Page 155 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

PETER

M y kitchen was full of smoke.

It wasn’t the good kind of cooking smoke either, the kind that smelled like onions and maybe some lightly charred potatoes.No, this smelled like I’d tried to set fire to my little cabin in the jungle with my oven and a box of matches.

I coughed as I smothered my mouth and nose in my elbow and leaned over the stove, using my free hand and an old worn-out oven mitt to pull the tray of ribs out of the oven.

I’d accidentally hit broil when I turned the oven on, and what had been slow-cooked, tender, perfect ribs just fifteen minutes ago now resembled pieces of charcoal with a bone stuck through them.

“Shit,” I breathed, dropping the tray heavily onto the stovetop.

Katie was on her way over and I’d specifically invited her so I could cook her a meal. All the domesticated vibes from our trip to LA had given me the itch to prepare a home-cooked meal for her. Usually when there wasn’t a beautiful girl to impress, I was fairly competent in the kitchen.

“But not when it counts,” I muttered to myself.

I stared morosely at the rock-hard ribs with my hands on my hips and tried to think of a smooth recovery move I could make. There were places on the island that did delivery and there was no way I’d be able to whip something up out of what was in my fridge.

I’d gone to the market that afternoon but hadn’t bothered with a real grocery shop. Instead, I’d picked up the ribs, some greens, and some potatoes, which were boiling in a pot on the back of the stove.

It wouldn’t do to serve Katie potatoes and veggies for dinner with no protein.

I was about to call her and fess up to my blunder when I heard tires out on the gravel driveway. With one last sorrowful look at the ribs I’d spent the last four hours babying, I moved through the living room and out onto the porch just as the taxi came to a stop and Katie got out of the back seat.

She smiled as soon as she saw me.

She was nicely dressed in a knee-length, red summer dress that tied up behind her neck. She’d paired it with white sandals and small gold hoop earrings, and her hair was half pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head while the rest of it hung down around her shoulders.

She hurried over to meet me with a kiss. “Hi, handsome. I’m happy to see you. I’ve had a day and a half.”

I grimaced. “I have bad news.”

“Oh God, I don’t know how much more of that I can take. What is it?”

“I ruined dinner.”

“Ruined it? How?”

“I burnt the ribs.”

“Ribs,” she said a little desperately. She placed a hand on her belly. “That sounds so good. Are you sure they aren’t salvageable?”

“Would you like to come look for yourself?”

“Sure, I’ve been known to work miracles in the kitchen. I mean, those miracles only ever applied to burnt grilled cheese sandwiches, but I’m not afraid to try.”

I chuckled and stepped into the cabin. Katie followed on my heels, and as soon as we walked in, it was like walking through a wall of smoke. She coughed and fanned in front of her face while muttering a string of curses.

“Oh my God, Peter. What happened?”

“I had the broiler on,” I said dejectedly.

She made an uneasy sound in the back of her throat and went to the stove, where she looked down at the ribs. She poked one of them with her fingers. When it had no give, she picked up a knife on the counter and whacked one of the ribs. It made a loud, solid sound like she’d hit the counter.

Katie giggled. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do here. The damage has been done.”

“You think?”

Katie took my dish towel from where it hung on the handle of the oven and draped it over the ribs like she was covering the corpse of a person who’d died a horrible death. “There,” she said. “Now we don’t have to witness the massacre that took place on this day.”

“I’m glad you find this humorous.”

“I do, just a little bit.”

“I slaved over those for four hours for you.”

She grinned and turned to me, her hands clasped in front of her. “I still feel special, even though I won’t be able to eat them.”

“You know, your endless optimism is a huge turn-on, but I want you to feel a little sorry for me right now.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” she pouted, coming to stand in front of me and press her hands to my chest. “What can I do to make you feel better?”

I grinned. “This is helping.”

Katie stretched to the tips of her toes and cupped the back of my neck to press a sweet kiss to my lips.

She ran her fingers through my hair and stayed there balanced on the balls of her feet like a ballerina.

“Maybe this was meant to be. I’ve been craving pizza all day.

With chicken and pineapple and onions and green peppers. ”

I arched an eyebrow. “I don’t think this relationship can continue. Pineapple? You’re one of those freaks?”

“Damn straight I am. I’m an island girl at this point, Peter. Come on. Keep up. Of course, I like pineapple on my pizza.”

“Blasphemy.”

She giggled and finally went flat on her feet. “I’ll call and order from my usual place. What do you like?”

“I’m boring.”

“So pepperoni?”

I chuckled. “Maybe.”

Katie gave me a knowing smile and stepped out of the smoke-filled cabin to call the pizza place.

While she did that, I opened every single window and the front and back door.

I even managed to pull an old metal fan out of the storage closet.

I propped it up in front of the back door and set it to rotate so that it pushed all the smoky air out the front door.

It wasn’t the most brilliant idea, but it worked.

Katie came back in and told me pizza would be here in less than half an hour. With a bit of time on our hands, I cracked open two beers and we sat on the porch chairs while we sipped them.

“So what did you mean when you said you couldn’t take any more bad news?”

Katie sighed and slumped in her seat. She mindlessly picked at the label on the beer bottle as she spoke.

“You know how I told you about my review today with my boss? Well, it’s all fine and dandy, except the owner of the hotel has changed some policies.

Most don’t affect me, but one of them was that he’s no longer letting staff live on the property. ”

I frowned. “Wait, so that means…”

She nodded. “Yeah, it means as of January I don’t have a place to live.

They’ve compensated me with a raise and everything, but still, it was so convenient living at the hotel.

I didn’t have to commute to work, and any time there was an emergency, I was on site to help out.

It just sucks. I also can’t honor the two free nights I gave you.

The owner has also revoked the use of free overnights for family and friends effective immediately. ”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

She shrugged. “Me too. I’m not a fan of change and this will be a big adjustment.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I mean I suppose I’ll start looking for a place sooner rather than later, and hopefully, I can find something that’s close to the El Cartana.

I don’t want more than a fifteen-minute drive to work.

But there isn’t much in the way of available rentals on this island. It’ll be tight.”

“And if you can’t find a place?”

Katie licked her lips.

You could move in with me. I almost said the words aloud but I caught my tongue between my teeth. No, it’s too soon. You’ll scare her off.

“If I can’t find a place in time, I’ll crash with Roman and Ginny until I do. It’s not ideal, but it will work until I find something better. It’s not like I’ll have to pay to store any furniture or anything. I don’t own any. Everything I have belongs to the hotel.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. Katie was going to have to start all over again with nothing but the clothes on her back. I could offer her a comfortable, cozy cabin that didn’t always smell like smoke.

Still, a little voice told me it was too soon to spring at her with such an offer.

Katie and I talked about the hotel and her manager, Evan, who sounded like a reasonable man who had tried his best to fight for a better deal for her.

The owner of the hotel sounded like every other rich prick I’d ever met who was scrounging to make even more money.

But that was business, and he didn’t owe residency to any of his employees.

Katie didn’t seem to blame or hold it against him, but she admitted that it was stress she didn’t need on her plate right now.

When our pizza showed up, we stayed outside and ate out of the box. It wasn’t the idea I had in my head of a nice home-cooked meal at the dining table, but it was still good, and the company was what mattered.

Katie licked pizza sauce off her thumb as my phone rang in my pocket.

“Shoot,” I said. “Sorry, I meant to turn the ringer off.”

“All good,” she said. “I’m going to keep pigging out. You can answer it if you have to.”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and frowned at the number on the screen. It was my dad’s assisted living home.

I answered the call and lifted the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

There was a brief delay on the other end before I recognized Tiff’s voice. “Peter?”

I got to my feet. Her voice sounded thin. Tight. Strained. My gut swirled with immediate anxiety. “What happened?”

Katie had just crammed a massive bite of pizza into her mouth, but she froze mid chew and looked up at me, her brows knitting together.

“I’m sorry, Peter,” Tiff started. “It was so very sudden. Your father… he’s gone, Peter. He passed away during his afternoon nap today.”

My head spun. “How long ago?”

“About fifteen minutes.”

My dad had been dead for fifteen minutes and I’d been sitting here eating pizza.

Tiff was still talking to me but I didn’t hear a word she said. Her voice was just muffled chatter.

I forced myself to speak. “Thank you for calling, Tiff. I have to go. I’ll… I’ll call you tomorrow and get more information.”

“Okay, Peter. I’ll be here. Again, I’m so sorry.”

I hung up the phone.

Katie stood up. There was pizza sauce on her chin and her right cheek was full of food like a chipmunk. She reached for me. “Peter, oh God. Come here.”

I stepped into her open arms. She wrapped me up and squeezed me tight and the grief I thought should have come sat heavy in my chest like a stone.