Within a few minutes, Shane McCallister returned to the table. He had a large grin on his handsome face and placed glasses full of red liquid in front of both Elaina and Kylee. “I hope you like cherry flavor. This is a new slushy we’re trying out, Cherry Explosion. However, we have soda if Kylee prefers and I can bring you our wine list, Elaina.”
It was sweet of him to act as though her prior meltdown hadn’t happened. It wasn’t often Elaina ran into a man who was both handsome and kind. The sort of people she knew seemed to be one or the other.
Eyeing the slushy red liquid in a full glass next to her daughter’s light-colored summer dress, Elaina couldn’t help but grimace. “Cherry is great, but do you have any kid’s cups with a lid?” She grabbed the drink before Kylee could swipe it, pushing it to the center of the table out of reach. “I only brought Kylee one dress, and I imagine this would stain.”
“Damn.” Shane’s forehead wrinkled as his eyebrows scrunched downward. “I am not good at this kid thing, am I? Hang on, Princess Kylee, I’ll find something with a lid.”
Elaina watched Shane walk away, imagining she could see something of his body beneath his loose-fitting white chef’s jacket. He was cute, and as far as she was concerned, very good with children. She wished there were men like him in Kylee’s life. She’d often worried about her daughter not having a male role model, but it had to be the right kind of guy. Some men weren’t worth having around.
Kylee pulled her feet up onto the bench, sitting cross-legged despite her dress. “He’s nice, Mama. Maybe he could go swimming with us.”
Apparently, the charming young chef had the same effect on Kylee that he had on her. Regretfully, Elaina shook her head. “He’s working. Besides, we can’t just ask some strange man to go swimming.”
“What if we say please?”
Elaina chuckled and pulled Kylee against her for a hug. “Sorry, baby. I bet we’ll meet lots of people down at the beach. Mr. McCallister is too busy for that sort of thing.”
Not to mention, Elaina knew Shane’s girlfriend, whoever the lucky lady might be, would be pissed if he went swimming with one of the resort’s guests. Elaina bet his girlfriend kept him on a short leash.
Before long, Shane reappeared, carrying a plastic cup with whales printed on the outside and a lid and straw. “Here you go.” He set it in front of Kylee. “I made a fresh one. Considering I’ve never had the opportunity to serve royalty in my restaurant before, I’d like to know what you think, Princess.”
Giggling, Kylee grabbed the cup and slurped some down. “Yummy! Mama, you should try it.”
Humoring Kylee, Elaina took a small sip from her own glass. The flavors of cherry, lime, and something she couldn’t identify exploded on her tongue. All she could do was smile. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”
“We have an extra one,” Kylee noted, pointing at her old cup. “Why don’t you sit with us and drink it, Shane?”
A slow grin passed over Shane’s mouth and he glanced down at Elaina before returning his attention to Kylee. “I’d really love to, but I have to do my job now. Did you decide what you want on your pizza?”
* * *
Shane popped Kylee’s pepperoni pizza into the brick oven, then called out times to his meat chef to see how things were progressing with Elaina’s steak.
Davin Clinton, Shane’s sous chef and right-hand man, sent out a completed order, then grinned over at Shane. “Not bad, hey?” He jerked his head Elaina’s direction.
“She’s cute,” Shane agreed. “Her daughter’s a sweetheart, too.”
“You gonna hit that?”
“Davin!” Shane glanced over to make sure Elaina hadn’t overheard the conversation. Granted, the kitchen was loud with the sounds of his chefs preparing orders, and he and Davin stood at the opposite end of the order counter from Elaina, but her overhearing Davin was the last thing he needed to happen right now. “She’s a guest. An important guest, I’ll remind you.”
Davin’s thick eyebrows rose. “I know and it’s against the rules. I also know that doesn’t stop you from doing what you want.”
He couldn’t argue with that, so Shane looked at the next order needing to be fired and called it out to his team.
He’d had dalliances with some of the younger women who came to the island, despite the strict policy the McCallister family had in place against employees dating guests. His family never found out, the women didn’t offer up any complaints, and Shane and Davin had fun talking about his conquests.
The sous chef was the closest thing to a friend Shane had on the island, so it was nice to have someone to confide in. It was hard being friends with his employees and keeping the distance needed to order them around in the kitchen. However, Davin was slated to become a head chef in his own right, not needing directions from Shane in order to do his job.
Davin accepted plates of salad from the chef working appetizers, carefully wiping the edges with a clean cloth before setting them on the serving tray in the window for the waiter standing ready to deliver them.
“You’re quiet,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to piss you off, boss. I thought she looked like your type, that’s all.”
“She is my type.” Shane watched covertly as Elaina and Kylee talked.
Although he was too far away to hear their conversation, Princess Kylee was quite animated and pointed at the aquarium, probably telling her mom about the fish in there. Perhaps she’d noticed the large stingray or the eels who lived along the bottom of the tank, coexisting with the brightly-colored fish.
“I never considered dating a woman who had a kid before,” Shane admitted, “but I like Kylee too. She seems smart for such a young girl.”
Davin shrugged. “Single moms can be hot. Nothing wrong with a fling. She’ll go back to whatever town she came from in a few weeks, but in the meantime, you can relieve some stress. You’ve been edgy.”
Stress relief. Was that all any woman would ever be for him? Davin wasn’t wrong about Shane’s edginess, but that had more to do with his desire to prove he could run his restaurant than it did with the lack of women. Still, it had been several long, lonely months since anyone graced his bed.
What was he thinking? Was he honestly considering doing something with Elaina?
“Syd would kill me.” He met Davin’s dark eyes. “You know that, right?”
Davin chuckled. “Sometimes the risk is worth the reward. If you aren’t going after her, do you mind if I do?”
Shane glared at his friend. “I’m pretty sure your girlfriend would mind.”
“True that.” He laughed, glancing across the kitchen at the pastry chef he currently dated. “Caroline is too cute to screw things up with. Guess Miss Trundel is all yours, boss. And lookie here, her food’s up. You get to talk to her again.”
As Shane accepted the medium steak and pan of mashed potatoes, he tried not to become too excited as he plated the food, drizzling gravy expertly across the top of the potatoes before plating the green beans. It might be nice to think about having a fling with Elaina, but she was a V.I.P. The last thing he needed was to get busted by his brothers and sister for dating one of the resort guests, especially not an important one like her.
Slicing Kylee’s pepperoni pizza into small pieces and transferring it to a fresh plate, Shane picked them both up and returned to the chef’s table. “Here we are, lovely ladies. Who’s hungry?”
“Not me,” Kylee said, looking down at the plate with a wrinkled nose. “I thought this was pizza.”
“It is pizza, Ky,” Elaina said, sounding nervous. “It’s not like what I cook for you out of the box. It’s better. Trust me and give it a try. You’ll never want me to cook pizza again.”
Kylee tilted her head, her eyes darting between the food and Shane’s face. “You’re sure this is good?”
“I tried my best,” Shane said, throwing Elaina a reassuring wink when Kylee looked back at her food.
It sounded like Kylee had never had a freshly made pizza
before. Elaina wasn’t kidding when she’d said they didn’t have money to eat out much. If he had to guess, the pizza Kylee normally ate was probably those one-dollar frozen kinds that tasted like a mixture of stale bread and cardboard. However, if that was what she was used to, he certainly hoped she liked his. The thin crust was homemade and the spicy marinara was his personal recipe.
“Try it,” Elaina said. “If you don’t eat I’m not taking you swimming, so you can stop turning your little nose up. Shane has gone to a lot of trouble to make this for you. Where are your manners?”
“Sorry, Mama.” Kylee carefully unfolded her napkin, pinching the fabric between her fingers before placing it on her lap. Softly, in a voice she probably thought Shane couldn’t hear, she said, “What’s wrong with their napkins, Mama?”
At least Elaina had taught her what to do with a napkin, even if they likely used paper towels around their dinner table at home.
“Eat,” Elaina ordered.
Kylee picked up a small corner piece, drawing it slowly to her mouth as though she expected to die once it touched her lips. After a few seconds of chewing, she looked back at him, eyes bright with excitement. “It’s good!”
Shane chuckled. “That’s a relief. I won’t have to make mac and cheese after all. I was worried for a minute.” Although he didn’t want to leave the table, Shane couldn’t think of a good reason to stay. “I’ll be back to check on you in a bit, but let me know if you need anything.”
Elaina nodded, settling her napkin on her lap below the table. “I really can’t tell you how much I appreciate all this, Mr. McCallister. You’ve been so nice to us. I thought we’d be out of place here, but it’s been lovely.”
“Call me Shane,” he reminded her. “And don’t sing my praises until you taste my food.”
She grinned. “It looks beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as the woman about to eat it.”
Elaina’s cheeks colored again, and Shane couldn’t help but smile. He did love the good girl vibe she exuded. Maybe Davin was right. What could it hurt to get to know her better while she was on the island? And what better way to give her the V.I.P. treatment than to become her personal tour guide?
* * *
Download now to find out about Shane and Elaina’s romance in Cooking Up Love.
Love's Ride (McCallister's Paradise Book 4) Page 23