Page 5

Chapter Five

Aline

I felt so stupid when Cassidy brought Xochil’s partner to join her at the chef’s table. Of course, she was with someone. Of course, I imagined a connection between us. Even if my orixa was still nudging me to get closer to her, I knew I needed to back off. Maybe she was supposed to be important to me for business. Yeah. That had to be it.

I smiled politely at the incredibly good-looking man. If I were straight, I would definitely be drooling over him in the same stupefied way my kitchen staff was staring at him, even though he had already been in here once.

I cleared my throat and grabbed the next ticket order. I was behind, and I didn’t like to be. This one appeared to be for a big table, and I needed to hustle before complaints started.

“How long has this place been open?” Xochil asked, and I tried not to get distracted by her soft voice.

It called to me like a siren, and drove my orixa into a frenzy. His constant nudging began to grate on my nerves and give me a headache.

“We’ve been open for almost three years,” I answered her, trying to keep my voice polite and clear of the hurt I was feeling.

“The starters were amazing. Where did you learn to cook?”

Why was she still trying to make conversation with me? I wondered as I started laying the rodizios on the hot grill.

“My grandmother taught me,” I answered without looking her way, moving on to the next ticket while those cooked.

“Sweetheart, can I get a Cuba Libre?” Xochil’s partner asked, and I furrowed my brow without looking over.

Why was he asking her?

“Coming right up. Can I get you anything else to drink?” Cassidy answered, and I finally looked over.

Xochil was looking at me, her face in a frown, but she took a moment to smile at Cassidy and place her order for a drink.

“I can’t believe we come to the city almost once a month, and we didn’t know about this place, cousin,” the man mentioned, and I tried not to let my surprise show.

I turned back to the grill, a small smile making its way to my face. Thankfully, my dark skin wouldn’t show the heat I could feel on my cheeks. He was her cousin, not her partner.

“Yeah. If I’d known there was something so delicious here, I would have come out here years ago.” The inflection of Xochil’s voice had me sneaking a peek over to her table, and I felt my heart beating faster at the look she was giving me.

Maybe I wasn’t imagining the connection.

“We were pretty low-key for a while. We spread through word of mouth,” I answered. Was my voice really that breathy? “You guys aren’t from here?” I asked as casually as I could.

“We live about an hour and a half from here,” Xochil answered.

That wasn’t so bad. A little long distance, but I worked a lot, anyway. We could make it work. The thought popped into my head uninvited, and I couldn’t believe I was already thinking about how to make a relationship work with her. I didn’t know anything about her except that her name was Xochil, and the family genes were top-notch in her family.

“What brings you to the city?”

“Work sometimes, travel some other times. Miguel, here, likes dragging me out to the club at least once or twice a month to play his wingman. Do you dance?” Xochil asked.

“Used to. I haven’t had any time to myself in the last few years.”

“The restaurant keeps you busy,” she guessed correctly.

“Yeah. It’s a lot to do and not enough people to do it.”

“What do you do for fun if you can’t go dancing?”

“What’s fun?” I snorted, my orixa nudging me as if he wasn’t impressed with my sarcasm.

“It’s when you come out dancing with us,” she answered, and I whipped my head around so quickly that I thought I was going to get whiplash. She smiled when our eyes connected. “What do you say?”

“I work,” I told her, and my orixa went crazy at my lame answer. He clearly did not approve.

“Do you have days off?”

“No,” I answered honestly.

“Because of your sous chefs being sick?”

“I haven’t taken a day off since we opened,” I admitted.

I had been teaching Rory Avó’s recipes for the past year and a half. She had been asking me to take a day off, insisting she had it covered, but this was all I had. I was paranoid that something would go wrong if I stepped away.

“Well, then that settles it. The moment your sous chefs are back, you’re going dancing with us,” Xochil informed me with a determined look on her face.

“I—”

“Come on,” Miguel prompted and winked. “All work and no play makes chefs very grumpy.”

“I don’t know. I d…” I what? I asked myself as I plated the table. What was my excuse? I knew Rory could handle a night by herself. She was good and attentive. She and Guillermo worked really well together. “Only if you’ll bring me back if something happens while we’re out.”

“Scouts honor,” she grinned.

Just as I was basking in the glow of that smile being directed at me, I heard shouting coming from the bar. I finished plating the food and focused on the next ticket. If the front of the house needed me, they would call me. If they didn’t, it wasn’t too bad. Things seemed to settle down quickly, so I figured they had it covered until I heard glass shattering and a few shrieks coming from the bar area.

“Watch this!” I ordered Max, my kitchen assistant, and ran out of the kitchen. The shelves behind the bar had somehow collapsed, and thousands of dollars worth of liquor were shattered and spilled all over my floor. My bartender, Alex, was standing in the middle of it all, his face ashen.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“I might have just shit my pants, but yeah, I’m okay,” he answered, then looked over my shoulder. “Cantarito Lady. You’re back. Did you miss me?” he asked her with a smirk.

I turned around and saw Xochil standing behind me, her cousin pushing through the door behind her.

“Cantarito Lady?” I asked my bartender, not enjoying the way he was flirting with my woman.

Wait, shit. Not my woman. I barely knew anything about her. Though, I had accepted a date with her. Was it a date if her cousin was also coming? I shook my head and focused on the issue.

“Cassidy, can we relocate our customers to the main dining room and close the bar area until we can clean all of this up?”

“The main dining room is full, chef,” she answered apologetically.

“Shit. Okay. Can we relocate anyone nearby and get signs to warn them not to step near? We need—”

Fuck.

More hands were what I needed. If we were already so busy, I needed to call a few of my waitresses in from their day off, so I didn’t drop the ball on the orders.

“Who can we call in today?” I asked, turning to Cassidy.

“Becky might be available. Sean and Candy, maybe. The rest were going to a concert tonight. They spent weeks switching shifts and doing favors so they could all go together.”

“I’ll call them. Can we get mops and dustpans?”

“I need to get out of here,” Alex reminded me. He was surrounded by shards of glass.

“I’ll get you out of there. Just need to sweep a path—”

“I got him,” Miguel answered, and for a big guy, he moved rather gracefully as he jumped over the mess and on top of my counter. He stretched out his arms toward Alex, who looked skeptically and dreamily at him.

“Not that I don’t think you’re a strong, handsome man, but I weigh a solid one hundred and seventy-five—don’t you dare say a word, Cassidy— pounds. You can’t deadlift that much from that position,” my bartender argued.

“Trust me.”

“Trust you? I don’t know you, and I’m in a sea of glass,” he countered skeptically.

Miguel sighed and bent forward, grabbed him under the armpits, and lifted him as if he weighed nothing. Alex squealed and wrapped his arms around his neck, hanging on for dear life. Miguel turned them and stayed seated on the counter with my bartender sitting on his lap like a goddamn princess, looking up at him like he hung the moon. A spattering of claps was heard around the room, most of them coming from women while their men looked annoyed beside them.

“My hero,” Alex sighed and lay his head on his chest, making Miguel laugh loudly and pat him on the arm. Alex seemed to take that as encouragement because he got that glint in his eye that usually earned him top tips and smiled seductively. “Is that your gun, or are you happy to see me?”

“As lovely as you are, I’m afraid that’s my phone,” Miguel laughed.

“Figures,” Alex grumbled, but made no move to jump off Miguel’s lap.

“Alright, let’s get this cleaned up. I need to go finish cooking before people start to complain,” I sighed.

Now that we were closing down a few tables and the bar, I couldn’t afford to lose more money, especially since there was at least three thousand dollars worth of liquor on the floor.

“Alex, go check the back and see what we have for liquor. Make sure to tell the ladies what we can serve if anyone asks for it.”

“We can help,” Xochil volunteered, but I shook my head.

“If you get injured, that’s a liability for me I can’t afford.”

“We won’t,” she insisted, and when I was going to refuse, she added, “At least let us help until your extra people get here. You’re packed. Your waitresses are busy.”

“I’ll supervise, boss,” Alex suggested, and I gave in.

I really needed to get back to cooking.

“Fine. Cassidy, come point out their ticket so I can cook it fresh when they’re done,” I told my waitress.

“You just finished it,” she answered.

“No. The one I finished was for the big party,” I argued.

“They are the big party,” she giggled.

“You two were planning on eating six different rodizios?” I asked them, my jaw dropping as they nodded at me, looking embarrassed.

“Oh, I don’t doubt it. You should have seen how much food she tucked away yesterday. Some people have all the genetic luck. How that much food fits into that tiny body, I’ll never know, but I’m jealous as fuck,” Alex grumbled.

“Use those for other tickets so you can catch up. We’re easy,” Xochil grinned and winked at me.

“Figure that out, please, Cassidy,” I nodded at Xochil gratefully. “I have to go make sure Max hasn’t burned the dishes on the stove and then make those calls.”

Max had miraculously finished one of the dishes and pulled the rodizios from the grill at the perfect temperature. I plated the food and sent them off, before I pulled out my phone and dialed my three servers. Unfortunately, only Becky could come in, but it was better than nothing.

As I started a new order, Cassidy came in, and we looked at the dishes and tickets. We redistributed Xochil and Miguel’s massive lunch, which helped me get back on track. After putting the next order on the grill, I eyed my assistant. Maybe it was time he got a little more responsibility. He earned the chance.

“Hey, Max. You want to keep an eye on these while I go check the front?”

He nodded enthusiastically, so I walked back out to see how the clean-up was going and if Xochil and Miguel were alright. To my surprise, between the two of them and Alex, they were making really good progress. They had a big trash bin with a bag, dumping out the shards of glass as they scooped it while Alex was using the mop to soak up the liquor.

“Did you find alcohol in the back?” I asked him.

“Yeah. We have enough tequila and vodka to last the night. Whiskey, you’re low, so I’m not going to bother with it for the night. The girls know what’s on offer.”

“Alright, I’ve got Becky coming out to help. Once they come, can you guide these guys back to me?”

“Got it, boss. I won’t touch your girl,” he winked, and my mouth gaped open.

My cheeks felt hot, and I didn’t know how to respond, so I turned around and walked back inside before everyone started laughing at me.

It was another twenty minutes before Becky showed up, and Xochil and Miguel came back to the chef’s table. At that point, I was back on top of my orders, and I was beyond grateful for them.

“Do you want what you originally ordered, or do you want to change it? Whatever it is, it’s on the house. You definitely saved my ass, in more ways than one,” I praised them, meaning every word.

“It’s a very nice ass. It was a pleasure to save it,” Xochil answered, making her cousin laugh, and had the heat flooding to my cheeks.

“Okay, I’m giving you that one. Super smooth, cuz,” he commended her.

I could still feel the heat on my cheeks, but I was slightly more prepared for it, so I laughed and shook my head.

“You two are something else,” I told them.

“Adorably so, though, right?” Miguel asked.

“Adorably so,” I agreed, giving in to whatever this was. It made my orixa nudge me happily, and finally settle down.

“Are you allergic to anything, or is there anything you don’t eat?” I asked.

“Nope. Do your worst, mate,” Xochil said, then froze as if she’d said something wrong.

“Are you Australian or something?” I joked, then chuckled at my own joke.

“No, she just wants to go down under,” Miguel teased Xochil, who shot him a glare, but couldn’t stop the smile or blush on her face when I threw my head back and laughed.

“After the day I’ve had, I needed that laugh,” I told him as I grabbed a bowl of mixture from the fridge and wiped the tears from my eyes.

“I’m here to serve,” he chuckled.