I did as he said, and stood awkwardly in front of his desk. His eyes continued to glance between me and a sheet of paper on his desk, as if he barely had time to give more than a minute of his attention.
“You wanted to talk?” I asked, trying to keep a polite tone in my voice.
“Yes.” He finally looked at me, keeping his poker face in check. “How’s your new position? Is it everything you wanted?”
Two hours a night showing a very handsome man how to cook four to five days a week would be a tough job to give up. But Lacey’s voice spoke in my head, reminding me that my feelings were getting way too complicated and I needed to distance myself.
“It’s fine,” I said. Phil nodded his head.
“I wanted to do something nice for you,” he said. “I have to admit, you’re a star, Everly. A hard worker, a chef who one day is going to do amazing things. And it was my mistake letting you go in the first place.”
“Thanks?”
“I want you back, Everly, and so you know how much I appreciate you, I’m offering you co-head chef.” He grinned.
“Co-head chef?” It was an entirely made-up position, and I had no idea what terms came with it.
“Yes, you’ll be co-head chef, official title and everything.” His foot tapped on the wooden floor, waiting for my exit.
“Thank you, Phil. I’ll have to think about it though, but I’ll get back to you soon.” I left and closed the door behind me, nodding a goodbye to Catalina as I returned to my car. I should have clarified what it meant, but it didn’t matter. She was right; he really was desperate. Creating a position for me was one thing, but if he was worried about dissension in the ranks of his kitchen before, what would happen when the others found out just how far he’d gone to get me back? Not that I cared, really. I couldn’t afford to care about much more than getting my debts paid off.
Before going grocery shopping for my own place, I decided to check my bank account on my phone.
I logged online, and my phone fell onto my lap as the amount of money in my bank account stared at me. My mind blanked for a moment. Where did all that money come from?
Then I remembered. Maddox said he was giving me money for the week. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm.
Maybe working for Maddox wasn’t that bad after all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Maddox
I woke with Abby snoring soundly by my side. I didn’t remember her climbing into bed with me; I probably would have carried her back to hers had I been awake, but I welcomed her comfort anyways and checked her temperature with the back of my hand. She wasn’t too warm, and her skin had the healthy glow that had been missing for the majority of the week.
She stirred, eyes slowly opening as I crawled out of bed.
“How are you feeling. kiddo?” I asked and began getting ready for the day.
“Better,” she said.
“You’re not sick anymore?” I took her temperature properly this time, with a thermometer, and it came back normal.
“I’m hungry,” she said, and I chuckled. I figured she was going to be hungry after eating nothing but soup for a week.
“I’m going to hop in the shower, and then you need a bath,” I said. “And then I’ll make some muffins for you to take over to Nick’s.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she said and settled back into bed to wait for her turn in the bath.
“I’m going to have to stay late at work tonight to make up for the week,” I said. “Nick said you’re taking your painting in a new direction, though?”
“You can’t know that!” she cried, and I held up my hands and slowly backed away.
“I’m sorry, it’s a surprise. I should have known. So, you’re okay with me staying late?” I asked.
“Yes, Daddy,” she said, and settled into bed muttering how Nick betrayed her sense of trust. I smiled and shook my head as I started the shower.
Afterward, we walked hand in hand toward Nick’s. He greeted us and gladly accepted the tin of fresh baked muffins from the crook of my elbow.
“I’m perfectly capable of feeding her,” he said as he popped one in his mouth.
“Yeah, I don’t see you complaining though.”
“Someone’s feeling better, yeah?” Nick picked up Abby and kissed her cheek.
“I’m ready for my painting!” she said as she glanced in my direction. “That means you have to leave.” She pointed to the door in a dramatic gesture.
Nick and I laughed.
“I’m going to stay later and catch up, if that’s okay,” I said to Nick.
“No problem, she can stay the night if you want,” he said.
“I’ll see what time I get home. Thanks.” I kissed Abby’s forehead. “Goodbye, sweetie. I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye, Daddy.” She waved me off and I closed the door behind me. I always felt as if I should do more for Nick, after everything he’s done for us.
After a gruesome 30 minutes sitting in traffic, I finally arrived at my Alaskan Way location, still the newest of my restaurant chain. My employees greeted me with forced enthusiasm, but it was hard to blame them. They had every reason to be nervous around the owner and boss.
“Maddox!” Jackie met me in my office. “I didn’t know you were coming in today.”
“I’ve had too many days off,” I said. “Plus, it’s a Friday. Missing the middle of the week isn’t that big of a deal, but I need to be here on the weekend, at least.”
“Well, I’ve left you 10 voicemails about this already, but…” Jackie handed me a folder. I decided against telling her I had deleted every message without listening to it.
“What’s this?” I flipped it open, staring at a series of numbers that were slowly decreasing as my fingers skimmed through weeks, and then the past seven days.
“The two-year excitement for a new restaurant is starting to die,” Jackie said. “It’s not enough to keep our numbers up, and now they’re lower than they were before Alaskan Way opened.”
“That’s alarming,” I muttered as I examined the numbers thoroughly. They were decreasing at a much quicker rate than I had expected. “We need something new to push these numbers back up.”
“Did you have anything in mind?” she asked. I ran my hand down my face and shook my head.
“Nothing right now. Give me a minute; I’ll think of something.”
Jackie left my office and I sat down, brainstorming. A new dish would help the numbers, but it would have to be cheap and exciting.
“Mr. Moore?” I looked up at one of my assistants entered the room. Carla Fischer, one of my oldest employees, stood at the foot of my office.
“What is it, Carla?” I asked.
“Have you looked over the itinerary for next week’s trip?”
“No, I haven’t.” I paused. “Wait, what trip?”
“The Vegas trip, Mr. Maddox, where you have at least three meetings every single day for four days straight,” she said and searched through a stack of folders on my desk. She pulled out a thin red folder and placed it in front of me. I glanced through it, suddenly remembering a faint conversation I had with Jackie about Vegas and meetings. Shit.
“Of course, the meetings,” I said and shoved the file into my take-home bag. “I’ll look over it again. Thank you, Carla.”
The Vegas meeting couldn’t have come at a worse time, really, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Maybe I could use both this and a new dish to get my numbers up.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Everly
I didn’t remember the last time I’d had such an unproductive weekend. I had watched Belle for a few hours a day while Lacey had her ‘alone time,' and had attempted a few new recipes that all turned out either too salty, too garlicky, or just plain disgusting. It wasn’t my fault, though; Belle had suggested a few ingredients herself.
I was attempting to plan out a week that was looking to be just an uneventful as the weekend when my phone rang. I glanced at the screen
as I answered it.
“Hey, Maddox,” I said in a voice that I prayed sounded confident and not at all awkward.
“Hi, Everly, how are you?” he asked. I looked down at my pajamas and the kitchen covered in pots stained with grease and leftover food.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Just getting over a busy weekend. How’s Abby?”
“She’s much better. That’s actually why I’m calling; I think we’re good to continue the lessons tonight,” he said. “I’ll send over the allowance for the week, and you can go ahead and pick up the ingredients on your way here. Sound good?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you tonight. I’m happy that Abby is feeling better.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you soon, Everly.” He hung up.
It was almost alarming how perfectly casual he had sounded, as if we hadn’t shared a single experience together. Maybe maintaining a professional relationship was for the best. If he could act normal, then so could I.
I sat at the dining table and created a menu for the week, deciding which ingredients I would get today and which ones I would save for the following days. I was just finishing up Thursday’s when my doorbell rang.
I frowned and opened it, surprised to see Lacey and Belle waiting patiently on the other side.
“Did you lose your key again?” I joked, but Lacey’s unamused eye roll meant that she did lose the key and she wasn’t very happy about it.
“I had to help this one with a project for pre-K,” Lacey said. “Why would kindergarteners know anything about the evolution of dinosaurs? Don’t they save that stuff for elementary?”
“Nothing wrong with starting them young,” I said, and started on breakfast.
“Think you could watch Belle for an hour tonight?” Lacey asked. “There’s a book club that I’ve been wanting to join, and I thought they met on the weekends, but apparently there’s a few Mondays thrown into the mix.”
“I actually have work tonight,” I said and started frying the potatoes.
Lacey gasped. “You got a new job?”
“At Maddox’s,” I said. “He just called and said Abby was feeling better, so we’re continuing our lessons tonight.” Lacey shook her head. “What?”
“You’ve been very hesitant to even bring him up this past week,” she said. “I thought he fired you or something.”
“Well, not exactly.” I whipped up some scrambled eggs and threw a cookie pan full of brown sugar-dusted bacon in the oven.
“What does that mean?” Lacey asked. “So nothing happened?”
“Not exactly,” I repeated. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Everly,” Lacey said. “You can tell me.”
I glanced at Belle. She was sitting on the couch watching the TV, and seemingly not interested in listening to our conversation. Lacey noticed what I was staring at and frowned.
“What happened?”
“We had sex,” I said quickly and focused on the potatoes. Lacey asked me to repeat myself, and I did, but in a slightly quieter voice.
“Everly Winters, you did not!” Lacey’s voice was loud enough for my neighbors to hear.
“Is it that surprising?” I argued.
“Well, I mean, he’s your boss.” She widened her eyes and stared through me. “What happened though? Was his kid home?” She clutched her chest as if the thought was appalling.
“Of course she wasn’t home.” I gave her a nudge. “She stays at a friend’s house, who’s his neighbor. And I don’t know. We had just finished dinner, and I wanted to see the rest of his house, there’s literally no evidence of a kid there, and one thing led to the other and then we were in his bedroom.”
“On his bed,” Lacey added, and I rolled my eyes.
“Yes, on his bed,” I said. “But afterward his neighbor stopped by with Abby. She was sick, looked like she was about to puke, and I ran off.” Like my head was on fire. I could have kicked myself.
“You ran off? After sleeping with him?” Lacey asked, and I nodded, feeling bad enough without her repeating it. “And he didn’t fire you?”
“He’s not like that,” I said. “I don’t think he was upset. Obviously, he was more concerned with Abby, and he stopped our nightly lessons because she was sick.”
“Have you guys talked about what you did yet?” she asked, and I shook my head. “Why not?”
“He’s been busy,” I said. “And I’m not sure how to bring that up. Oh, hi Maddox, how’s Abby? Oh, and by the way, how was the sex we just had before your daughter came over puking? Yeah?”
“You and I both know it doesn’t have to be that awkward,” Lacey said. “But Everly, how could you? You slept with your boss. A boss from a job that’s not in the least bit stable. You do realize what this looks like, right? What if he expects this to be a nightly thing?”
“He’s not like that,” I argued. “And even if it was a nightly thing, I’m still doing my job. What would it matter?”
“It matters because it’s widely inappropriate.” She had lowered her voice to a whisper as if saying the words aloud would be blasphemous. “And irresponsible. Everly, this is probably the most irresponsible thing you could have done. Sleeping with your boss, in his home, while his daughter is literally next door? You need to shut this down and find another job.”
I hadn’t told her about the offer to go back to my previous job yet, and I decided to keep it from her.
I released a breath of frustration. “I don’t need you to lecture me.” She sounded as if our mother was in the room and talking to me.
She scoffed, which only solidified my thoughts. “I’m just concerned.” She turned and started prepping the table for our breakfast, taking out the dinnerware and forks. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like Belle heard any of our conversation, and throughout breakfast I asked her everything she knew about dinosaurs. Which was more than I’d ever learned at her age.
Lacey continued to frown and shake her head, even as we said goodbye and I left for the grocery store to shop for the week. I wasn’t upset with her though, she was just looking out for me, and I couldn’t exactly disagree with how complicated the whole situation was.
I sent her a quick text thanking her for listening and for her advice, but that I would ultimately decide what to do about Maddox myself. I leaned against the headrest and contemplated my own words. What was I going to do about Maddox?
I spent hours shopping at several different markets, looking for the highest quality ingredients. One of the markets was on the pier, and I spent nearly an hour enjoying the ocean breeze and imagining the menu of my own restaurant. One of the newer spots on the pier had a line of people waiting just to get their name on the list, and I made a mental note to check it out one day. It had the perfect location, but I always wondered if All You Can Eat’s menu was as perfect as it claimed to be. It was almost comical the name that was chosen for the four-star restaurant. Almost a joke of sorts, until you walked in and the atmosphere swept you away.
I arrived to Maddox’s on time, and he greeted me with a warm smile.
“Is Abby here?” I glanced around him into the house to see signs of his 3-year-old.
He shook his head, taking a few of the bags from my arms as he stepped aside to let me pass. “She’s at Nick’s.” I nodded, remembering the friend who had stood in the doorway with a sick little girl in his arms and a blush as he realized how unkempt Maddox and I had been. The memory made me blush, and I followed Maddox to the kitchen, expecting an uncomfortable and awkward silence.
I led the way to the kitchen, where I placed the reusable bags on the counter and unpacked them.
Maddox opened the fridge to help. “What’s on the menu for tonight?”
“Sea bass.” I held up the paper-wrapped package. “There was a fresh cart on the pier. And I was thinking of a pickled cucumber relish and stringed potatoes on the side.”
He narrowed his eyes and stared up to the ceiling as he seemed to considered it, as if he were the chef and me the stud
ent. “That sounds wonderful. I’ve eaten sea bass plenty of times, so you’ll have to try hard to impress me.” A slow, sly smile spread across his lips, and I found myself relaxing at the sight of it. At least he hadn’t lost his ability to tease me.
I waved a finger at him. “You’ll have to impress me by actually cooking this time.” I gave him a sideways glance and turned back to the counter. “Don’t think you can get away with watching over my shoulder and the occasional comment about the smell.”
“I suppose I am paying you to teach me.” He walked to the counter beside me, and we began prepping. He made conversation easily, and I was surprised at how normal and comfortable I felt around him. He was good at making things less awkward, but throughout cooking dinner, I couldn’t help but give his muscles a second glance. His fingers as they stirred a pot of soup, his grin as he bit his bottom lip, his forearms as they washed potatoes and spiralized them. Every small movement made me remember our night together, how strong he was, how good I had felt under his touch. A soft heat spread through my arms and into my core as if it drained directly from my brain to its intended target.
I shook my head. I needed to stop thinking those things.
Instead, I glanced toward him again, noticing his shirt was tight, and his pants had just enough slack to create a slight outline where his thick bulge had been. I groaned, confident that at this rate I was going to burn something. Hopefully not myself.
“Ginger sea bass with sautéed scallops, pickled cucumber relish, and stringed potatoes,” Maddox pointed to each item, naming it as we plated the meal. “Not bad.” He seemed pleased as he nodded his head and regarded our accomplishment.
“Not bad? You just made a 200 dollar meal.” I gave him a soft nudge with my elbow, and then we took our plates to the dining room, where he insisted on pulling out my chair. Maddox dug into his first, and I smirked as his eyes lit up.
“This is fantastic, Everly.” He closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped as he slowly chewed. “Really, I don’t think I’ve ever had fish taste so good.”
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