down.
“What does this need?” I asked myself out loud.
“It’s usually salt,” Holt answered for me.
He’d been my sous-chef of sorts all week, taking notes and making quick runs to the grocery store for more ingredients when I needed them. And, of course, taste testing. He and the kids were all over that job.