Page 1 of Grade A Girl

Charlotte

ACut Above,Dad’s butcher shop, is in my hands now. I’ve been working for him for the better part of my life, but it’s finallymine. As I grew older, I used to work in the front area of the shop, helping customers and ringing up their orders. I saw him cutting hunks of meat a few times, and it soured my stomach. Watching him work was the reason I went vegetarian for a few of my dramatic teenage years. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with not eating meat, but have you ever tasted bacon?

Enough said.

Mom and Dad decided they'd had enough of northern California winters and wanted to retire early in Florida. They officially moved two weeks ago, and I’m back after helping them get settled. It’s a good thing, too, because Dad’s number one client, Kade Benson, has been blowing up the phone. He’s the owner and head chef ofLocal Burn, one of the hottest farm to table restaurants in town.

I’ve been dealing with his assistant over the phone for the better part of a year, but never him directly. He only ever wanted to work with Dad, even though I’m the one who has been putting together his meat orders for the past few months. It’s enough to make me roll my eyes.Ugh, men!

After finishing my three-year apprenticeship almost a year ago, I was lucky I had a place to go besides a supermarket. Butcher shops are a dying breed nowadays, but this shop was started by my grandfather, and when I have kids, I’ll pass it down to them. My sister Stephanie has never had any desire to run the shop, so it’s up to me to keep it going.

I haven’t seen her in a year. She’s in New York trying to become an actress. So far, she has snagged commercials for a fast-food place and a pet store, and her most recent success is a chorus role in an off-Broadway show. Basically, she pays her bills by working a lot of odd jobs.

But I’m proud of her; I just wish she would find her big break. She talks about how her dream is to work with Caleb Evanstan or Tait Flanigan in Hollywood. I think she just wants to date one of them, but Caleb is married with a kid on the way, and I’ve readTMZrumors that Tait is asking his girlfriend Sam to marry him.

The bell above the door rings, startling me from my thoughts. I hear Scott, the kid I hired to work the register, talking to another man. I’d recognize Kade’s deep timbre anywhere as he speaks to Scott with authority.

After pulling my gloves off, I untie my apron and push open the swinging door from the back. Kade turns his head in my direction and looks over my shoulder for someone. I glance behind me, thinking someone might be there by the way he looks at me. I stand as tall as I can in my jeans and bright pink t-shirt. My brown hair is pulled back into a low ponytail.

This man is more than I expected. Not terribly tall—probably five-ten, with brown hair that’s buzzed on the side and longer up top, but man does he have muscles. Lots and lots of muscles. I always pictured him being a fat guy with glasses. The glasses part is right, but he’snotfat at all. A script tattoo peeks out over his navy blue Henley t-shirt which pulls across his taut muscles. I instinctively lick my lips as he shifts his weight to his other foot.

“I was told I’d be meeting the new owner, Charlie Paxton, today,” he announces, flitting his eyes over my five-two frame as he fixes his thick-framed glasses higher on his nose.

This man looks like sex on wheels.I wonder how much he works out?No man in his right mind should be allowed to look this sexy. His jeans hug his hips just right, and images of me running my hands over his muscles have me clenching my thighs together to warn of the impending need.

Now is not the time to be fantasizing about having sex with this man.

He clears his throat, and I smile. “That’s me. I’m Charlotte Paxton, Charlie for short. You must be Kade Benson.” I walk forward, my hand extended to shake his.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mumbles barely loud enough to be audible.

On second thought, I’ll take a raincheck on exploring his muscles. I drop my hand to my side as the smile slowly fades from my face. I get it now. This asshole thinks that, because I’m a woman, I can’t do the job. Well, buddy—anything you can do, I can do bleeding. I’ve been around men like this since I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps and makeA Cut Abovemine.

My apprenticeship was brutal—until the other men figured out I wasn’t someone to be messed with. I was the only woman in my class of ten, and most days, they refused to talk to me.Stupid boys. I didn’t let it get to me though. I got my head in the game and buckled down. Once the master butcher started to take notice of how much I was pulling ahead of the others, they changed their tune.

I don’t need to deal with elitist bullshit.

“Is there a problem?” I cross my arms over my chest, making sure to stand a little taller in my flat boots.

“Not to sound like an asshole,”too late,“but how long have you been doing this? I have a very reputable restaurant, and I don’t want the quality of my cuts to go down under new ownership.”

“I finished the apprenticeship program last year and I have been working here in this shop on and off since I was a teenager. I’m the one who has been preparing your orders for the past several months. Trust me, your cuts are in good hands,Mr. Benson.” I put a little too much emphasis on his name, and he cocks his eyebrow at me. “Now, if you will please follow me, I’ll show you what we have today.”

I don’t wait for his reply as I storm through the swinging door to the back room. He’s on my heels when I turn to face him once more. He stands at the end of the cutting table, his hands on his hips, waiting for me to continue.

“I’ve reviewed your past few weeks of orders. Are you going to be changing the amount you order, or just the cuts?” I pass him his last order invoice, and he picks it up off the table, reviewing the cuts and amounts listed.

“I wanted to add an additional twenty pounds of marinated chicken to the order.” He puts the paper back down and looks into my brown eyes. His are a light blue with little gold flecks throughout. God, they’re beautiful, I take a split second to get lost in them. He pushes his glasses up his nose with his middle finger and crosses his arms over his broad chest again. Another tattoo peeks out from under his sleeve, and I tilt my head to get a better look.

“Ms. Paxton?”

I blush when I look back up at his face, and there appears to be a trace of a smile on his lips. “What marinade would you like?”

I pull a pen from my hair and click it to write on the invoice.

“Do you always keep a pen in your hair?” He raises his eyebrow at me.

I scrunch my face. “Do you always ask so many questions?”