Until Mani

by Paige, Rochelle

  “C’mon, we’re going to have fun. I promise.” Lyla hooked her arm through mine as we walked across the lot.

  I tugged on the hem of my skirt right before we walked in the door, feeling out of place even in my best dress. “I hope you’re right.”

  “I’m probably a little biased since Jayce is the manager here, but you can still trust me.”

  I’d only met Lyla’s boyfriend twice since I got into town, but knowing he worked here made me feel a little more comfortable since he seemed like a fairly laidback guy. I figured the steakhouse couldn’t be too stuffy if he worked there. “The manager, huh?”

  Lyla nodded. “Yeah.”

  “He’s young for a job like that.” I smiled at her and winked. “Impressive.”

  “He’s been working here since he was fifteen. Part-time during the school year and full-time in the summers once he was old enough. Through high school and five years of college. When he graduated, Mani promoted him to manager.”

  “Mani?”

  “He’s the person Jayce credits with making him the man he is today,” Lyla explained as she led me into the bar area. “Mani owns Bryson’s. He opened it when he was twenty-five and has basically lived and breathed the restaurant for the last ten years to make it the success it is today.”

  I scanned the room and took in the gleaming wood of the bar and floors, the dark leather on the stools and booths, and the framed photos on the walls. The decor was tasteful and expensive looking, perfectly fitting for the fanciest restaurant in town. It was hard to believe he’d been a year younger than I am now when he’d opened this place. “He must be quite a guy.”

  Lyla’s eyes lit up, and I figured it was because she’d decided to try to play matchmaker. I was about to remind her why the last thing I needed was a date, but then I spotted Jayce and figured her excitement was because she was happy to see him. I didn’t blame her. My best friend had hit it big in the boyfriend lottery, snagging an attractive, nice guy who was clearly head over heels for her. They were freaking adorable together.

  “Hey, baby.” Jayce brushed his lips against her cheek and ran his fingers over her collarbone. “You‘re looking even more gorgeous than usual. Is this all for me?”

  Lyla grinned up at him. “Nope.”

  “It’d better be.” Jayce took a step closer to Lyla and growled, “Who else would you get dressed up for?”

  “Vivi.” Lyla jerked her head in my direction and patted him on the chest. “She needed a girl’s night out. I thought I’d take advantage of my super-hot boyfriend working at the fanciest place in town and ask him to hook us up. You know I’ll make it more than worth your while later.”

  “I’ll definitely take you up on that offer.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and turned to offer me a smile. “You couldn’t have picked a better night to come in. My boss is working on the seasonal cocktail menu for next month, and I’m sure he could use a couple of taste testers.”

  “I’m not much of a gourmet, but I’ve had my fair share of drinks. I can probably give decent feedback on drinks.” Or at least I thought I could until one of the hottest men I’d ever seen in real life walked into the bar, and Jayce said he was his boss.

  Mani wasn’t what I was expecting for a restaurant owner. I kind of figured he’d be less fit from being in the kitchen all of the time, but he looked like he’d be just as comfortable playing sports as cooking. Or starring in a movie. He had that tall, dark, and handsome thing going on just as much as any of the big-name actors out there.

  I had a history of being awkward around guys who were much less attractive than him. The odds of me not doing anything to embarrass myself tonight were basically slim to none, especially with how my life was going lately.

  Chapter 3

  Mani

  My mind was on the drink recipes I was planning to try out when I walked into the bar area of my restaurant a few hours before closing. Tuesday nights were our slowest, and there were only a couple of booths occupied and a few people seated at the far end of the bar. I quickly spotted Jayce talking to two women. I recognized the brunette as his girlfriend, but I hadn’t seen the blonde around here before. I would definitely remember if I had because she was the kind of woman a man didn’t forget.

  The black dress she was wearing showed off her curves to perfection. My hands itched to get on her luscious ass and give it a squeeze. My mouth watered to taste the creamy swell of her tits. And my cock twitched at the thought of having her long legs hiked over my shoulders while I worked my way down to her pussy to savor that as well. I had the feeling she’d be more delicious than any meal I’d ever prepared, and I was determined to find out if I was right.

  As I got closer, I noticed how her blond hair was pulled back in a low ponytail that drew my gaze to her graceful neck. It wasn’t a detail I’d paid attention to on any other woman before, but I wanted to nibble my way down to her pulse point and leave my mark there for other men to see. I’d never been territorial over the women I’d dated in the past, but I recognized the feeling for what it was—possessiveness for a woman when I didn’t even know her name.

  Then she turned towards me, and I felt a jolt run through my body when our gazes met. Her blue eyes widened in surprise, and I couldn’t help but think that James Mayson was right. I finally understood what it meant to be hit by the boom, and it’d only taken one glance. I only hoped she was feeling it as much as I was.

  “Hey, Mani.” I reluctantly tore my gaze away from the blond beauty when Jayce nudged me. I wasn’t sure how many times he’d said my name before he got my attention, but I was guessing it was more than once based on the hint of laughter in his eyes. “Lyla brought her best friend in for a girl’s night out. I was thinking maybe they could help you out by giving you their opinions on the seasonal cocktails you were going to test. Does that sound okay to you?”

  After the way I’d been devouring his girlfriend’s best friend with my eyes, Jayce damn well knew that was more than okay with me. But I wasn’t going to give him shit for poking a little fun at me for my reaction. Not when we both knew how out of the ordinary it was for me. Hell, I was probably going to do the opposite and give him a raise since he was indirectly responsible for bringing her into my restaurant. With as much time as I spend here, I might never have met her otherwise.

  “It sounds like a great plan to me.” I smiled at him and Lyla before taking a step closer to her friend and holding out my right hand. “I’m Mani.”

  “Crap, where are my manners? I got distracted by this guy and the offer of free drinks”—Lyla poked Jayce in the side—“and totally forgot you and Vivi have never met before. Sorry.”

  “Vivi.” I enjoyed how her name sounded as it rolled off my lips, but I liked even more how soft her skin felt when her palm slid against mine.

  Her cheeks filled with a pretty shade of pink. “It’s short for Vivian.”

  “A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” I slid my thumb across her inner wrist and felt her pulse leap. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You, too.” Her voice quavered slightly, and I reluctantly released her hand when she pulled away from me.

  “I’m assuming you want us at the bar?” Lyla flashed a brilliant smile my way when I nodded. Then she tugged on Vivi’s arm and led her over to a stool. I barely stifled a groan when her skirt hiked up, showing several more inches of golden skin that begged for my touch.

  Jayce loudly cleared his throat, and I tore my gaze away from Vivi to glance at him. “I guess I’ll leave you to take care of the girls while I make sure everything’s running smoothly in the dining room and kitchen.”

  His eyes slid back over to Lyla, and I knew he’d prefer to stay in the bar with her. But one of us had to keep an eye on my other employees and schmooze the customers, and it wasn’t going to be me. Not when I could be spending that time with Vivi. “Let me know if anything goes horribly wrong.”

  “Will do, boss.” He sent a final, lingering look Lyla’s way before
heading out to the dining room.

  I sidled up to the bar, claiming the stool next to Vivi, and caught Robert’s attention. He was a damn good bartender who’d been working for me for about five years, but he was dangerously close to getting his ass fired with the way he was trying to flirt with Vivi. Being charming was a big part of why he was a great bartender. It was something I’d complimented him on each year during his annual performance reviews. It was incredibly ironic that now it might be what caused him to lose his job.

  Lucky for him, Robert was also a perceptive guy. The second he realized I was glaring at him, he shifted down the bar to stand in front of me. He gave me a slight nod that let me know he got where I was coming from, and some of my tension eased. “Sorry, boss. You ready for the first round of drinks?”

  I nodded and skipped over the usual pleasantries since I was still irritated with him. “Make three of them.”

  “Coming right up.”

  While he was making our drinks, I turned towards Vivi and Lyla. “Have you ladies had dinner already? I wouldn’t want to be responsible for making you drink on an empty stomach.”

  “We had salads a few hours ago.” Lyla plopped her and Vivi’s purses on the stool next to her. “Vivi is a chocoholic, so I wanted to make sure we had room for some of your famous chocolate mousse cake.”

  “We can do better than salad and cake for dinner since this may take a while.” I’d originally figured on spending about thirty minutes on the tasting, but that plan went out the window when I spotted Vivi. Now I was in no rush for this night to end. “How about I have them bring out some appetizers and side dishes for now, and we’ll move on to desserts after we’ve tried the first few drinks I’m considering?”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Lyla chirped.

  Having Lyla on board made things easier for me, but she wasn’t the one who I was hoping for an answer from. “And you, Vivi?”

  “I’m not one to turn down free food.” She ducked her head and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “But I should warn you that I’m not used to eating super fancy stuff.”

  “This is going to be even more fun than I thought.” I rubbed my hands together in excitement and grinned at her. There were a bunch of items on my menu that were delicious in their simplicity. “I’m looking forward to proving to you that gourmet doesn’t have to be intimidating.”

  I had Robert put in a couple orders of my signature steak bites, which were seared and topped with remoulade. They were served with grilled flatbread, and the mixture of protein and carbs would help keep us all semi-sober. I also asked him to have them bring out lobster mac and cheese, baked brie, a side of potatoes au gratin, crab stuffed mushrooms, and a portabella stack marinated in balsamic vinegar and topped with roasted red pepper and goat cheese. The mushroom dishes might push her boundaries, but they were two of my favorites.

  “You were right.” Vivi pushed the last empty plate back a couple of hours later, after she nabbed the only remaining piece of portabella mushroom. “I could easily eat every single one of those dishes for lunch or dinner for the rest of my life.”

  I could just as easily cook them for her. Watching her enjoy recipes I’d created gave me a whole new appreciation for my skills in the kitchen. “Challenge accepted.”

  Chapter 4

  Vivian

  Mani’s declaration shocked me so much that I almost choked on the bite of mushroom I’d just swallowed. It took me a couple of tries to get it down, and then I gulped at my water. Lyla thought my reaction was hilarious and burst into a fit of laughter. Although that might’ve also had something to do with the six drinks we’d sampled throughout the night. Lyla had proclaimed them too delicious to go to waste, and she’d finished off each and every glass put in front of her. Mani and I had been a little more cautious, so we weren’t feeling the effects of the alcohol quite as much.

  The bartender came over and cleared the empty plates and glasses. He’d been super friendly when we first got here, but he toned it way down when Mani joined us. I figured the stress of serving your boss for hours had gotten to him. “One last round to go. It’s the spiked cider recipe.”

  He moved away to mix our drinks, and Lyla was tapping away at something on her phone. I felt the lull in the conversation and blurted the first thing that popped into my head. "Is Mani short for something?”

  “Mani and Vivi,” Lyla sing-songed. “I just realized your names sound perfect together.”

  Mani caught the bartender’s gaze and asked him to bring three glasses of water over before he answered, “Yeah, my full name is Richard Emanuel. My mom named me after her dad. I started going by Mani in middle school because I didn’t want anyone to call me Dick, like him.”

  Lyla snorted, “Dick. Get it?”

  I shushed her and handed her one of the glasses of water the bartender brought over. She took a few sips, and I turned back to Mani. “I assumed your last name was Bryson. How did you come up with it for your restaurant?”

  “It’s my mom’s maiden name.” His dark eyes took on a reflective gleam. “I never would’ve been able to open this place without the money I got from an inheritance my grandfather left me. He died when I was twenty-two, a couple of weeks before I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. We were close, and losing him made me think about what I really wanted to do with my life.”

  I’d barely talked to my mom after I left for college, but I’d still felt her loss when she died. I could only imagine how much worse it would’ve been if we’d had a better relationship. “I bet he would’ve liked knowing he inspired you to go after your dream.”

  “You’re right; he would.” His lips curled up at the edges in a slight smile. “I started culinary school that summer, using some of the money he left me to pay my tuition and living expenses. Once that was done, most of what I had left went towards opening this place. It only seemed right to honor him by naming it Bryson’s.”

  He looked so sad. I wanted to lighten the mood a bit, so I decided to tease him a little. “Yeah, I can see why you’d go that route. Dick’s doesn’t have quite the same ring as Bryson’s.”

  “Unless you were opening a strip club slash steakhouse,” Lyla piped in, turning to me with a grin on her face and a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Like that place we used our fake IDs to get into our sophomore year. That male strip club, remember?” She didn’t give me a chance to react before she continued, “With all the swinging dicks flying around, it would’ve been the perfect name.”

  I snagged the glass of spiked apple cider the bartender had just dropped off out of her hand and slid it in Mani’s direction. The last thing Lyla needed right now was more alcohol, so I wanted to keep it out of her reach. “If we’re at the part of the night where you’re sharing embarrassing stories about me, then you’ve definitely had enough to drink.”

  “You’re probably right,” she slurred just as Jayce walked up.

  He was balancing a tray of desserts that he set down on the bar after he saw Lyla tilting to the side on her stool. Then he wrapped his hands around her hips and set her on the floor. She wobbled on her feet, so he kept hold of her. “It looks like you all had a fun time while I was hard at work.”

  “Hard, huh?” Lyla’s hand slipped between their bodies and Jayce barely dodged it as she reached for his crotch.

  “Okay then.” He shot Mani an exasperated look. “Remind me not to leave you in charge of my girl ever again, at least not when there’s free alcohol involved.”

  Mani held his hands up in a gesture of surrender and chuckled. “That’s fair.”

  “You want to make it up to me?” When Mani nodded in response to the question, Jayce continued, “You could let me leave a little early. Lyla needs to get home, and she’s in no condition to drive herself.”

  I raised my hand and gave a little wave. “I had more self-control than my bestie, but I really shouldn’t drive either.”

  “Hey, don’t look at me,” Mani protested. “I�
��m perfectly fine, but that’s probably because I can handle my liquor while you two are a couple of lightweights.”

  “You might have a point there.” I looked longingly at the desserts, the chocolate layer cake filled with chocolate mousse in particular. “And now I’m going to pay for it by missing out on all that chocolatey goodness.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart,” Mani disagreed. “There’s no missing out on anything when you’re with me.”

  He grabbed to-go boxes from behind the bar and packaged up all the desserts for me to take home. Then he walked with Jayce, Lyla, and me to the door.

  “Wait. Don’t go.” He wrapped his fingers around my wrist, stopping me from following Jayce and Lyla outside. “Have breakfast with me tomorrow.”

  And there it was...I should’ve known he was too good to be true. Why would a super-hot guy who has his life together want to put time into getting to know me before trying to get me into bed? “Let me guess, you’ll make me that breakfast at your place? After I’ve spent the night, of course.”

  “Vivi.” His voice was as soft as the touch of his fingers when he reached out to stroke my cheek. “I’m not asking you to come home with me.”

  “Oh.” My cheeks heated with embarrassment. I’d managed to go the whole night without doing anything too awkward until I opened my big mouth. For all I knew, I’d been reading him wrong and his flirting was out of habit more than anything else. “I’m sorry. I thought—umm, well—I guess it’s pretty obvious what I thought. You know what they say when you assume.”

  He brushed his thumb across the lips, stemming the flow of verbal vomit spewing from my mouth. “You weren’t that far off in your assumption. I’d love for you to come home with me, but I know you’re not ready for that tonight. You’ve been drinking, and we’ve only just started to get to know each other. I don’t want to fuck this up before we’ve had the chance even to get started.”