Page 18 of Grade A Girl

Kade

Charlie pulls away from me, and her whole demeanor changes. She straightens her back, squares her shoulders, and gets down to business. She starts rattling off my order, and I’m so taken aback it takes me a moment to follow what she’s saying.

“Do you want to add anything else to your order?”

“Can we at least talk about this?” I ask in disbelief.

“I get it. We had a fun night, nothing more to it. Don’t worry about it. Now, your order. Anything else?”

My head is spinning, and I feel as if I could puke. She’s shutting down on me.Seriously? Yes! A lot of something else.I needed her that night, and while I may have called out my ex’s name, it doesn’t change the fact that I neededher. Charlie.As soon as she left, I high-tailed it out of Jaxson’s place, too embarrassed I ruined a perfect fucking night.

I shake my head and keep my eyes to the ground, shame filling me. “No. Nothing else to add,” I say.

“Great. I’ll deliver it later today.” She turns around and picks up a knife, returning to her job, ignoring me.

“We need to talk—”

“No.Wedon’t need to do anything.Youneed to get out of my shop before we both do something we regret.” Charlie points the knife in my direction, and the hatred in her eyes says it all—go the fuck away.

I know when to tuck my tail and run. I’ll leave her alone for now, but when she comes to the restaurant later today, I willmakeher talk to me then. I’ll make sure Jaxson is there. “This isn’t over,” I say and storm out. I push the swinging door with so much force it bounces off the back wall, and a customer in the shop glares at me.

I get to the restaurant, and Victor is already there prepping. He’s early today, and that pisses me off even more. I turn toward the back room, and without even looking up he says, “What’s eating you?”

“Nothing,” I grumble. I walk into the office, pull my chef coat on, and push my glasses up my nose.

When I walk back to the kitchen, he glances up at me but doesn’t say a word.Smart man.I’m not sure how much of my temper I’d be able to rein in if he wanted to talk. We work in uncomfortable silence for a while until he puts his knife down and turns to me. He’s about to say something when the doorbell for the back rings.

Saved by the bell.

I put my knife down and pull open the door. Jaxson is there with Charlie, her arms wrapped protectively around her as Jaxson holds the box with my order. As soon as Charlie sees me, she shoulders past me to get inside. Victor smiles at her, and she tries to return it but I glare at him. He smirks. I know he’s figured it out, and I really want to punch him in his smug face. My glare in his direction says it all. When he sees Jaxson directly behind her, his eyes widen.

“I’ll leave you all to talk.” Victor scurries out of the kitchen and into the front part of the restaurant before I can say anything. We help Charlie unload the boxes and put them in the fridge. When she puts the last one down, I cage her in, my hands going to the cold metal on either side of her head. It’s just the three of us, and I need to clear the air. I need more of her, and I’ll be damned if she pushes me away over this.

She glares up at me, and I see her fire and spirit. God, it’s sexy. “You need to let me explain—let us explain.”

I press her further into the fridge wall, and she gasps as the cold metal comes in contact with her back. I lean down, my face inches from her. She smells so good. I want to wrap my hands in her hair and pull her to me. Kiss the look of annoyance right off her beautiful face. Jaxson stands in the doorway to stop her if she tries to run.

“Just because I called out Blair’s name, doesn’t mean I wanted her. I was having a fucking nightmare, and normally, Bruno, my dog, would have been there to pull me out of it.”

“The problem I have now isn’t because you called outhername. The problem is you admitting you wanted to take me on a date and fuck me because Ilooklike her.” She pushes back on my muscular chest, aiming for space, and I hardly feel it. Her glare turns on Jaxson, and without looking, I know he’s as pissed off as I am.

I speak through clenched teeth, trying to get my point across. “I didn’t mean to. My dreams morphed from the battlefield to watching her die. You’re the first girl I’ve spent the night with in a long time. Coupled with being with Jaxson again, and I couldn’t help it.” I take a step back, giving her some room, and she takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry I called out for her, but I’m not sorry about anything we did. I just wish it didn’t end that way.”

Jaxson speaks behind me, and I’m glad to have a moment to calm down. “Just because you have similar characteristics doesn’t mean that’s why we want you. Within five minutes of being with you, we both knew you were different than her—better than her.”

She mumbles something under her breath about us being right. We stare at one another for a minute, and when she doesn’t say anything, I push past Jaxson and step out into the warm kitchen. Victor still hasn’t returned, and that’s probably wise. I turn to look into her big chocolate eyes. Wetness pools on her bottom lid, and it breaks my heart knowing I’ve dragged this emotion from her.

She wraps her arms around her middle and she looks so small in my kitchen, so unsure. “Why did you ask me then?”

I see the uncertainty flash in her eyes. She’s been here before. I can tell by the way she looks between us, pleading for us to tell her she’s not a second choice. Someone has hurt her in the past, chose someone else over her.

Dumb fuck.

“Because you’re smart, funny, and beautiful,” Jaxson says.

“And you can cut a mean steak,” I cut in with a grin.

Her lips pull up into a smile and her features soften. “Don’t you forget it. You better not hire someone else. All you’ll get is a hack job.”

I step into her space and run the back of my fingers down her cheek. Her eyes flutter closed, and her lips instinctively part.

“Charlie, something like this has happened before, hasn’t it?”