Meat

by Opal Carew

  Had he decided to ignore her wildly inappropriate comment? Or did he take that as a sign that she would continue this relationship no matter what he did?

  Her chest ached. As much as she’d drawn comfort from him tonight, she had no idea where they’d be a week from now … or even a day. Not with everything going on around them at the hotel.

  He didn’t value the same things she did, and that would probably lead to incontrovertible differences between them. No matter how she felt about him, if he hurt the people she cared about, she couldn’t be with him.

  He’d asked her if she trusted him, and she did … as far as not hurting her. Not directly, anyway. But hurting her by actions based on a point of view that differed very much from her own … That was a very real possibility.

  “Hey, Ms. Sleepyhead, wake up or breakfast will get cold.”

  Rebecca’s eyes fluttered open. “Breakfast?”

  She didn’t even remember closing her eyes and falling asleep.

  Rex’s lips brushed against her cheek in a gentle kiss.

  “Yes, I made you breakfast.”

  “But how? We’re in a hotel suite.”

  He laughed. “You were in a deep sleep, so I slipped down to the kitchen and made us something.”

  She shot to a sitting position. The sheet fell to her waist, exposing her breasts. She grabbed the fabric and pulled it back up.

  “You went down … but …” Her words sputtered into gibberish.

  “It’s okay. Calm down.” He offered her his robe and she pulled it on, then pushed the covers aside and got out of bed. He took her hand and led her to the dining room, where he had a lovely meal laid out.

  He pulled out a chair for her. The one he’d handcuffed her to last night. She sat down and he poured her a cup of coffee.

  “So what was is that has you so befuddled?”

  “Everyone will know.” She clung to the front of the robe, holding it tight around herself, as if the whole staff were here gaping at her.

  “Who will know what?”

  “You cooked for two and brought the meal up to your room. They’re going to know we slept together.”

  “You do worry about the strangest things. Why do you care what they think?”

  “It’s … embarrassing.”

  He smiled. “Well, don’t worry about it. They might think I have a woman in my room, but they don’t have to know it’s you.”

  The thought of him having another woman in his room sent jealousy simmering through her.

  Good God, was she going insane? There was no other woman.

  “I really should get to work,” she said.

  “Relax. The hotel manager sent out a text saying he’s keeping all the restaurants closed except the café, where they set up a buffet to handle the rush of people heading to the airport this morning. That and the coffee kiosks in the lobby can handle all the guests. I’m staying out of the way of my staff. They can handle cooking eggs and bacon without me there.” He smiled. “That means you and I have the morning off, which gives us plenty of time for breakfast.”

  “Great.” But clearly her level of enthusiasm was underwhelming.

  She bit into the omelet sitting in front of her, and her enthusiasm increased.

  “Mmm. This is so good.” Whatever herbs he’d used, along with the mushrooms, onions, and bits of crumbled bacon, made the omelet a masterpiece of delectable taste sensations.

  “I’m glad something excites you this morning.” He glanced her way. “Why is it you want to escape my company so quickly? I thought we made a real connection last night.”

  She frowned. “I … What I said last night … in the heat of the moment. You know I didn’t mean it, don’t you?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t mean it when you asked me to make you come? Because that sounded pretty convincing.”

  She stared at her plate. “No. I mean the other thing.”

  Rex’s heart ached. He knew exactly what she meant. But he didn’t want to believe it.

  Last night, when she’d said she loved him, joy had soared through him. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything else in this world.

  The fact that she wanted to take it back …

  “Why are you afraid to love me?” he asked point-blank.

  She sucked in a breath. “I …” She shook her head. “You and I are in two such different places. I’m afraid of what you’re doing to this place I love. You don’t seem to care that you’re tearing it down. Changing it. You’ve fired so many people, and I think if you have your way we’ll lose more of them.” She shook her head. “These are my family and … I can’t stand by and let you hurt them.”

  “They’re not actually your family, Rebecca.”

  But the way her eyes flared, he realized he had to back off.

  He frowned. “So you’re going to fight me every step of the way.”

  She bit her lip … gazed at him with gleaming eyes … and nodded.

  Fuck. His heart crumpled, but then he realized he had a choice. There were practical choices, and choices made by the heart. His whole life he’d always been practical.

  But now … gazing at the woman he loved with all his heart … he knew he would do anything to make her happy.

  “Rebecca …”

  His cell rang, but he ignored it. He took her hand and pressed it to his lips.

  “What if I told you … ?”

  The phone rang again, insistently. He scowled and pulled it from his pocket to turn it off. But the text on the screen caught his attention.

  “Damn, there’s some kind of emergency in the kitchen. It’s probably nothing the sous chef can’t handle, but I’d better check in.”

  He lifted the phone and dialed.

  Rebecca had no idea what Rex had been going to say, but she’d held her breath in anticipation. Now her heart thumped loudly, wondering, as he dialed his phone.

  He chatted for a moment, then his face went somber. “I’ll be right down.”

  “What is it?” she asked in dismay at his serious tone.

  “Someone’s been hurt. There was a small fire in the kitchen,” he said as he hurried to the bedroom, then started pulling on his clothes. “They put it out, but one of the cooks was startled by the sudden flames while chopping vegetables and cut himself quite badly.”

  “Oh, my God. Who is it?”

  Rex was dressed now, and she followed him from the bedroom across the suite as he strode toward the door.

  “Jericho. I don’t think you know him. He’s one of the new people I brought in.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  He turned and swept her into his arms, kissing her soundly. When he released her lips, his sharp blue eyes pinned her to the spot.

  “You stay here until I get back. We need to talk. Understood?”

  She nodded, automatically responding to his authoritative tone.

  By the time Rex realized he’d been gone over three hours, he knew it was too late. Rebecca would not have waited in his suite this long.

  He had to go find her.

  He told the sous chef to take over the kitchen and strode to The Lavender Rose.

  Sure enough, Rebecca was in the restaurant, which had been scheduled to reopen a half hour ago, at noon, and was helping her skeleton staff serve customers.

  As he stood in the doorway, one of her staff caught Rebecca’s arm as she rushed from a table after dropping off a meal. The waitress pointed to Rex, and Rebecca glanced his way. She nodded, then hurried toward him.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be gone so long,” he explained.

  “I know. It’s fine,” she said. But she was distracted, and clearly on edge.

  “Is something wrong? Besides the fact I stood you up for that conversation I still intend for us to have.”

  “It’s nothing. We’re just super-busy.”

  A lot of the staff hadn’t made it in for their shifts because of the huge snowfall and the bad driving conditions.

/>   He nodded. “Of course. I’ll let you get back to work.” But before she could turn away, he caught her arm. “But, Rebecca. I do intend for us to have that conversation. As soon as possible.”

  “I really have to go.”

  His gut clenched. Something had changed since he left her this morning.

  Rebecca slumped in her chair, glad the lunch rush was over and she could leave the rest of the serving to her staff. She pulled off the elastic she’d used to hold her hair in a ponytail while she’d been serving, and ran her fingers through her long hair.

  This morning had been hell. Not because of the lack of staff and the crazy rush they’d had to handle, but because of what had happened earlier. When she’d left Rex’s room … she’d tried to be so careful … but as she’d slipped out the door, Hilda, the head of housekeeping, had spotted her and thrust up her nose.

  The woman knew exactly whose room Rebecca was sneaking out of, and she’d made a point of telling Rebecca she was going to the hotel manager to report her, badgering her that it was against the rules for staff to fraternize and that she would insist that the manager let her go.

  Hilda had never liked Rebecca. She was never quite sure why.

  Now she knew that because of Hilda, everyone in the hotel would know she was sleeping with the head chef. And she might even lose her job over it.

  Her phone rang, and she picked it up.

  “Rebecca, this is Sally.” Sally was Benjamin’s secretary. “He said he wants to see you as soon as possible. I heard that things have settled down there, so can you come up right away?”

  “Of course, Sally. I’ll be right up.”

  So losing her job it was.

  Chapter 12

  “Rebecca, there you are. We need to talk.” Benjamin gestured to the guest chair in front of his desk.

  She sank into it. “Hilda told you about this morning.”

  “About seeing you come out of Rex Keene’s room. Yes.”

  “So now you’re going to fire me?”

  “What? No, of course not. Why do you think that?”

  “Hilda said that there’s a rule against fraternization.”

  He waved away the words. “Only if Hilda had her way. She’s been touting that rule since I was a kid working at the front desk, but it’s only a rumor. Started by her. If such a rule did exist and I tried to enforce it, I’d have had to fire half the staff by now.”

  “Then why did you call me up here?”

  “Because Hilda told me you spent the night with Rex Keene.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I know.” He walked around the desk and perched against it, leaning toward her. “And I need you to keep this strictly between you and me. If you don’t, I’ll probably lose my job.”

  “My God, what is it?”

  “I can’t tell you specifically. All I can say is … keep away from Rex Keene. He’s not who you think and …” He leaned closer. “I’ve known you a long time, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “You’ve got to tell me more than that.”

  He shook his head and stood up, then returned to his chair. “I can’t. Really. I’ve already said too much, but I had to warn you.”

  Rebecca stepped out of Benjamin’s office in a daze. This day had become an emotional roller coaster, and she had no idea how to handle any of it.

  As she practically stumbled toward the elevator, she couldn’t help asking herself a very disturbing question.

  Who is Rex Keene?

  On his way back to his office from a meeting, Rex stopped by Rebecca’s office and knocked.

  Still no answer. He scowled as he strode down the hall.

  The meeting with the housekeeping manager, Hilda, had been unpleasant. She’d stared at him with a look of haughty disapproval the whole time, her nose practically in the air. She cooperated and answered his questions, however, so he didn’t care what her problem was.

  He wondered if she was someone Rebecca particularly cared about, though, because if she wasn’t, the woman might well have to think about a new career, or at least a new hotel chain.

  But right now, his main concern was finding Rebecca. He’d told her he wanted to talk to her as soon as possible.

  “Oh, hello, Chef Rex.”

  The tall, blonde woman who managed Rage was walking the opposite direction down the hall. He remembered she had been sitting with Rebecca during the meeting of the department heads, and that they’d left together. They’d seemed quite close.

  “Gretchen, isn’t it?” He slowed, and she stopped in front of him.

  “Yes. We haven’t actually met yet.” She offered her hand.

  He shook it. Her smile and twinkling blue eyes, along with the way she held his hand a little longer than was normal, made it clear she was flirting with him.

  When he drew his hand away, she moved a little closer.

  “We haven’t had a chance to discuss how we’ll coordinate our two departments.” She rested her hand on his forearm, her fingers squeezing lightly. “I’m looking forward to cooperating with you fully to ensure we have a long and harmonious relationship.”

  Her seductive tone and the slight emphasis she put on the word made it clear to him exactly what kind of cooperation she was interested in.

  “It’s Friday evening and I’m off work now,” she continued, “but I’d be happy to meet with you over a drink.”

  With the way she was coming on to him, he was surprised she didn’t suggest they have that drink in his room.

  Another time, he might be interested. She was beautiful and seemed like she could be fun to be around. But since he’d met Rebecca, she was the only woman he was interested in. The only woman he wanted in his bed. And in his life.

  And he knew he wanted that to be forever.

  “I’m afraid I have other things to attend to tonight.”

  “Oh, of course.” Disappointed, she started to turn away.

  “Gretchen, I’ve been looking for Rebecca. Do you know where she is?”

  A light seemed to dawn in her eyes, and he was sure she was drawing conclusions he hadn’t intended her to. Even if those conclusions were true.

  “I’m sorry, Chef, but she left a few hours ago.”

  “You mean she’s gone home?”

  “Yes. I know she usually leaves about now, but she was called up to the hotel manager’s office and”—she glanced at him, worry skittering through her eyes—“she seemed a little upset. She wouldn’t tell me why. We’re all so nervous about our jobs, you know. I just hope …”

  He squeezed her arm. “I’m sure it’s nothing like that,” he said. The fact that Gretchen was worried about Rebecca pushed her up on his list of valued people. “Let’s have that meeting at ten o’clock on Monday morning. I’d like us to get started on forging a sound relationship.”

  She smiled. A more genuine one this time.

  He turned and strode to the elevator.

  What the hell had Miller said to Rebecca?

  Rex strode into Miller’s office. The man glanced up, then his expression tightened at Rex’s scowling presence.

  “Mr. Keene. What can I do for you?” Miller asked.

  Rex sent the man a hard gaze as he closed the door behind him.

  “You can tell me what the hell you said to Rebecca.”

  “What did she tell to you?” Miller asked cautiously.

  “She didn’t tell me anything, but she left a couple of hours ago after talking to you and I heard she was upset about something.”

  Miller nodded. “It was nothing. I just wanted to see how she was doing after being away.”

  Rex’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t piss around with me. Tell me exactly what you said to her.”

  Miller held his gaze, then sighed. “All right. This is awkward.” He stood and paced across the room. “One of the staff saw Rebecca leaving a suite this morning—your suite—and reported it to me.”

  Ah, fuck!

  “This particular staff member
,” Miller continued, “thinks there should be a rule against fraternization among employees.”

  “And do you?” Rex asked, steam nearly blasting from his nostrils.

  “If it doesn’t affect the employees’ work I have no problem with it. But I called Rebecca up here to warn her. I didn’t want her to be caught off guard by speculation and rumors.”

  Miller leaned against his desk.

  “Look, Mr. Keene, this might get me fired, but”—he shook his head—“I cautioned her about you.”

  Rex frowned. “Did you tell her who I was?”

  “No. Just a vague comment that you aren’t who she thinks and that she should be careful around you.”

  “Why the hell did you do that?” Rex practically growled.

  “Because I like Rebecca and I don’t want to see her hurt. And once you’re done here and gone, I’d don’t want to see her left with a broken heart. She’s suffered enough loss recently.”

  Rex scowled and turned on his heel, determined to do damage control.

  But as he strode out of the office, he mentally added Benjamin Miller to the top of his valued people list.

  Who is Rex Keene?

  The question had plagued Rebecca all weekend, and it was all-consuming as she walked into her office Monday morning. She’d speculated about all kinds of things over the weekend, especially after doing Internet searches to see if she could learn anything about a renowned chef named Rex Keene and finding nothing. Her best guess was that he was a security expert hired by the new owners to check into the goings-on behind the scenes at the hotel.

  She set her things on her desk and took off her coat.

  “Where the hell have you been?”

  Chapter 13

  Rebecca glanced around to see Rex’s tall, broad-shouldered frame standing in her doorway, his face set in a scowl.

  “I just got here,” she answered.

  He moved toward her. “I told you I wanted to talk on Friday, and then you disappeared for two days.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “I work Monday to Friday. Did you want me to just hang around all weekend to be at your beck and call?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted.”

  The heat emanating from him as he closed in on her sent her stomach fluttering. Then his arms went around her and his lips captured hers in a consuming kiss. She tried to stay firm, but the feel of his persuasive lips … the warmth of his solid body against hers … drained her of the will to resist.