Page 6

Leo

Well, that was a total dick move. Although considering my other option was kissing her, it was probably the right move.

It still doesn’t stop me from feeling like complete shit at the way I said it though. I can tell by her reaction, the way her cheeks flushed that she’s embarrassed, like maybe she thought something else was going to happen just then too.

Fuck my life, what the hell is wrong with me when it comes to this woman? Maybe it was a mistake asking her to come in today, especially with the two of us in here working alone together. But if that’s the case, then it was probably a mistake hiring her in the first place.

I need to stop thinking like this. Hannah is my employee. She’s also the sister of a good friend of mine. I do not need to be thinking about her in any way except as my sous chef.

End. Of. Story.

Ugh, but fuck, she’s hot. Like seriously sexy hot, especially in the hot kitchen, with her hair all piled on her head and her jacket sleeves rolled up, revealing her long, toned arms. I can only imagine what the rest of her body looks like.

And just like that, I’m once again thinking seriously inappropriate thoughts about her and now I’m sporting a semi at the thought of her naked too. God, I’m such a perv.

Walking back over to the oven, I try to refocus on the job at hand, which is essentially smashing out a bunch of different desserts by five o’clock. I’m probably going to have to head straight over to Apple Jacks or Somerville’s afterward too, just to help cover the dinner rush.

Wow, what a great life I have. No wonder I’m having all these perverted thoughts about my employee. I literally see no one else but the people I work with.

We manage to avoid any more awkwardness, the two of us working side by side for the next few hours as we work to get all of the desserts made. We don’t talk much, but when we do, it’s all work related and I end up switching on some music, just so there’s something else to distract us.

At five on the dot, the courier shows up to pick up the desserts and both Hannah and I exhale with relief as we pack the last of them into the boxes.

“Wow, we made it,” she says, smiling at me.

“Thank fuck,” I exhale quietly. “And thank you, Hannah, I seriously could not have done this without you.”

Her smile widens, as she picks up a stack of boxes to carry out to the van.

I follow behind her, my gaze of course dropping to her ass before my eyes snap back up.

“You’re welcome,” she says, placing the boxes in the back of the van.

“It was actually fun. I haven’t had the opportunity to make a lot of desserts before. ”

I nod, knowing that desserts, with all their fancy and highly technical components, are not something that most head chefs let their sous chefs do. Hannah’s lack of experience doesn’t show though and once again I find myself wondering who it was she worked for before coming to work for me.

“Well, you can’t tell,” I say, as I sign the delivery notice the guy holds out to me, taking the receipt that I’ll pass off to finance so they can take care of the payment. “You did really good work today, so again, thank you.”

She nods, smiling as we head back inside the kitchen to finish cleaning up. “Thanks, Leo, I really appreciate that.”

I start to gather up the dirty utensils and take them over to the sink.

“Are desserts something you’d like to get more experience with, because we can make that happen, if you like?

” Hannah shakes her head, but she’s smiling as she starts to fill the dishwasher.

“What?” I ask, chuckling a little. “Are you laughing at me?”

“No, no,” she says, holding her hands up in surrender. “You’re just so, I don’t know, different from my old boss.”

Now it’s me laughing. “Well, I aim to please and impress, so I’m glad it’s working.”

And fuck me, if I haven’t just made it awkward again.

Hannah turns back to the dishes and I continue to gather them up, before deciding on a whim to grab two beers from the fridge. I’ve gotta work tonight, but fuck it, right now I think we both deserve this.

“Thanks,” Hannah says, when I place the open bottle on the counter in front of her. I take a long pull of mine as she adds, “You’re not working tonight?”

“Oh, I am,” I say, nodding. “But I’ll take a break for an hour or so.”

“You want some help tonight?” she asks, as she takes a sip of her beer. “I can stay.”

“No, seriously, I already feel like shit for calling you in before you’ve even officially started,” I tell her. “But just so you know, I’ll be back-dating your contract to yesterday, to cover last night and today.”

“No, Leo, that’s not—”

I hold up a hand to stop her. “Not up for discussion is what it is,” I say, giving her a wink. “Now, let’s get this mess cleaned up.”

We work together to stack and empty the dishwashers; Hannah hand washes the knives as I wipe down the counters. I open us a second beer as we work and everything about this feels easy and right and I know that regardless of my attraction to her, hiring Hannah was a really good move.

“Okay, I think we’re done,” I say, as the last of the dishes are put away.

“Sweet,” she says, smiling as she starts to unbutton her chef’s jacket.

I can’t turn away, my mouth going dry as I watch her slowly undo the buttons to reveal a tight tank underneath. She’s clearly hot, her skin flushed and covered in a slight sheen of sweat that I suddenly want to lick off.

She throws it onto a counter, her gaze meeting mine again as I blatantly check her out.

I watch as her eyes widen, her pupils dilating and making her eyes impossibly dark.

I’d like to blame what happens next on the two beers that I’ve drunk, but that would be complete bullshit because the simple fact is, I want her. Badly.

And that’s the only thought running through my head as I now step toward her, my hand reaching out to brush some loose strands of hair from her face. She lets out a gasp, her lips parting slightly as my hand moves lower, my fingers brushing against her cheek.

She blinks slowly, leaning into my touch as my fingers now curl around her neck, pulling her closer as I lower my mouth to hers and kiss her.

Oh my fucking god.

She tastes amazing, unbelievable, totally and utterly addictive as I trace her bottom lip with my tongue, before slipping it inside her mouth.

She lets out the tiniest whimper as she pushes her tits against my chest, her body melting into mine as my other arm wraps around her waist and pulls her flush against me.

Everything else disappears, the kitchen, the restaurant, the idea that someone, anyone could walk in here and see us kissing. I no longer give a shit, unable to stop myself as I give in to what I’ve been thinking about ever since she came in to interview with me.

I can hear the voice in my head telling me to stop this, but I’m not listening, and clearly Hannah doesn’t hear it either, because it’s her who deepens the kiss, her arms wrapping around my neck as she kisses me hard and hot now, our teeth and tongues clashing together as we practically devour each other.

“Yo, Leo, you in here, man?”

We jump apart at the sound of Jack’s voice, both of us breathing hard, my heart pounding in my chest and my dick harder than I can ever remember it being. Fuck, if just a kiss can do that, imagine what fucking her would be like.

“Leo?” Jack’s distinct accent calls out again, breaking this moment as Hannah turns away from me.

I suck in a deep breath, trying to get my body under control as I call out, “Yeah, in here.”

Jack strolls in, a huge grin on his face as I brush a hand over the top of my head and turn to face him, praying I don’t look like a guy who was two seconds away from backing Hannah up against the wall and fucking her senseless.

“Hey,” he says, smiling at me. “Oh hey, Hannah, didn’t know you were here.”

Hannah turns, leaning back against the counter as she holds her chef’s jacket in front of her. “Hi, Jack,” she replies, smiling. “Yes, I came in to help Leo out. We just finished.”

Jack glances at me, tilting his head ever so slightly before turning back to Hannah. “Wow, that’s super cool of you, thank you. Well, um…yeah, make sure she gets paid for the overtime,” he adds, turning back to me.

I nod. “Already done,” I confirm.

“Good,” Jack says, clapping his hands together as he glances between us again, an unreadable look on his face that I know only spells danger.

As cool as my boss is, he seems to have a knack of sticking his nose in everyone else’s business.

And especially so when it comes to setting people up.

“So, everything go okay then?” he asks. “The order got done?”

“Yep,” I confirm, needing to get the hell out of here.

“Great and…” he pauses, once again glancing between us in a way that suggests he knows exactly what he almost just walked in on.

Fuck . “Everything else okay?” he asks, a sly grin on his face now, which tells me he absolutely knows what was just happening in here.

“’Cause you seem kinda, I don’t know, on—”

“Everything’s great, Jack,” I quickly say. “Just a long day and now I gotta work tonight.”

Jack blinks once, that smile still there like he doesn’t believe me before he realizes what I just said. “Oh shit, Leo, that sucks. You um, you need to hire some more staff or?”

“I’m good,” I say, shaking my head. “I mean, yeah maybe eventually if this catering takes off more. But with Hannah now here, we’ll be good for a bit.”

“I can help,” she says, her voice husky, like she’s just had the shit kissed out of her.

Which to be fair, she has.

Jack smiles at her, opening his mouth to say something. “It’s cool, Hannah, seriously,” I tell her, before he has a chance. “You did me a huge favor today and I really appreciate it. You’re good though, I’ll see you on Wednesday, yeah?”