by Jae
“Have you ever thought about working in a restaurant like this?” Ash asked.
Sasha shook her head immediately. “Not for a second. It’s not that I’m not a team player, but I like doing my own thing.”
“I know what you mean. That’s what I like about having my own shop too.” Ash returned her attention to the menu. “God, this is hard. It all sounds so good. What will you get?”
“The Meadow Caesar salad, for starters,” Sasha said without hesitation. “They serve it with walnut bread fresh out of the oven. So good.”
Ash laughed. “You’re such a bread geek.”
“Oh, you’re laughing now, but try it, and you’ll be addicted for life.”
Ash looked into Sasha’s sparkling brown eyes. A woman could easily get addicted to gazing into those dark eyes. Stop it. This is just a thank-you dinner, remember? She focused on the menu again. “What are you thinking for an entrée?”
“Their hanger steak is to die for.” Sasha let out a moan that nearly convinced Ash to take the steak too. “It’s so tender it nearly melts in your mouth.”
Ash ran a finger beneath her collar as the temperature in the cozy room seemed to skyrocket. “Steak?” Her chuckle sounded a little husky. “I thought you weren’t ready for a steak dinner?”
“I’m ready for their steak dinner any time.” Sasha lowered her voice to a seductive burr that made shivers run through Ash.
Thankfully, the waitress chose that moment to step up to the table and ask for their order.
Still preoccupied with the things Sasha’s voice had done to her, Ash chose the salad with the yummy bread Sasha had recommended and decided on the first entrée that caught her attention—gooseberry-glazed duck with mashed sweet potatoes and sherry-pickled beets.
The waitress delivered their orders straight to the chefs working in the open kitchen.
One of them looked over, and a broad smile dimpled her cheeks. She gave a wave and abandoned her workstation to stride over. She took off her white chef’s hat as she walked, revealing wavy, raven black hair piled up into a stylishly messy bun on top of her head.
Wow. She was striking. Ash tried not to stare. Was that Sasha’s friend from culinary school?
The woman didn’t even glance at Ash or anyone else in the restaurant. She went straight for Sasha like a heat-seeking missile. “Hey, stranger.” She had a hint of a French accent that made her even more attractive. “Long time no see!”
Sasha got up and wrapped her arms around the chef in a bear hug, practically lifting the slender woman off her feet in the process.
The chef let out a delighted laugh, apparently not caring at all that every guest in the room was now looking at them, and wrapped her arms around Sasha’s neck.
Ash’s body went cold. She clenched her hands into fists beneath the white tablecloth. The delicious scents wafting through the room suddenly lost their appeal. Was the woman really just a friend from culinary school, or was there more going on? Was she why Sasha was so intimately familiar with the restaurant’s menu? Did she drive to Kansas City every now and then to see her—or have “pizza” with her?
“Okay, okay, enough.” The woman lightly slapped Sasha’s shoulder. “Let me down now, or your companion will think I’m a bad hostess for not even saying hello to her.”
Sasha gently set her back on her feet.
The woman kept one arm wrapped around Sasha’s waist as she turned toward Ash.
Years of living in a small town where everyone seemed to constantly watch her had made Ash perfect a polite mask, and now she put it to good use as she slowly rose too. “Hi,” she said with a friendly smile and stuck out her hand.
“Ash, this is Nadia Jamison, one of the owners of this culinary marvel of a restaurant. Nadia, this is Ashley Gaines.”
No qualifier for her, Ash noticed. She wasn’t sure whether she liked that or not. Deep down, she had been curious as to how Sasha would introduce her—as a friend? Someone she worked with? Yeah, well, what is she supposed to say? Someone she kissed in the middle of a food fight? At least that might get Nadia to back off.
Nadia shook her hand. Her grip was confident, but she didn’t try to turn the handshake into a show of strength, and Ash grudgingly liked that. “Great to meet you, Ashley.” She clapped Sasha’s shoulder. “I’ve been telling this one to bring a date for ages, but she never has—until now.”
Sasha shifted her weight. “Uh, this isn’t a date, Nadia.”
“Oh. I thought…” Nadia looked back and forth between them and then grinned. “Well, in that case…” She lifted Ash’s hand to her lips and hinted at a kiss to the back of her fingers. “…dessert is on me. I’ll be out to chat later, but now we need to get cracking on your dinner.” A wink and a wave and she walked back to her workstation.
Ash sank back onto her chair and stared after her. “Did she just…flirt with me?”
Sasha frowned. “She did. I can tell her to cut it out, if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“It doesn’t.” To her own surprise, it was the truth. Kansas City was a lot bigger and more anonymous than Fair Oaks. No one knew her here, and if Nadia was flirting with her, that meant she hadn’t set her sights on Sasha.
“Oh.” The line between Sasha’s brows deepened.
Was she interested in Nadia? Ash softly cleared her throat. With most other people, she would shy away from asking personal questions, afraid that the other person would want to ask about her private life too, but with Sasha, she was beyond that already. “So you and Nadia… Back in culinary school, were you…did you…go out?”
“Yeah.” Sasha laughed. “Well, there actually wasn’t much going out involved. I nearly flunked the Human Nutrition course because we were busy, um, staying in, if you know what I mean.”
Ash had already gotten the impression that there was more than friendship between them, but hearing it confirmed still made her back stiffen. “She seems great,” Ash said, a bit lamely.
Sasha nodded. “Yeah. She is.” Something seemed to be bothering her too, because her usual easygoing smile was absent.
For a minute or two, they waited for their starters in silence. Ash realized that silence between them had been rare. They always seemed to have something interesting to talk about.
“It’s been over between Nadia and me for years,” Sasha said after a while. “So if she asks you out—and I’m sure she will—please don’t feel like you have to say no because of me.”
Ash stared at her. “A-ask me out?”
“Yeah. I know Nadia,” Sasha muttered. “She’ll dazzle you with her dessert creation, and instead of having the waitress bring you the bill, she’ll send over her phone number at the end of the evening.”
Ash looked over at Nadia’s workstation.
Nadia gazed up from the bread she was cutting and sent her a smile.
Ash ducked her head back down. Jesus. How had she gotten herself into this situation? “She’s beautiful, and I’m sure she’s very nice.”
Sasha’s brows lowered. “Yeah.”
“But I don’t want to be dazzled with dessert creations or anything else,” Ash added firmly.
“No?” Sasha asked.
“No. You know my situation. I’m not into, um, pizza, and eating steak in secret doesn’t work for me either.”
Sasha nodded thoughtfully. “So you’ll tell Nadia you’re…um, on a diet?”
“If she really asks me out, I guess I will.”
Sasha seemed relieved. Was that because she wasn’t completely over her ex and didn’t want Ash to get in the way, or because—?
Whoa. Thinking like that wouldn’t do her any good.
It didn’t take long until their salads arrived, so either they were getting special treatment or the chefs were always this fast.
Ash took a bite of the walnut bread, which was still warm.
“Oh my God,” she moaned around a mouthful of bread. “This is so good.”
Sasha laughed. “Told you. Just tone down the moaning a little.”
“You don’t like moaning?” Ash couldn’t help putting just the tiniest bit of flirtation in her tone.
“Oh, I like it just fine—as long as I…I mean my breads…are causing it.”
“Jealous?” Ash asked with a grin.
“Nah. I’m confident in my superior skills.” Sasha winked at her. “My baking skills, of course.”
God, flirting with her was fun, but Ash knew she had to cut it out. It was a fine line to walk. “Since we’re speaking of exes,” she said quietly. “I talked to Holly last weekend. About us…her and me…and how it all ended. Talking to you about it made me realize that it was long overdue.”
Sasha pierced a bit of romaine salad with her fork but didn’t eat it yet. “How did it go?”
“Really well. I actually think we can be friends now.”
“That’s great. I’m happy to hear that.” Sasha reached across the table with her free hand and squeezed Ash’s fingers.
A rush of warmth spread through Ash. She stared down at her hand, amazed at the strength of her reaction at such a simple touch.
Sasha followed her gaze and quickly withdrew as if only now becoming aware she had touched her. But she continued to smile at her.
She radiated such sincerity that Ash beamed along with her. “Me too.” Then she remembered what else she and Holly had talked about. “Um, did you get the invitation for the bachelorette weekend?”
“Yeah. A weekend in the Keys and a beach house just for us. Isn’t it great?” Sasha grinned and then chewed her forkful of salad.
Hadn’t she heard about the sleeping arrangements yet?
Ash slid to the edge of her chair as her tension grew. “Uh, yeah, it is, but…”
“You might have to stop me from making a fool of myself.” Sasha playfully pressed her water glass to her forehead. “Just think! We might get to see Grace Durand in a bikini.”
“Grace Durand?” Ash stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t they mention that Leo is friends with her wife, and they are both coming to Florida?”
“Grace Durand is coming to the bachelorette weekend? The Grace Durand?”
“Yeah. The one and only.” Sasha playfully fanned herself. “Four-time Golden Globe winner, Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive, and the crush of my teenage years.”
Ash frowned at her. “Maybe you want to share a room with her instead of with me, then,” she muttered and stabbed at her salad.
Sasha chuckled. “Oh, I think her wife wouldn’t apprecia…” She froze and stared at her. “Uh, did you just say we’ll be sharing a room?”
“Yeah. That’s what I was trying to tell you before you went all gaga over Grace Durand. There are only six rooms in the beach house, so we’ll all have to double up and share with someone—and you get me.”
Sasha mumbled something.
“Pardon me?”
“Um, I was just asking if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?” Ash studied her across the table. “Are you okay with it?”
“Oh yeah. No problem.” Sasha gulped down her water and flagged down a passing waiter for more.
Ash watched her throat move as she swallowed. How could anyone look so sexy drinking? She took a big gulp of her own water and was glad when the waitress brought their entrées.
Both the duck and Sasha’s steak looked fantastic.
Sasha’s eyes fluttered shut as she took the first bite. “Yum. This is so good. Want to try?” Without waiting for a reply, she cut off a square, spread a bit of blue cheese butter over it, and held it out to Ash, inviting her to eat it right off her fork.
Very conscious of Nadia and anyone else who might be watching, Ash reached for the fork instead. As Sasha handed it over, their fingers brushed. A shiver went through Ash. Her skin felt hypersensitive, as if trying to soak up the fleeting touch.
“You don’t like it?” Sasha asked.
“Oh, no. I love it.” Ash quickly chewed and swallowed the forgotten bite of meat. It was juicy and tender, with just a hint of Dijon mustard, rosemary, and garlic. “Yum. That might be the best steak I’ve ever tried—and that’s saying something since my dad is a grill master.”
Sasha grinned. “You’d better not tell him, then.”
No, Ash definitely wouldn’t. If she told her parents she’d been to The Meadow, that would only lead to questions about who she had been with and why she was spending so much time with Sasha instead of going out with Derek or some other man.
“Want to try some of mine? It’s pretty amazing too.” She held out a forkful of her gooseberry-glazed duck for Sasha to try.
Instead of taking the fork, as Ash had, Sasha leaned forward and wrapped her lips around it.
The waiter should have left the pitcher of water at their table because Ash’s throat went dry again.
“Enjoying your food?” Nadia’s voice right next to the table made Ash wrench her gaze away from Sasha.
“Oh. Yeah, very much so,” Ash said. “It’s wonderful.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” A pleased grin formed charming dimples on Nadia’s cheeks. “Listen, don’t order dessert. I’ll create something especially for you.”
She seemed to be speaking more to Ash than to Sasha, and Ash wasn’t sure how to handle that—other than by being polite. She smiled up at her. “Thank you. That’s really nice of you.”
Nadia touched her finger to her chef’s hat and wandered back toward her workstation.
Sasha put down her fork, her gaze following her ex. “Unless you’re ready to eat pizza with her, I wouldn’t encourage her.”
“Encourage her?” Ash echoed. “How did I encourage her?”
“You smiled at her, and you praised her food. That’s a total aphrodisiac for us culinary types.”
A couple of beets that Ash had just pierced with her fork splashed into the mashed sweet potatoes. “Um, I always smile and tell you how good your cupcakes are every time I come into the bakery.”
“That’s different.” A lopsided grin curled one corner of Sasha’s mouth. “Or are you saying you’ve been flirting with me?”
“No! And I’m not flirting with Nadia either. I was just being polite.”
“Good.” Sasha dug into her steak with gusto.
Ash watched her. Was Sasha jealous…and maybe not because she was still interested in her ex but because she didn’t like Nadia’s interest in her?
“Why are you grinning?” Sasha asked.
“I’m not grinning.” Am I? Ash touched her lips. Okay, she was. “Just enjoying my meal.”
Sasha watched Ashley dig into the cinnamon apple crisp on her dessert platter with a smile. It was good to see her enjoy the simple pleasures of life instead of always keeping herself in check.
Unfortunately, Nadia seemed to enjoy Ashley’s enthusiasm for her apple crisp, her chocolate swirl cheesecake, and her passion fruit mousse just as much. She was watching Ashley from behind her workstation with an enchanted grin. God, had she been such an incorrigible flirt when they had gone to culinary school together?
Well, back then, Nadia had flirted with her, and Sasha hadn’t minded at all.
Finally, Ashley admitted defeat and put her dessert fork down to press both hands to her belly. “If I eat another bite, I’m going to explode.”
When the waitress came over to whisk away the half-empty plates, Sasha requested the bill.
Instead, the waitress returned with two boxes of their uneaten dessert. “No bill. Dinner is on the house.”
Sasha handed her a generous tip. “Tell the chefs thank you, please.” She would find a way to pay her friend back.
The waitress nodded. The box she set down in front of Ashley had a familiar phone number scribbled on the side.
Ashley stared at it, clearly unsure of how to handle this situation.
She’d spent her life in the closet, Sasha reminded herself, so this might be the very first time a woman had openly hit on her. Sasha’s protective instincts flared. She reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Do you want me to talk to her?”
Ashley turned her hand beneath hers and returned the gentle squeeze before withdrawing. For a moment, she looked tempted, but then she shook her head. “Thanks, but I can handle it.” She sounded as if she wanted to convince herself as much as Sasha. “Be right back.”
After a steadying breath, Ashley rose and walked over to the open kitchen, where Nadia was leaning against her workstation, watching her approach. The expression on her face revealed that she appreciated Ashley’s girl-next-door good looks as much as Sasha did.
Ashley paused in front of her.
Sasha couldn’t hear what she was saying over the din in the restaurant, but she could read Ashley’s body language loud and clear. Her awkward stance screamed how uncomfortable she was.
Nadia answered, and whatever she said, it got Ashley to relax a little.
Watching them with each other was weird, like two worlds colliding that had never mingled before. Sasha had to admit that they would have made a striking couple. Nadia’s messy black locks, her slim figure, and her French accent, which stemmed from spending part of her youth in her mother’s native country, formed an attractive contrast to Ashley’s flowing, blonde hair, her graceful curves, and her—at least to Sasha’s ear—lack of an accent.
Once upon a time, Sasha hadn’t been able to take her gaze—and her hands—off Nadia long enough to study for an important exam, but now she found herself ignoring Nadia to watch Ashley instead.
After a minute or two, Ashley’s gestures became more animated, and the bright, clear sound of her laughter drifted over.