by Kaylee, Katy
“And you think Ms. Andrews’ inexperience is holding it back?”
“Yes. She works hard, there’s no doubt. But she’s a little uneven; some nights hard as nails, and other nights too lax. Last night she told the chef to change the menu. Just like that. A restaurant still trying to get its legs underneath it. I’m sure the chef is in a tizzy. They only just got used to the menu we had.”
“She changed the menu?” I asked, wanting to make sure I heard that right.
“Yes.”
Changing a menu wasn’t a big deal. While each of my restaurants had a few staples, my regular customers could count on whenever they came, we’d offer new items every now and then, kept things fresh. The trick was not to change too much too quickly, especially in a new restaurant. Without regular patrons, changing a menu too often could look like the restaurant was flaky.
“She was concerned about the review that said we were trying to be fusion but not quite reaching it,” John added.
Fuck. I’d forgotten to check Lyle’s review. “This program is about helping her build a successful restaurant, so of course there will be a few growing pains. You don’t think she’ll settle in and make it work?”
I swore I could see the wheels turning in his head, as he worked out the response he thought would most likely to win me over.
“Maybe. I know this is a program to help entrepreneurs, but I also know that Raven Industries isn’t in the business of throwing money away.”
“No. But so far, I haven’t seen anything to suggest we’re losing money on this.”
He nodded. “Yes, I understand. But you know how stress is. It can build slowly. We’re treading water, but if we keep having nights in which the kitchen gets overwhelmed, eventually cracks will appear.”
I didn’t bother to mention he was mixing his metaphors.
“So, what’s your solution?” I asked, curious as to his end goal.
“I’ve worked in a restaurant like this before, and I helped turn it around. I know a great chef who can help.”
I frowned. “As the manager, haven’t we already hired you to do this? What are you asking for specifically, Mr. Parker?”
He blinked. “To take over the restaurant for Raven Industries.”
“And what about Ms. Andrews?”
He shrugged. “She wanted a food cart. Maybe she should start with that.”
“I see — ”
In a flash, Morgan was in my office, her eyes fiery as she glared at me and John. “It’s my name on the lease. You can’t just take it away from me.”
“Morgan,” I straightened hoping she didn’t think I was really going to give this numbnut her restaurant.
“No. I don’t need either of you to make this work.” She glared at John. “You’re fired.”
Oh, shit. I hoped she just didn’t open us up for a lawsuit. I could see it already, Raven Industries new project sullied by a sexual harassment suit against a woman.
She looked at me, with the same contempt. “The city doesn’t need another frou-frou restaurant for the rich. The little people like me enjoy eating out sometimes, too.”
She turned to leave.
“Morgan wait.” I started to follow her out.
“She can’t do that, can she?” John asked.
“She can and she did. You’re fired.” I followed her into the open area outside my office, vaguely aware that some of our staff was there. “Morgan!”
She whirled around. “Were you just manipulating me too?”
“No. God, no. I was getting ready to fire him, but I was afraid he might try to sue, since you and he — ”
“Stop. Just stop.” She made a face like she couldn’t stand me and turned again, heading to the elevator.
“Morgan,” I called following her again. Now we were in front of Ash and Chase’s offices. “I’m on your side, really.”
She scoffed as she looked up at the numbers over the elevator. I had about twenty floors to convince her I wasn’t going to take her restaurant from her.
“Come back to my office so we can talk.”
“Why, so you can fuck me over again?”
My brows shot up at her vitriol. She was pissed.
“No. So I can apologize for how it looked, and explain my true intentions.”
“I know your intentions. I keep falling for them.” She shook her head, and under her breath said, “idiot.”
I wasn’t sure if she meant me or her.
“You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”
She finally turned to look at me. “Why should I? Just because everything in your entire life has come easy to you, why should I be a part of that? Maybe it’s time to learn how to work for something.”
Fire burned in my gut. “You don’t think I work hard?” I busted my butt for this company. For her restaurant. “Or are you pissed because I’m rich?”
She made a face of disgust. “I don’t resent your wealth, Kade. And I don’t doubt you work hard. But I know you’ve never done work in which your entire life depended on it. Something goes wrong in your life, it’s no big deal. You have your fat bank account or daddy’s money to keep you from losing your home and going hungry. The rest of the world…most of the world doesn’t have a billion dollar trust fund to fall back on if something goes wrong. So no, I don’t think you really know what it’s like to work like your life depends on it.”
She turned back as the elevator door opened. She stepped in, and I nearly got in with her.She held a hand up to stop me.
“I’m doing this my way now. If I fail, it’s on me. But I’m not going to fail because of you or John.” The doors closed.
“Wow.”
I closed my eyes as I heard Alex’s voice behind me.
“That was some speech. An accurate one too, if you ask me,” she said.
I turned to her. “I was going to fire him. You know that, right?”
She nodded.
“Why did you let her in my office?” I had to blame someone for this shitshow. Why not Alex?
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Let’s see… I don’t work for you. Or maybe it was because I was trying ply Ben with coffee.” She stalked off.
I blew out a breath, deciding I’d apologize later.
I started toward my office when I saw Chase and Ash appear from Chase’s office. Fuck.
“Have you been telling us everything that’s going on with this project?” Chase asked.
“Yes.” I blew out a breath. “This all just came up this morning.”
“She’s right in that the place is hers. You can’t take it from her.”
“What the fuck, Ash? I don’t want to take it. I was going to fire him. I didn’t have the chance before she stormed in.” Speaking of him, where had John gone?
“Why did he need firing?” Chase asked.
“He was undermining her authority, and manipulating her and me to try to get the restaurant and run it as a Raven Industry establishment.”
“Fucker,” Ash said.
I agreed.
“Any chance he can turn this around against us?” Chase asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. She has a personal situation that he might be a part of.”
Ash’s brows lifted and I wondered if he’d considered that John could be the father of Morgan’s baby.
“What sort of personal situation?” Chase asked.
“I think we need to wait and see what he does,” Ash said.
Chase looked at him. “I’d rather know what we might be faced with.”
“We’re not in the business of getting into people’s private lives,” Ash argued.
“We are if it can hurt the company.”
“Let me talk to her, first,” I said. “I need to find her a new G.M. anyway.” I went back to my office, needing a moment to regroup. John had disappeared and I had to hope to fuck he didn’t do anything stupid. I might have to hire him in another restaurant just to keep him quiet and leave Morgan alone. That irked me. Maybe
I could have Ash take him in one of the clubs instead. Or better yet, send him to Bucharest to manage the restaurant there.
As I sat in a daze at my desk, I began to wonder if John really could be the father of her baby. She didn’t act like he was. He didn’t say anything, but then maybe she hadn’t told him. I wondered if she was keeping it to herself because she’d finally figured out his nefarious plan and didn’t want to have to raise a child with him. I couldn’t blame her. As much as I thought men should know about any babies they may have created, John didn’t seem like good father material.
Was I? I hoped so. While I’d hit another speed bump in this crazy relationship with her — hell, I think I’d actually driven off the road — I still wanted her. I wanted to help her with her child. She was right that I didn’t know what it was like to have to work in order to just get by. What I knew was that money could solve a lot of problems. I was willing to share my money to help solve hers so that she didn’t have to feel so desperate or work herself ragged.
“Your dad called and wants your thoughts on the Bucharest thing by tonight,” Alex said, poking her head in my door.
“Tonight? What the fuck. I only just got them.”
She shrugged. “I’m just the messenger.”
I waved her away and opened up the docs on my father’s project. I couldn’t deal with Morgan right now, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe giving her a day or two to run the restaurant on her own would calm her down enough that I could talk to her. Maybe.
26
Morgan — Wednesday
Without a manager, my workload increased substantially. It made it difficult to help my mother, which made me feel guilty. But when the restaurant was established and I was earning a consistent income, she’d be able to retire. Being able to stop working would likely lessen her flare ups. If only I could afford her treatments.
Being without John also meant I had to come in early before opening to deal with inventory and other issues John had been in charge of. I realized that he’d coded some of the meals in our digital order system wrong, which was why we had some inaccurate orders. He wasn’t just undermining me; he’d been trying to sabotage me. And Kade had fallen for it.
John’s betrayal annoyed me, but Kade’s had hurt. I thought he’d trusted me. I was sure he felt confident in my abilities, or at least in my willingness to learn. To hear him ask John what he wanted felt like a kick in the gut. I was glad that Chef had overheard John make the appointment with Kade so I could show up there and tell them both off. It had felt good. Then I was scared to death because I knew I was truly on my own with this restaurant.
“Morgan?” Chef poked his head into my office.
“Yes?”
“I’ve got those new ideas for you.” He handed me a list of new fusion dishes we could consider. “Also, you’ve got company out in the front.”
“Company?”
“I think it might be a new G.M.”
As much as I needed a new manager, I wasn’t going to take any of Kade’s recommendations. Then I remembered I’d been the one push to hire John. Maybe I was too green to go it alone.
“Thank you. I’ll look these over when I finished with my guests.”
He nodded and disappeared. I rose from my desk, and pushed back the stray wisps of hair that never made it into my ponytail. The hairstyle might not be Raven chic, but it was functional when working in a fast-paced restaurant.
I entered the dining area and stopped short when I saw Kade. I wanted to scratch his pretty green eyes out. I clasped my hands behind my back so that I wouldn’t give into the temptation.
“Morgan.” His gaze studied mine as if he was gauging my reaction.
“Mr. Raven.”
He sighed. “This is Pat Crowly,” he said, putting his hand on the middle-aged woman’s shoulder. “She’s an assistant manager over at the bistro, but she’s earned a promotion. I’m hoping you can interview her for your G.M. opening.”
It sounded like he was asking, not bossing. That was a change.
The woman extended her hand. “So nice to meet you. I’ve brought my resume.” She reached into her bag, pulling out a paper. “I’m hoping Mr. Raven’s endorsement of me will help, but he suggests maybe it will hurt.”
I glanced at him. “I assure you I won’t hold him against you.” I nodded toward my office. “Would you like to follow me? I can interview you now.”
I hated to admit it, but Kade was right. She was knowledgeable and experienced. But she also listened to my vision and even added a few ideas.
“When can you start?”
“I’m told if you like me, Mr. Raven will release me from the bistro right away. I can start now.” She smiled, and I liked the idea of working alongside another strong woman.
I gave her the tour of the restaurant and introduced her to the chef. All the while, Kade sat in a corner of the restaurant working. I left her to begin her job and made my way to him.
“Thank you,” I said keeping my voice even. “I think she’ll be perfect.”
He smiled up at me and my heart did a little dance. I told it to calm down. No more falling for charming men that couldn’t be trusted.
“I’m glad. Any chance that you can spend some time with me today?”
Nope. Not going to happen. “Why?”
“I want a chance to explain why I was meeting with John. I know you think I was falling for his ‘I want to make the restaurant a success’ bit, but I wasn’t. To be honest, I didn’t like him. I didn’t trust him. Even in the beginning.”
I pursed my lips. “Why didn’t you tell me? He was mine to fire.”
He nodded. “You’re right. I handled it wrong. I’m sorry.” He stood, moving closer to me. My brain told me to back away, but like the idiot I was, I stood there, feeling the heat of him as he gently touched my arm. “Spend a few hours with me. Pat will settle in quickly. You can be back before dinner opening. Let me take you to lunch.”
I stared at him. “Can I choose the place?”
“Absolutely Wherever you want. Paris, even.”
I quirked a brow, annoyed that he’d flaunt his money, even as the idea of whisking off to Paris excited me. “I think I’d miss the dinner service if we went to Paris.”
“New York, then. Your pick.”
I grabbed my purse and led him to the subway.
“I have a car.”
“Subway is faster.” It was time for Kade to understand my world for once. If he was going to be a father to my child, I wanted him to know what real life was like. I didn’t want my child to grow up indulged and entitled. “But keep your wallet in your front pants pocket.”
“I have ridden the subway before,” he quipped.
“Really? When?”
“We used to take the train in from the Hamptons when we were teens.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why not a car? It’s not like you didn’t have drivers.”
He had a look on his face that suggested I wouldn’t like his answer. “We saw it as an adventure.”
“Yes, slumming it is quite fun.”
We rode to lower Manhattan and walked toward Central Park. I held out my hand like a game show host toward a food truck serving southern fusion food.
Kade grimaced. “Here?”
“Here,” I said. “Afraid real food will ruin your palette?”
“More like I’m afraid I’ll get sick.”
I rolled my eyes. “They have to pass food inspections like all other food places.” I walked up to the truck and ordered two shrimp mango tacos in a waffle. I started to pay, but Kade shoved over a twenty-dollar bill, telling the guy to keep the change.
We walked to the park and sat near the fountain. “Bon appetit,” I said taking a bite of the food.
Kade studied his meal for a moment. Finally, he shrugged and took a bite. “Fuck, that’s good.”
“Right?” I said, pleased he could appreciate something that didn’t cost fifty dollars a plate.
He looked at me
. “Is this the type of thing you want to make? Waffle tacos?”
“Maybe not waffle tacos, but foods that combine cultures into a new taste delight. And while I don’t want to kick rich people out of my place, I’d like it to be affordable to regular people, too.”
“Is that why you changed your menu?”
I studied him, wondering what John had told him. “We’re starting with one change. An appetizer, but we’re looking at new menu changes, yes.”
“Just one?” He shook his head. “He told me you changed the menu.”
“I’m not an idiot, Kade.”
He had the decency to look chagrined. “No. You’re not.” We finished our tacos and he surprised me by asking me to show him other fusion options.
“You know, I was shocked when I heard Ash took Hannah out for dirty water dogs,” he admitted as we ate a regular old American ice cream cone, after we split an order of Asian street fries.
“Why? They’re so good. And so New York.”
“The idea of it is repulsive.” He made a face of disgust.
“Snob,” I said, laughing.
He looked down, and I wondered if I hurt his feelings. “I know I don’t know what it’s like to live the way most others do, but I’m not impervious to life’s difficulties, sufferings, challenges.”
I knew he’d lost his mother. I was lucky to still have mine.
“We were raised, though, to ignore feelings. Well, my father did. My mother was great. She taught me to cook. My father used to tell her to stop teaching me pansy stuff.”
I winced. “Kade, that’s…” I wanted to say terrible, but perhaps that was too much judgment.
“I’ve had the last laugh. The restaurants do very well.”
“But you don’t cook in them. Is that your passion?”
“I like to cook at home. Or for family, on occasion. I once babysat Hannah and she told me how you cook with her.”
I smiled. “She’s my sous chef.”
“It’s clear I still have things to learn. I hope you’ll be patient with me.”
I wasn’t sure what he was asking, but I nodded anyway. All the anger and hostility were gone. It was time to tell him about the baby, I realized.
