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“Don’t blame Oscar for this. He’s been in and out of hospital lately; it’s been a tough time for him.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Gemma said. “I hope he’s doing okay?”

Kent felt his chest hitch. He had just come in and thrown her life upside-down, and there she was, checking on how his uncle was. She really was a remarkable woman. With an unexpected heat filling him, Kent was struck with the sudden urge to tell her as much, only he swallowed back his words. This wasn’t the time.

“So, the eight-week trial,” Gemma said. “That was your idea?”

Kent nodded. “I knew you would ring Oscar after our drink the other week, but I got to him first and persuaded him to lie for me. I know that sounds terrible, but honestly, I thought I was being kind. I hoped that by that point, we would have sorted out a decent working relationship. And then, at some point, I’d make out like I’d just decided to buy the place from Oscar, and we’d carry on like that.”

“Were you?” Gemma replied. “Or were you hoping that I’d quit?”

“What?” It was Kent’s turn to be surprised. “No, not once was I thinking that. You’re brilliant at the front of house, Gemma. You have a way with people that’s perfect for the job. I’d be an idiot to force out one of the best members of staff I’ve ever worked with.”

She raised her eyebrows as if, once again, she didn’t believe him.

“Okay,” he admitted. “Maybe not the best for me to work with personally, but definitely the best with the customers.”

He let out another sigh, allowing his eyes to drift away from Gemma and across the water. It was beautiful there, and had it been another time or situation, he could easily imagine coming for a romantic walk, sitting and feeding the ducks. Perhaps some people even thought that was what they were doing. Perhaps they thought they were a couple, just enjoying their timetogether. But they weren’t, and now the truth was out in the open there was no point beating around the bush.

“Gemma, my bills are big. It took everything I had to get this place. I don’t have any flexibility. If I don’t make it work, then I’m not sure what will happen, but I need to be turning a bigger profit, and I know that this place is perfectly capable of doing it. I also know it would be a lot easier if I had you onside, working with me rather than against me. What do you say, any chance?”

CHAPTER 44

This definitely wasn’t the way Gemma had imagined her day going. Never could she have dreamt that the executive manager she actively hated was, in fact, her boss. The owner of the Waterfront Café. Although, now she knew, a twinge of guilt settled in her stomach for how she had treated Kent. Would she have been like that, throwing away his blackboards and yelling at him in front of customers, if she’d known he was responsible for her livelihood? Probably not. Unfortunately, guilt wasn’t her only pain, and the other was far more acute.

“I always thought that someday, when Oscar was ready to sell, I would buy the place,” she said truthfully.

“Really?” A look of something like sympathy flashed across Kent’s face. “Did he know that?”

She shrugged. “I always thought he did, but... maybe not. It’s not like I’m in a position to buy it anyway, not after...” She stopped herself.

She had already shown far more of herself to Kent than she wanted to. The last thing she would do was disclose all the sordid details of her past relationships.

“I’m sorry. Now you have even more reason to hate me,” he said.

“You’re not wrong there.”

She let out a light chuckle that caused a stray tear to escape down her cheek. With a swipe of her hand, she wiped it away.

“It’s just life, I guess. You know the other day, my friend said that I give too much to the cafe. That I was letting it take priority in my life and missing out on relationships because I was too busy working all the time. I’d been so convinced she was wrong, but I guess that’s not the case.”

For a moment she simply sat, before she let out a long sigh.

“I get that,” Kent replied. “There’s a chance that I’ve been accused of the same thing once or twice.”

Gemma lifted her gaze to look directly at him. A sad smile wavered on his lips, tugging at her guilt even more. God, she had been so horrible. Not that Kent had been particularly nice, and she definitely didn’t agree with several of his decisions. However, having her block everything he tried to do couldn’t have been the way he’d wanted to start his business takeover. And he could have just sacked her at any point. Looking at it like that, it was a miracle she still had a job at all.

“What do we do now?” she said before shaking her head. “Sorry, you don’t have to tell me what you’ve planned. I need to learn to keep my nose out. Don’t I?”

“No, I don’t want you to feel like that,” he said. “I want us to work together, but we need to make changes. Maybe after work today, we could grab a drink and talk through some ideas.”

Gemma drew in a breath and looked him square in the eyes. A series of frown lines creased his forehead, and he appeared to be feeling almost as much guilt over the situation as she did. Still, part of her wanted to walk away. It was his business, after all. Did anything she said really matter? Probably not, but she owed him at least one conversation.

“Okay, a drink sounds like a good idea,” she said. “But there’s one condition.”

Kent’s eyes brightened. “Sure. No problem. What is it?”

“We are not drinking Bordeaux.”