by Maggie Gates
Of fucking course.
I laughed and rolled my eyes when I saw Steve and Chase finishing up a late lunch at a table by the fireplace. “So, this is how my tax dollars are going to good use, huh? Protecting and serving the patrons of my restaurant?”
Chase wiped his mouth and set the cloth napkin aside. “We’re off duty.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Is that why you’re wearing your gun and badge? Something going on around here that I need to be aware of?”
Steve shook his head and leaned back in his chair, “Nah, just keeping an eye on the town.”
“Keeping an eye on the town or on me?” I pursed my lips and closed my eyes to keep from killing two of my best friends. “Let me guess—Han texted you and told you about my plans tonight.”
“We work with confidential informants all the time. We’re good at protecting their identities,” Steve said.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “My phone’s in my locker. How bad is it?”
“Hannah put it in the poker club group text,” Chase admitted.
“Good fucking heavens—next time I’ll just put it on a billboard out on Highway 70 so the whole fucking state can see,” I exclaimed a little louder than I should have. Patrons popped their heads up from their meals like gophers. I gave them a placid smile and turned my attention to Steve and Chase. “So that’s why you came for lunch? To harass me about having a date?”
“Not you,” Steve said. “Him.”
“Excuse me?” I growled as I leaned down and pressed my hands against the crisp, linen tablecloth. “Tell me you did not talk to Chef DeRossi…”
Chase’s mouth turned up into a little smirk. His devious eyes sparkled. “Is that, uh, is that something you do? Get off on calling him chef?”
“Fucking perv,” I muttered just loud enough for him to hear. “And no, I call him Chef DeRossi because I am at work right now and he is my boss,” I hissed.
Steve gave Chase a look of warning. “Chill, Maddie—we’re just looking out for you.”
“I am almost thirty years old.”
“And he’s an ass that you’ve hated for years,” Steve countered. “Give us a break for being a little worried that you’re suddenly head over heels for the guy.”
“You need to back off,” I warned.
Chased raised his palms in surrender and dropped a few bills on the table to tip the server. “Just hope you know what you’re doing, Mad.”
Still fuming from my run in with Steve and Chase, I knocked on the door to Luca’s office. “Come in,” he called out.
“Hey,” poked my head in and smiled pathetically. “Got a minute?”
Luca was standing behind his desk with his suit jacket hanging on a coat stand and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off his strong forearms that were covered in tattoos I wanted to study. Good heavens, he was sex in a suit. He shot me that irresistible, panty-melting grin. “For you, always. Everything alright, Tesoro?”
My heart fluttered. Hearing him call me Tesoro was even better in person than half-asleep over the phone. “Yeah. I, um, I was just curious if Steve Pelham and Chase Brannan stopped in and talked to you.”
Luca chuckled quietly and circled around his desk, half-sitting on the front of it. “They did a little bit ago, yes.”
I groaned and pressed my fingers to my temples in frustration. “How much do I need to kill them? I swear, I didn’t put them up to anything—I didn’t even tell them. Hannah Jane Hayes from the inn came by this morning and I mentioned it to her and she told them. I swear I didn’t—”
“Mad, it’s okay,” Luca said, smiling reassuringly. He took my hand in his and lifted it to his lips. “I can handle your boys being a little protective. If they weren’t, I’d worry about what kind of men they are.”
The nerves that had my stomach twisted in knots began to unfurl. “You mean that?”
Luca nodded. “They just wanted to make sure I was gonna treat you right.” His hand found my hip and he gave it a little squeeze. “And I plan on treating you right, beautiful.”
“Just tell me they didn’t say anything embarrassing. I’ve known Steve for a long time. He was there for my awkward middle school years.”
His grin turned devilish and he shook his head, “Now, that I can’t say. Can’t break bro-code.”
“I’m gonna kill them.”
Luca eased up and pecked my lips. “Wait until after tonight. I don’t wanna have to bail you out until I’ve had you in my bed.”
I raised my eyebrows, “Is that what you think is happening tonight? Because I remember you promising me dinner.”
“Dinner and dessert.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and he slid his big hands up under my chef’s coat, branding my skin. “How ‘bout I bring dessert?”
Luca circled his fingers over the small of my back, tracing abstract shapes on my hips. “Mmm. I think that sounds fair.” He removed his hands from my skin much sooner than I would have liked and I whined when he reached over and grabbed his blazer from the coat rack. “I’m about to head out. You clocking out soon? I saw Rae come in a while ago.”
“Yeah, I just have a few things to finish up. I’m gonna grab a quick shower at my place and then I’ll head over. Is seven alright?”
“Perfect.” He said, grabbing his keys off the desk and shut off his computer. Luca lifted my chin and kissed me again. “See you in a bit, Tesoro.”
✽✽✽
I was floating on cloud nine the whole rest of the day. Of course, my bubble of Luca-swoons was immediately burst when I saw two cars parked outside Steve’s place. I knew damn well they weren’t there for him. Well, Bridget wasn’t there for him. Melissa was another story. “What the hell, y’all?” I said to Melissa and Bridget as soon as I got out of my Jeep.
“Hear us out,” Bridget began as they stood on the dock. “You need help.”
“It’s just dinner. We’re not even going out anywhere. Just hanging out at his house.”
“Just dinner my ass,” Melissa sniped as she grabbed my arm and hauled me over the lip of the dock onto the deck of my houseboat.
I had a solid eight inches on her, but Mel was strong. Her five-foot-nothing height didn’t hold her back in the slightest. She did CrossFit, she had a membership to a rock-climbing gym, and would rather run through sand than on a treadmill. Maybe she was the one who had gotten Steve to start working out like a mad man.
“What were you gonna wear?” She asked.
“Jean shorts, a tank top, and either my sandals or cowboy boots. What else would I wear?” I scoffed.
Bridget and Mel shared a concerned look. “Yeah, you need help,” Bridget declared.
While Bridget shoved me into the shower with the order to shave everything and tossed a towel in after me, Mel raided my closet. Lord knew that was fine. There was literally nothing interesting for them to find in there—like my vibrator. Friggin’ Luca.
When I stepped out of the shower, my skin glowed from the steam and the coconut exfoliating scrub I’d splurged on during a TJ Maxx browse-a-thon. I walked into my bedroom and found Bridget and Melissa grinning like two devious closet elves. There was no use prolonging the inevitable. When Mel and Bridget got an idea in their heads, there was no convincing them out of it. There wasn’t a question in my mind as to why we were friends. Peas in a pod. “Alright—hit me with it.”
Bridget held up the hanger. “We stole it from Hannah’s closet with her blessing.”
I fingered the hem of the soft black fabric. “It’s a little… conservative.”
She spun it around to show me the back—Or lack thereof.
“Okay, fine.” I grabbed at the dress, but Bridget jerked it away.
“Not so fast,” Mel cut in. She pointed to the bed where a set of lingerie I’d bought on an online shopping binge and never even took the tags off was laid out. “You’re wearing this underneath.”
“He’ll think I’m a hooker!” I shouted.
“You were
the one who just complained that the dress was too conservative,” Bridget said.
“Yeah, can’t we compromise between nun and streetwalker?” I reasoned.
“Nope! Wear it, Pretty Woman,” Mel demanded. “He’s a man. Men like this stuff. Why’d you buy it if you don’t want to wear it?”
“Because sometimes I want to feel sexy just for me.”
“Oh, stop with the girl power mantras and put the lingerie on,” Bridget huffed. “You’re running out of time and you still have hair and makeup to do.
“He’s seen me at work without makeup and my hair in a bun. It doesn’t matter.”
“It’s Luca DeRossi,” Mel exclaimed. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t wanna knock the designer socks off that fine ass man.”
“Fine.”
22
———
LUCA
The doorbell rang just as I pulled the roasted vegetables out of the oven. Most people would think it was weird for me to cook in a three-piece suit, but I was just as comfortable in that as I was in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Besides, Maddie had looked at me like I was a fucking dessert when she stopped in my office earlier. I wiped my hands on the dish towel and walked to the door. My heartbeat ramped up like a racecar the moment I opened it.
Maddie was a fucking knockout. The little black dress she was in came up high on her neck, completely covering her collarbone and shoulders. The sleeves were angled like wings and stopped at her elbows. My eyes trailed down where the fabric stuck to her ass and legs like a second skin, stopping just above mid-thigh, showcasing her mile-long legs. We were eye level since she had traded her work shoes for a pair of black leather heels that were strappy and sexy as fuck.
“Damn, baby—you look fucking gorgeous,” I grinned, leaning in for a kiss before opening the door wider and inviting her inside. She passed by me, revealing the back of her dress. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. There was no back to her dress. The high neckline of the front dropped off into a deep V, baring her tan back all the way down to her waist where the rest of the fabric crisscrossed at her hips and clung to her like a skirt. She’d pulled her long hair into a wild ponytail, showing off the backless dress. As much as I wanted to stare at her all damn night, I wanted the thing off her even more.
Maddie breezed into the house like a goddess, carrying two bags from the restaurant in her hands. “I brought dessert,” she said, lifting the bags. “Is the fridge okay?”
“Yeah—uh, yeah,” I stammered. “Just make room if you need to.”
She smiled and rummaged around for a minute before they both fit. I knew I still had steaks to sear and a demi-glace to finish, but I couldn’t peel my eyes off her. Or my hands. It’s like she had put her hair up in that ponytail just for me to pull when I pushed her face down on my bed, straddled her ass, and bent low to whisper exactly what I was planning on doing to her.
Maddie closed the refrigerator and the second it shut, I pushed her back against the stainless steel door and caged her in. She smiled against my mouth, tipping her chin up, “We meet again,” she teased.
A low growl ripped through my throat as I slid one hand behind her neck, digging my fingers into the skin at the base of her skull just hard enough to make my intentions clear. “Madeline…”
Her long lashes fluttered, and she looked up at me with doe eyes. “Dessert before dinner?” She smiled like a seductress and it nearly brought me to my knees.
But that’s not how things were going to go.
“Not a chance, Tesoro,” I smirked. “You’re wearing that dress like you’re doing it a favor. It’d be a shame if I had to rip it off of you so early on in the night.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes widened. Had anyone ever talked to her like that? Had she ever been dominated? The idea of being the first to take her that way made my pride swell. And made my cock strain against my pants.
I backed away, letting her get a good look at the bulge in my trousers—a silent warning of what was to come. “Come. Sit.” I settled my hand on her waist and led her to the barstool across the island where I was preparing dinner. I pulled the stool out for Maddie, before circling around, pouring a glass of cabernet, and sliding it across the marble countertop to her. I dropped the cracked pepper crusted steaks in the searing hot skillet. They’d be ready to flip in a couple minutes. I washed my hands and turned back to Maddie. “How was the rest of your day?”
“Good,” she nodded as she sipped her wine. “Nothing too crazy. Just feels weird to be off before midnight.”
“So goes the life of a chef.”
“Only for the insane and the passionate.”
“You definitely have to be a little of both to make it,” I said. And she was—Maddie was a lot of both. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the steaks were alright. “So, tell me,” I began, taking the conversation toward the serious. “How the hell are you still single? I mean, come on—you’re a fucking blast to be around, you kick ass in the kitchen, and on a scale of one to ten, you’re at least a thirty.”
Maddie smiled humbly and trailed her fingertip around the rim of the wide wine glass. “I could say the same about you. What would your answer be?”
“I work too much, I don’t stay in one place for long, and I haven’t met the right one.”
She picked up her glass and toasted me, “Minus the whole moving around thing, ditto.” Maddie took a staying sip and added on, “But contrary to popular belief, I’m not lonely.”
“No, I don’t imagine you are,” I chuckled as I gave the steaks a flip and added a pat of butter to baste them as they finished up. I poured in a finger of whiskey and tipped the skillet into the flame on the gas range to flambé the steaks. Beautiful flames filled up the skillet as the alcohol burned off. “Not with friends like yours anyways. You, uh, you’ve got a big circle.”
She laughed quietly. This version of Maddie was much more demure, but no less alluring. In fact, it was just as fascinating to peel back the layers and see a different side of her. “What about you?” She asked. “Who’s in your circle?”
That was a loaded question. “I keep my circle small.”
“Makes it easier when you pack up and move?”
Damn. Girl went right for the jugular. “Yes,” I replied. “Not to sound like a prick, but my, uh, public image means I have to keep my circle small and trustworthy.”
I heard the quiet clink of her setting her glass down as I pulled the steaks out of the skillet and began to plate up our dinner. “Is that your lead-in to having me sign an NDA or something?”
“What? No—hell no, Maddie. I would never ask you to do that.”
“Look, if it makes you feel more comfortable with this… situation, I’m fine with it. Really—I understand.”
Okay, so maybe it had been a while since I actually had to put in work to win over a woman, and maybe I was a little out of practice. Crow did not taste good. “Mad, I didn’t mean it like that,” I said as I busied myself with building our plates. “Have I had women sign NDAs in the past? Yes, but that was because it was a mutually beneficial business arrangement. This is not that.”
“What is this then?”
My hands stilled after I swiped a streak of demi-glace on the plate. I was thirty-six. I was far too old to be calling a woman my girlfriend. On the other hand, I didn’t want Maddie getting the notion that I wasn’t serious about her. “New. This is new.”
“I concur,” she smirked. “But that’s not an answer, Luca.”
“How about this,” I said as I cleaned the rims of the plates with my side towel and washed my hands. “I want you in my bed tonight. I want you there when I wake up in the morning. I’m going to kiss you every day and it may or may not be in front of the staff. I’m going to win over your friends even if it takes a while because I know they don’t like me. You’re going to be in my very small circle, because I trust you without there having to be paperwork involved.”
“I can agree to that on
the condition that we keep this separate from the restaurant. I don’t want my team thinking that I’m not on their side. Scott and I work well together and I can’t say that for every executive chef I’ve ever worked with. I don’t want to fuck that up.”
“I can agree to that for now,” I said. Damn—next time I needed something negotiated, I’d send Maddie instead of Astrid. The woman was a shark. “But come September, I plan on showing you off in New York and it won’t stay quiet.”
She let out a little sigh. “I guess I’ll have between now and then to figure out a way to make it work at the restaurant.”
“So, you’ll come to the gala with me in September?”
“Yes,” she mumbled into her wine.
I chuckled and picked up our plates, nodding my head for her to follow me out to the balcony where I had meticulously laid out two place settings. “Don’t sound too excited about it.”
“I just… I don’t know what to expect. I’ll have to find something to wear.”
With the plates on the table, I took her hand in mine and made her slowly turn so that I could take in all her beauty. “Madeline, listen to me. You could wear a paper bag and you’d still be the most stunning woman there. But, if it helps, I can get Astrid to have a few dresses sent to you.”
“Astrid, your assistant?”
“Astrid, my jack—er—Jane of all trades.”
“I’ll figure it out,” she said dismissively. I pulled her chair out and helped her get seated. After a quick trip back inside, I brought out our wine glasses and the rest of the bottle and found Maddie admiring the place settings. “I’m impressed. It looks better than what front of the house does at the restaurant.”
I grinned proudly as I sat down across from her and motioned for her to dig in. “My first job was working as a busboy. I was thirteen, so they paid me under the table. Eventually the waitstaff started letting me flip tables during service and put out the place settings. I earned a cut of the tips and a great appreciation for a well-set table. I can press a linen like nobody’s business.”
