Yes, Chef (Sizzle & Burn Book 1)

by Linda Verji

  After everything he’d told her about his mother, Snow wasn’t sure whether the arrival was something to celebrate so all she said was, “At least she’s safe.”

  Greyson said quietly, “She’ll be staying at my aunt and uncle’s place for about two weeks.”

  “I see.” Snow canted her head and studied him. “Are you going to see her there?”

  “No.” His answer was quick – so quick in fact that she had to wonder if it wasn’t a little too quick. Something about her expression must have given away her thoughts because Greyson’s gaze raked over her. “What?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I can’t tell you want to say something.”

  She was quiet for a while, studying him and trying to guess how he’d react if she said what was really on her mind. Finally, she decided to just bite the bullet. “I think you should go see her.”

  Greyson’s forehead creased in a frown. “You do?”

  Snow nodded.

  “After everything she put me through? After her not even bothering to let me know that she’s in town?” Disbelief streaked through his blue eyes. “You still think I should go see her?”

  Snow nodded again. “Yes, I do. You obviously have a lot of stuff you need to ask and tell her-”

  “No, I don’t,” he cut in quickly.

  “You do.” Given how awkward her relationship with her father was, it was weird to be the one advising someone else about how they should interact with their parents. But he’d asked for her thoughts so here they were. “It’s obvious that you’re holding on to a lot of anger because of her. If you don’t tell her why you’re angry and at least get an explanation of why she did what she did, you might never get rid of it.”

  “I don’t need an explanation from her – because there isn’t one,” he stubbornly insisted.

  “It might not be a reasonable explanation but I’m sure it’s there.” Snow continued, “Right now her actions don’t make sense to you and that’s why it’s bothering you so much. Maybe if you know her reasons for doing what she did, it could make you understand her more – or at least gain closure.”

  “Nah!” He made a face. “I’ve gotten all the closure I need. I’m happy not knowing why she did what she did. I’m happy with the way things are.”

  Despite his words, it was obvious that he wasn’t happy about the situation. But from his determined expression, it was clear that he wasn’t ready to do anything about that unhappiness. At least not right now. So all Snow said was, “Just think about it.”

  Greyson was quiet for a moment then he nodded. “I will.”

  After breakfast, they set off for the restaurant. In the car, he handed her copies of the pictures they’d taken while diving. Happy memories of that day flooded her thoughts and she couldn’t help but smile as she thumbed through them. Looking through the pictures and sharing the funny ones with Greyson occupied most of the drive and before she knew it they were at the restaurant. He dropped her off at the parking lot then left.

  It was only once she was inside the restaurant that Snow realized that she’d severely underestimated her colleagues’ ability to sniff out gossip-worthy news. The moment she walked into the break-room, Oscar commented in a singsong voice. “Snow’s wearing the same clothes she was wearing yesterday.”

  “No, I’m not,” she blustered.

  “Yeah, you are,” Oscar insisted. “You were wearing that navy t-shirt and those jeans yesterday.”

  “No, these aren’t those clothes,” Snow defended herself even as a bead of cold sweat danced at her nape.

  “Yes, they are.” Oscar’s thin lips widened into a sly smile. “Did our little Princess spend the night with Prince Charming?”

  “Hey, dingbat.” Vina glared at Oscar. “Have you been to her closet? Do you know how many navy t-shirts and blue jeans she has? And even if she’s wearing the same clothes, what’s it to you? Mind your own damn business.”

  Snow was grateful for the defense but it didn’t take. Pepper, one of the waitresses, chimed in, “I thought she and Charming broke up.”

  “They did,” Burton, the front desk guy, piped up. “That blow up they had at the front desk last week was real, man. It was real.”

  “Excuse me, people,” Snow yelled. “I’m still here. Can you stop talking about me?”

  Oscar snickered. “Would you rather we do it while you’re not here?”

  “No.” She glowered at him. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

  Her sharp tone was enough to quiet their wagging tongues – for the moment. By lunchtime, everyone was back to wondering whether she and Charlie were back together and arguing about who’d won the bets they’d placed.

  “Why can’t these people keep their noses out of my business?” Snow moaned to her friends when they took their regular break.

  “Because their lives are boring, and yours is not,” Vina summarized pithily. “Speaking of which, why are you wearing the same clothes as yesterday?”

  Snow glared at her. “Not you too.”

  “I’m sorry.” Vina laughed. “My life is boring too. Your dating life is the most interesting thing to happen to me this year.”

  “Ain’t that the truth,” April chimed in with a laugh.

  “Look who’s talking.” Vina guffawed. “Miss I Haven’t Had Sex In Two Years.”

  “I’m saving myself,” April protested.

  “For who? Roman?” Vina snorted. “Girl, that boy is sharing his cookies with every Sally, Susan and Samantha in Santa Barbara. You better get yours too.”

  “Tell it sister!” Snow agreed as she and Vina high-fived over April’s head.

  Snow couldn’t understand April’s relationship with Greyson’s cousin. Everyone knew that she had a major crush on Roman – including the man himself. Any man would’ve pursued it or at least completely dissuaded her, but Roman treated her like an amusing groupie. He kept her close for his amusement while he sowed his wild oats with every other woman but her. And April just took it – perhaps waiting for that moment when he finally noticed her.

  “You two are just… Just because-” April stopped talking and shook her head. “I won’t even listen to you two anymore.” She sucked in a deep breath before turning her attention back to Snow, “Did you and Greyson sleep together?”

  “Wha- what?” Snow stumbled over her words. “Where did you get that?”

  “The clothes.” April gave her a knowing look. “Plus I saw you getting out of his car this morning.”

  “Snow.” Vina gasped and her eyes twinkled with amusement. “You dirty, dirty woman.”

  “No, it wasn’t like that…” Snow went on to explain how she’d ended up spending the night at Greyson’s. She intended to end the discussion there but somehow the two nosy wenches got her to confess that she’d tried to seduce him and he’d rejected her.

  “No, he didn’t.” Vina actually looked more disappointed than Snow. “Why?”

  “I don’t know.” Snow shrugged.

  “I’m telling you, he’s trying to take it slow,” April reasoned. “He wants to know you better before you take the next step.

  That actually made a lot of sense. But before Snow could fully absorb April’s words, Vina posited, “What if he’s got a problem?”

  “A problem?” Both Snow and April asked.

  “You know. Down there.” Vina’s knowing look was enough of a clue as to what she meant by down there. “Maybe, he’s small.”

  “He’s not small,” Snow piped up, only to realize what she’d said a second later. Her hand flew to cover her mouth.

  Her friends stared at her in open-mouthed shock before they both burst into laughter. April was the first to come up for air. “Girl, I won’t even ask how you know that.”

  “I will,” Vina said cheekily. “Snow, how do you know that?”

  “Well, what happened was…” Snow started then let the sentence hang leaving her friends in suspense. That led to several protests that she was torturing them. She just laughed at
their complaints. After all the teasing they’d done, they deserved to get tortured.

  * * * * *

  GREYSON WAS SIMILARLY engrossed in thoughts of what had happened this morning as he drove from the site of his new restaurant. After surviving Snow’s seduction attempt and spending the night with her cradled in his arms, he was barely holding on to his sanity. Waking up and finding her grinding on his cock was just too much. The leash holding his hunger hostage had snapped and the beast within him was released. All he could think of was slaking his lust.

  His hands had seemed to have a mind of their own. They’d touched every inch of flesh that he’d been aching to touch in his dreams – and found out that Snow was everything he’d dreamt about and more. Even now, he could still remember how it had felt to have the weight of her breasts in his palms, how supple and smooth her flesh was, how slick with desire she’d been. He could still remember the sounds of her whimpers, the sweet, sexy scent of her need and how tight she’d been around his fingers. Fuck! He shifted restlessly in his seat. If she hadn’t rolled off the bed, he wouldn’t have been able to keep himself from doing more than touching her.

  She was too tempting. And he could feel himself slowly crumbling.

  How long would his good intentions last? Were they even necessary? Snow hadn’t talked about Charlie in quite a while and last night she’d been all about Greyson. Maybe he was torturing himself for nothing. Maybe it was time to fall into temptation.

  Besides, it was obvious that he and Snow connected at a more than physical level. Their emotional connection was undeniable. If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t have felt so comfortable sharing the parts of himself that he kept hidden away from the world. It also seemed that when it came to her he was more malleable. Snow wasn’t the first person to tell him to talk to his mother, yet from her the advice seemed more reasonable. And it kept playing in his mind.

  He didn’t realize how much Snow’s words were weighing on him until he found himself taking the turn that led towards his uncle’s home instead of the one that led to his. What the hell? How had this happened? He searched the road for a place to u-turn but just when he found one, he changed his mind. He was already in the area; why not drop by the house?

  It wasn’t to see his mother, he swore. He just wanted to say hello to Uncle Richard and Aunt Patty.

  His uncle’s property was set within a gate-guarded community. Greyson cruised down the long street of high-value properties before stopping at the gates that led into his uncle’s mansion. Someone must’ve been watching because the gates opened up automatically. It was then that Greyson’s doubts hit him square in the face. What was he doing here? She was in there? What was he supposed to say when he saw her? Could he even keep his temper in check in her presence? No, he couldn’t do this.

  He backed his car back onto the main road, turned and drove away. Yes, this was the best thing to do, he sighed. He and Lana were like magnets with their north poles facing each other– they attracted other people well enough but repelled each other strongly. It was best to keep a safe distance from each other.

  CHAPTER 14

  Back at the restaurant, things were not going well for Snow. Speculations about where and with who she’d spent the night with were in full swing. The rumors ranged from Charlie to a one-night-stand to an affair with a married man. Thankfully, none of the gossip zeroed in on Greyson. Still, Snow was ready to scream. Didn’t these people have better things to do with their time?

  Oscar, especially, was having a grand old time and his asshole-ry was at its highest peak. During lunch service, he kept questioning Snow, trading barbs with Vina and darting in and out of the kitchen to encourage more betting about Snow’s relationship status. Since it was her turn to run the kitchen, she had the unfortunate responsibility of keeping him in check. Frankly, she was surprised they managed to finish lunch service without her strangling his scrawny neck because she considered it quite a few times.

  “He’s lucky I haven’t stabbed him yet,” she complained to Greyson when he called her later in the day.

  “Please don’t stab him.” Greyson chuckled. “Do you know how hard it is to find a good chef like him?”

  “He’s not that good,” Snow retorted even though she knew that Oscar really was that good.

  Oscar had attended one of the most prestigious culinary institutes in the country and graduated top of his class, then, like Greyson, he’d traveled the world learning different cooking techniques. The guy had even worked under Wolfgang Puck – which he never let them forget. There was no doubt that he was a good chef, but as far as Snow was concerned being a good chef was the sum of all his virtues. Every other one of his personality traits required the intervention of a therapist or Jesus.

  “Don’t worry they’ll soon find something else to gossip about,” Greyson reassured her.

  “I hope they find it soon because I don’t think I can handle any more of this.” Her phone beeped indicating that someone else was calling her but she ignored it. The only person she wanted to talk to right now was Greyson. Leaning against the back alley’s brick wall, she sighed. “I’m telling you Greyson, it’s like a Sherlock Holmes episode here. I’m walking on egg shells because I’m afraid that one of them will figure out that you and I are…” Her words drifted into silence.

  “You and I are?” he prodded.

  “You know….” she hedged because she didn’t know what they were. They hadn’t yet defined their relationship. Were they friends or a couple?

  “That we’re dating?” Greyson asked.

  “Yeah!” That seemed like an appropriate description for what they were.

  “Well, let them do their worst.” He added, “If they find out, they find out.”

  For a man who insisted on compartmentalizing work and personal life, he sure was being laissez-faire about their situation. Did that mean he’d changed his mind? Snow asked, “Would you be okay if that happened?”

  Greyson paused briefly before saying, “I doubt they’ll find out – but if they do, I guess I can live with it.”

  He guessed he could live with it? It wasn’t the most enthusiastic response and she had to wonder if there was subtext beneath his words. Was this his subtle way of reminding her that people finding out about them would be a bad thing – something they’d just have to live with? Or was she reading too much into innocent words?

  Oh hell, why was she even reading into his words? It wasn’t like she was itching to reveal their relationship, she berated herself. She was already headline news. The revelation that she’d moved on to another man so soon after breaking up with Charlie would only add fuel to the already roaring fire.

  Forcing a smile, she said into the phone. “Why are we even talking about this? They’ll never find out.” Switching the topic she asked, “Are you still at the restaurant?”

  “No, I left for a bit but I’m on my way back there,” he said. “Speaking of – I’m not sure I’ll be able to pick you up from work today. I need to meet a few of our vendors and I don’t know when I’ll be done.”

  “Nooo,” she moaned. “How can you do this to me, Chef? How can you snatch away my personal cab like that without even a warning?”

  He laughed. “I’m sorry, Princess. You’ll have to find another carriage tonight.”

  Smiling, she demanded, “Then what are you going to do about my goodnight kiss?”

  “Oh, I forgot about that.” His voice turned velvety as he added, “Don’t worry you’ll get a double-serving tomorrow morning.”

  Her pulse jumped at the wicked promise and the images it conjured. Without conscious thought, she bit her lip. “I’ll wait for it.”

  A minute later, they ended their call only for her to find that the person who’d been trying to call her was Charlie. She snickered at the phone then thrust it back into her coat without calling him back. But he wasn’t one to give up and in the course of the day he called three more times – which she of course ignored. During dinner service he sent
a message saying that he wanted to talk. She texted back with one word, ‘No.’ After the stunt he’d pulled at the restaurant with what’s-her-name, Snow wasn’t interested in anything he had to say.

  Eleven p.m. found her in a cab on her way home. It was only once the cab cruised into her complex that she noticed a brand-new, silver convertible parked in front of her building. She didn’t need to see its title certificate to know who its owner was. Charlie.

  Ugh! Immediate annoyance shot through her. That annoyance only spiked when she saw his silhouette in the driver’s seat. After having his calls ignored and the locks changed on him, a normal man would’ve taken the hint. But Charlie wasn’t normal. Oh no! He was like one of those pests that when sprayed with pesticide went away to gain immunity then came back with friends.

  She was tempted to tell the cabbie to turn and take her somewhere else, but she decided that she wouldn’t give Charlie the satisfaction of having chased her away from her own house.

  “Thank you,” she said, handing the cabbie her fare.

  Now that she was out of the cab, she expected Charlie to come out and greet her with his usual what-did-I-do grin, but he didn’t. A stealthy glance into the car revealed that he was deep asleep. Snow smiled as she hurried towards her door. Hopefully, he wouldn’t realize that she was home until she was safely behind locked doors and didn’t have to deal with his bullshit.

  She managed to get into the house without his notice and lock the door behind her. But just as she was congratulating herself on a well-executed escape, the doorbell rang. Charlie was awake.

  She glared at the door but didn’t answer it.

  He rang the doorbell again. Snow didn’t open the door, so he changed to knocking. Three loud raps that echoed like thunder before he bellowed, “S - Snow, open the door.”

  Immediately, she could tell that he was drunk. This boy!