Crazy for Cole

by Willoughby, Kate

  “I’m finding it really hard not to hate this guy,” Cole said. “Did you feel pressured to give in? Did you think he’d retaliate if you didn’t?”

  She shook her head slowly. “No. I didn’t get that creepy vibe from him at all.”

  “Well, that’s something.”

  “Anyway, I knew it was probably a bad idea and I should have gone with my gut, but we ended up dating for a month or so. It was good, for the most part. I made it a point not to take advantage. I made him swear to treat me like everyone else in the kitchen.”

  “Of course you did. That’s one of the reasons I respect you—your sense of fairness. Everybody at Hat Trick knows you shoot straight with them. There’s no favoritism.”

  She shrugged that off.

  “So what happened?”

  “I started noticing that when we argued, he took it out on me at work. It was never anything huge because, like I said, I insisted that he not give me any slack just because we were an item, but I eventually caught on that I got the shitty prep jobs when he was mad at me.”

  She noticed Cole’s lips had thinned. It was a good thing she didn’t mention Mason’s name. Hockey players had a tendency to even things up and it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that Cole would want to take up the gauntlet on her behalf and avenge her honor, like a knight of old.

  “It wasn’t enough to make a fuss about. Things seemed to balance out for the most part. But one day we had a heated conversation and I called him on it. I asked him if he’d noticed that when he was mad, he retaliated at work.”

  “Let me guess. He denied it.”

  “He not only denied it, he fired me.”

  Cole sat up abruptly. “He what?”

  “He fired me on the spot. He told me we were over and that I shouldn’t bother showing up to work the next day.”

  “That fucking bastard.”

  If Fedora thought Cole had been angry before, he was livid now.

  “Someone ought to string that asshole up by his balls and I volunteer. Just give me his fucking name and it’s done.”

  “No, Cole. Don’t get yourself so worked up. It’s water under the bridge. Honestly. But that’s…that’s why I’m wary. I love being the executive chef at Hat Trick. I don’t want to leave. I don’t want anything to mess that up.”

  Cole nodded. “Okay, but don’t put me in the same category as the asshole. You have to know I’d never fire you over something petty like that. I can’t imagine any scenario ending with me firing you in a fit of anger. Do you really think I’d take it out on you if things went south between us? Do you think that little of me?”

  That took her aback. “No. I…I don’t think that for a minute. You have integrity, unlike my ex.”

  “Great. So problem solved.” He reached for her, but she stuck a hand out and stopped him.

  “Hold on there, Mr. Eager Pants. There’s more than one reason I’m hesitant to take things to the next level.”

  “Okay, let’s hear it.”

  “If you and I started seeing each other, the staff would lose respect for me.”

  He scoffed. “No they wouldn’t. I told you your reputation at Hat Trick is spotless. But even if they did, who cares?”

  “Aren’t you afraid of what they’ll think?”

  “No. It’s frankly none of their business who I’m involved with. When you’re in a leadership position, not everyone is going to like you, no matter how much integrity you have or how fair you are in the workplace. You could be the most fair person on the planet and I guarantee you someone will think you’re unfair.”

  She thought immediately of Avery, one of the servers. She was constantly requesting days off for this or that and then complaining that she wasn’t getting enough hours. It was maddening. Fedora was convinced that even if she gave Avery the cushiest schedule ever, she’d find something to complain about.

  It also proved Cole’s point.

  “So,” he said, “I think we could manage a friends with benefits thing, no problem. We’re not characters on a reality show. We’re mature adults. As long as we go into it with the understanding that what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom, we’ll be fine.” He stood up and walked to the door.

  Surprised that he wasn’t making a move, she got up and followed him.

  “I don’t expect an answer right now, so take a couple days and think about it, okay?”

  She looked at him then, which might have been a mistake. He caught her gaze and wouldn’t let go. Her body hummed with a banked excitement, probably remembering the last time they’d kissed, on the other side of this door. Because he was going to kiss her again. A man didn’t curl his hand around the back of a woman’s neck without kissing her. It was against the code.

  Cole didn’t disappoint. He bent his head and brushed his lips against hers causing her heartbeat to race as warm desire spread throughout her body. It felt so good she forgot why she was resisting. He kissed with a gentle confidence that made her knees weak, but when she licked at the seam of his lips, wanting more from him, he smiled and drew back. Before she knew it, he was reaching for the doorknob.

  What the heck?

  “Think about it,” he said again and left.

  8

  In the morning, Fedora had a performance review scheduled for Jenna Fernandez, her sous chef. Jenna was the first person Fedora hired. She’d been so nervous to take that first step as a boss, afraid of choosing someone who interviewed well but sucked at the actual job. Fortunately, Jenna’s confidence and résumé spoke volumes. Fedora had peppered her with question after question and she’d answered all of them perfectly. She’d also excelled at the mise en place tasks Fedora had given her. She’d diced an onion with precision in thirty seconds, broken down a chicken in three minutes, and cleaned a dozen shrimp in five. And the end results were beautiful. No bone splinters, overlooked shrimp poop, nothing. Now, Jenna was one of her strongest chefs.

  “So,” Fedora said, after having showered Jenna with praise, “you’re getting a raise.”

  Jenna beamed. “Oh my gosh, Fedora, you have no idea what this means to me. I’ve been trying really hard, watching and learning and improving, I hope.”

  “By leaps and bounds,” Fedora confirmed. “I’m so glad you’re a part of my team.”

  “I want to do more, if you’ll let me. Take on more responsibility. Like, can I do the meat or produce orders? Or maybe you could let me handle the dinner rush more often…”

  “Maybe after hockey season, you can do some of the ordering.”

  Jenna clapped her hands.

  “And now that you mention it, it would be nice to have some nights to myself. In fact…” She glanced at the closed door and decided to risk it. “Let me ask you something. You know how Cole and I were pretending to date?”

  Jenna gasped. “Oh my gosh, don’t tell me you’re really dating?”

  “Not exactly. Not yet, anyway,” she muttered.

  “Fedora, that’s great!”

  “It is?” This was not the reaction she’d expected.

  “Yes. You guys have so much fun together. To tell you the truth, I kind of thought you were only pretending to pretend so people wouldn’t know you were really together.”

  “That’s kind of my question. See, I was wondering if you thought it was a bad idea. Or if you think this will diminish my position with the staff.”

  Jenna frowned. “I certainly don’t think any less of you, but I can think of a couple of people who might snicker or make comments behind your back.”

  Fedora immediately wondered who, but thought it was better if she didn’t know.

  “But don’t worry about them,” Jenna said. “I think you and Cole were meant for each other.” She laughed. “Can you imagine if you got married? Oh, the pranks you’d pull on each other!”

  “Hey. You’re the one getting married. Not me.”

  “Okay, okay. I was just kidding. Kind of. Seriously though, I think it might cause a stir at first, b
ut after people got used to the idea, it’d be no big deal. And just in case, me and Chris haven’t set a date yet, so we could totally have a double wedding.”

  “Jenna?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Shut up.”

  Jenna laughed.

  Hardy, Hat Trick’s master brewer had a matter he wanted to discuss with the partners. Although it was Cole’s job to act as go-between, Hardy wanted talk to all three of them. As usual, the meeting was in Slater’s office, which was the largest of the three and had a small conference table. Everyone was already there.

  “Hey, big guy,” Cole said, shaking Hardy’s hand. “How’s the wife and kid?”

  “Debbie’s good. Riker too. He’s this close to walking.”

  “Good to hear,” Cole said, with only a small amount of jealousy. He’d always planned to have a family, but things hadn’t worked out. “So what’s up?”

  Hardy opened a file folder and removed some papers. “So, I wanted to fly something past you guys. There’s this contest going on in Seattle called Chew and Brew and I think we ought to enter.”

  As they all perused the paper, Fedora walked in. Cole hadn’t expected to see her. She glanced over and gave him a weird smile, then sat down. “Hey, sorry I’m late. I had a performance review that went a little longer than anticipated.”

  “No problem. You didn’t miss anything,” Slater said.

  “So,” Hardy said, “I was just saying there’s this contest I think we ought to enter, and I wanted to know what you thought, Fedora, since it involves food. Basically, it’s a beer pairing competition. Usually at beer competitions, they just judge the beer, but because Hat Trick’s food is so good, Brew and Chew caught my eye. I really think we have a good chance of winning.”

  According to the flyer Hardy had printed out for them, the contest was only in its second year. An entry consisted of a beer and a food item. Each would be judged on its own, with another score for how well the two complemented each other.

  “This looks like it’s right up our alley,” Slater said.

  “Agreed,” Flynn said. “If we won, I’d milk the hell out of it on social media, press releases. We could even put it on our menus. It’d be great to have something new to promote.”

  “Fedora, what do you think? You’d obviously need to travel to Seattle and do all the cooking. Lord knows these bozos can’t handle it.”

  She laughed. “I think I could swing it. My second in command Jenna has been chomping at the bit to be handed more responsibility. This would be the perfect opportunity for her.”

  “Great, so it’s settled,” Hardy said.

  “I’ll go with her,” Cole said. He weathered some curious looks, but acted like he hadn’t jumped at the chance to go away with Fedora. He was certain all she needed to teeter over the edge was some more one-on-one time. “It’ll be just before the auction, so perfect timing.”

  “What auction?” Flynn asked.

  “Cole’s doing a bachelor auction for charity,” Fedora said.

  There was a moment of surprise and then Slater remarked, “They must be desperate.”

  “Very funny,” Cole said. “Keep that up and I’ll give them your name for next year.”

  “Ha. I’d fucking rock a bachelor auction,” Slater said.

  The annoying part was he was probably right. Slater was a lean, lanky guy with a knack for always looking perfectly relaxed, as if nothing bothered him. He was whip-smart, good looking and had enjoyed a hockey career that included an Olympic gold medal. Even on the ice when emotions got heated, he always came across as cool and collected. He’d been a chick-magnet probably since he hit puberty.

  “What’s the charity?” Flynn asked.

  “I forgot the name, but it’s a battered women’s shelter. They help abused women get back on their feet. Find them jobs, places to live. They help with child care, food, clothes, whatever.”

  “Good for you, Ripper,” Flynn said.

  “FYI, I donated a free dinner from Hat Trick as part of the date. I’m going to hit up the Barracudas for a pair of tickets too. Sarah, the auction coordinator, says it won’t be a problem adding Hat Trick to the website as a donor. She said it’s not too late to put stuff into the goodie bags either. We need about three hundred items. I figure it’ll be good karma and good promotion.”

  “Two birds with one stone.” Slater grinned. “I’ve trained you well, young Jedi.”

  “Give me her number,” Flynn said. “I’ll send her the logo, and I think I probably have enough Hat Trick T-shirts to donate for those goodie bags.”

  Cole did so.

  “Thanks for taking one for the team,” Slater said.

  “What do you mean?” Cole asked.

  “I mean, you could end up spending the evening with a real winner. That happened to me once. Dinner with a fan ended up being a nightmare. Not only did she look like Steve Buscemi—”

  Flynn winced.

  “—she had this annoying laugh. And she laughed a lot. Everything I said, she thought was hilarious.” He shuddered. “It was torture. At one point, I considered running to the men’s room and stuffing toilet paper in my ears.”

  “Wow,” Flynn said. “You’re such a dick, Jonesy.”

  “Hey, don’t judge me. You weren’t there. I should have recorded the laugh. It was like an animal was being tortured.”

  Fedora pushed her chair back and stood. “Well, as much as I’d love to stay and listen to Slater verbally slaughter a woman whose only crime was to admire him—”

  “Touché,” Flynn said.

  “I have to get to Hat Trick. Hardy, you want to talk later about what beer you want to enter in the competition? We can discuss what to pair with it.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Wait up, Chevy,” Cole said. “I want to talk to you. Do you have a couple of minutes?”

  She checked her phone. “I can give you five. I have a big produce order coming in from a new vendor.”

  They went into his office where he closed the door.

  “First of all, my mom said to tell you goodbye and that next time she visits, she’ll teach you how to make jai.”

  “I have no idea what jai is, but I can’t wait.”

  “Second, I wanted to make sure you’re not mad,” he said, figuring he might as well grab the bull by the horns.

  “About what?”

  He sat on the edge of his desk. “About me deciding to go Seattle with you for the competition.”

  “Why would I be mad? I’ll need someone there for moral support and to help, if necessary, which is why you volunteered, right?” She arched an eyebrow at him.

  He laughed. “Of course. I will be at your beck and call. Anything you need. For instance, if you get really nervous the night before, I know an excellent way to relax.”

  “Do you now?” she asked. “Tell me more.”

  He went still. What was she doing? Was she…was she flirting with him?

  Deciding to find out, he went toward her with a slow grin. “This relaxation technique can be done alone, but it’s better—much better, when two people do it together.”

  He was close enough to smell her shampoo now. Her hair was up for work in those tight little buns, but he knew now what it looked like when it was loose around her shoulders, and he took that image to bed with him at night and fantasized about what it would be like to feel that glorious hair slip across the skin of his abdomen as she moved down his body to take him in her mouth.

  God, he wanted that. If he was lucky, it might happen in Seattle. Right now he’d settle for a kiss, a long, deep, slow kiss as a prelude of what was to come.

  “It’s been proven that sex is a stress reliever.”

  “Don’t beat around the bush or anything. Just come right out and say it.”

  “Okay, I will. I want to have sex with you, Chevy. Hot, sweaty sex. The hard and fast kind, the slow and sweet kind, the kind that makes you want to do it all over again two seconds after it’s over. I want to
see if it’s as good as I think it’ll be.”

  “I think I might be up for that,” she said.

  Cole thought that was entirely too indecisive of an answer, but he let it go.

  “But I want to establish a few ground rules,” she said. “This is a trial run. We give it a go in Seattle and that’s all. There are zero expectations that the sex will continue when we get back to California. Agreed?”

  “Agreed.” But he secretly thought it would turn out to be amazing. There was a reason there were so many anniversary cards that talked about marrying a best friend. Not that marriage was on the table. Hell no. She wasn’t even comfortable with dating. But he had to admit, it wasn’t impossible that his feelings for Fedora could develop into something more. He was cautiously optimistic.

  “And what happens in Seattle stays in Seattle.”

  “That goes without saying. I don’t make a habit of talking about my sex life. I haven’t done that since I was a teenager. Yeah, I’m not proud of it, but I did brag once or twice.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “Like I said, not proud. I was a young, insecure idiot who needed everyone to know he was now ‘a man.’”

  “Having sex doesn’t make you an instant man. If anything, I’d say giving a woman an orgasm comes closer to that. No pun intended. How old were you when you did that for the first time?”

  “Hey, keep your voice down, will you?” He thought about it. “Hell, I don’t know. Twenty?”

  “Talk about a late bloomer.”

  “Excuse me, but it wasn’t like I was having sex every day. At the beginning, it was a rare event. Stop laughing. What matters more is how I perform now.”

  He went to her, cupped her face and looked into her eyes. He’d learned a long time ago, eye contact was key to a really mind-blowing kiss. Then, taking his time, he bent his head and touched his lips to hers. Her breath released on a sigh and he deepened the kiss. She melted into him, slid her hands up his back. He felt her breasts against his chest and he had to fight the urge to throw her on his desk and screw her brains out. It would be the ultimate in stupidity to rush her now. Slow and steady won the race. He had all weekend.