Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
E sme
Come to the Shenandoah Mountains, girlfriend , my bestie in the whole world had told me. It’s beautiful here, so peaceful. That much Bella had been right about. Her statement that there were dozens of hot men in town had been her first lie. There were none.
Well, with the exception of the Fox brothers, all three of them. I slowly turned my head as Hunter walked into the ballroom with a tray of goodies in his hands. He and I had sparred continuously. I was honestly shocked he hadn’t fired me. Yes, I should learn to respect authority since he was one-third owner, but something inside the man sparked my fury.
As well as desire that I’d squashed dozens of times.
“You managed to secure help for the reception,” Bella told me, a super-sized grin on her face. We were currently waiting on the sidelines while Shephard and Denise enjoyed their first dance. At least I was currently sipping expensive champagne, instead of melting inside the hot kitchen. “Hot too.”
“He’s okay,” I told her, taking a deep breath and purposely looking away. Yet his stunning good looks constantly drew my attention. Every time he walked into a room, my entire body tensed, which disturbed the hell out of me. He was annoying at best, his actions and words driving me batshit crazy. But he was a looker, I’d give him that.
With broad shoulders capable of overtaking a doorway, long, muscular legs that defied logic, and a chiseled jaw incapable of being hidden under the scruff of fur on his face, he was the epitome of a hot male.
If only I could tolerate being around him.
“What is it with the man anyway?” I barked out. “He’s surly, arrogant, unforgiving, and truly believes he’s all that and a huge bag of chips.”
Bella choked on her sip of bubbly. “I think you like him. In fact, I think you have the hots for the man.”
“Bullshit,” I exclaimed a little too loudly. My voice had carried into the room, past the music and raucous laughter. I’d always been considered a loudmouth, incapable of controlling my emotions. So what?
“Uh-huh. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Like you’re soulmates.”
“You’re so different since arriving in this little bitty town.”
“How so?”
“You’re sappy as hell. Lovestruck. I’ll be standing right here two months from now, gloating at still being single while you’re dancing to some sappy tune with your new husband. I’ll both congratulate you and feel sorry for your future at the same time.”
“Men aren’t all that bad. Besides, I’m not getting married. Yet.” Bella laughed. I’d never seen her so happy, and after everything she’d been through with her ex-husband, she deserved nothing but happiness. I was determined to remain single for the rest of my life. “Anyway, I don’t think Jagger wants to get married.”
“See? You look like you’re going to cry.”
“The last thing I need to do is get remarried. You know why.”
Yeah, I did. If only I’d run over her ex like I’d threatened to do months before.
“But Cally adores him, right?” Cally was the most adorable little girl in the entire world. She was the spitting image of her mother. I could imagine what her teenage years would be like.
“Oh, God. He’s her favorite person in town, other than her puppy Xena. Look how she is with him.” Bella pointed to where her little mini-me was standing. Right beside Jagger.
“I will say—I approve of the way Jagger treats her.”
Bella laughed. “That’s good, since you’d kick his ass if he didn’t.”
“You bet I would. If only Hunter was nice like his brother.”
“Uh-huh. You do remember you work for him. Right?” she asked.
Sighing, I made a funny face. “I know.”
“That means you need to be at least cordial with him so you can keep your job. Especially since you moved all the way across the country at the cost of several prized possessions.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” I’d sold more than half of my furniture so my stuff could fit in a smaller moving van. Unfortunately, the company I’d hired had tasked two men with the combined IQs of maybe fifty to drive the contents from point A to point B. They’d turned the normally five-hour drive into three days, their late arrival blamed on bad directions.
Did they not know GPS existed?
Worse, more than half the boxes of fragile items had arrived broken, some smashed into tiny pieces. It had looked like they’d used my carefully packed and protected storage crates as footballs.
“When are you going to replace your china and glassware anyway?” Bella was laughing at me.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like my festive plasticware?”
“Well… I prefer the kid’s sippy cup you purchased at that thrift store. But the Superman plates are cool too.” She couldn’t stop laughing.
“Fine. We’ll go shopping after our lunch date tomorrow.”
Bella held out her hand. “You’re on, but I’m going to hold you to purchasing something. You need to make the house you rented look lived in.”
Instead of an eclectic mess. I knew it.
It was impossible to keep my eyes off Hunter. He’d taken off his tuxedo jacket and rolled up his white sleeves. The few times he’d exposed the tats on both arms, I’d drooled like some hapless teenager.
Even now, I found myself shivering from the lurid thoughts refusing to give my mind a rest. “What exactly is wrong with the men in this town anyway? I dropped by Poppy’s Diner the other night, and a man I didn’t know dropped onto one knee and proposed marriage. Who does that shit?”
“The question is—what time were you there, and was he drunk?”
“Very funny,” I chirped, noticing she was tapping her high heel on the floor. “Fine. It was after work, and a couple of the girls dragged me to Shackles for a drink, then Poppy’s for the best pancakes in the world.” At least being introduced to the local hot bar and gossipy diner had been a high point in moving here.
Yes, I’d required a new life, but the change from living in Baltimore for so many years continued to be a difficult adjustment.
“Men are the same everywhere. When you find a good one, you toss him some bait, then reel him in for the kill.” She gave me a little nod after making the statement.
She could make me laugh more than any person I’d ever met, which was what we were both doing now. “You’re incorrigible. I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your wicked sense of humor.”
“I’m serious, though. Ask him out. What do you have to lose?”
“Um, first of all, I can’t stand him. Then there’s this thing in the corporate handbook about not fraternizing with colleagues.” I took a gulp of champagne. Yes, I was hot and bothered all over.
“You’re lying to yourself.”
I almost choked. As I snapped my head in her direction, her eyes grew wider, the damn smirk she was so good at giving me suddenly plastered on her face. “Don’t look now, but the man you’re pining away for, coming close to slobbering over, is walking toward you.”
“I’m going to kick your ass,” I snapped through clenched teeth, but of course my bestie noticed as I smoothed down the body-hugging dress. I loved pretty things, but the flaming red dress just wasn’t my style. Not in the least. Still, I adopted her plastered smile, laughing at nothing as he approached.
Bella made a funny face and starting slinking away like the bad friend she was. “Gotta check on Cally.”
When Hunter didn’t say a single word, not even snarking his usual nasty comments, I was certain he’d gone off in another direction. Damn the man. And why did I care?
I rolled my eyes from being disgusted with myself and spun around. The hard thud felt as if I’d hit a brick wall. It was close to the truth, the wall of muscle jarring to the point that the remainder of my champagne was tossed directly into my boss’ face.
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath.
Hunter’s eyes were closed, his jaw permanently molded into a clenched position, as it was most of the time when around me.
“Yeah, fuck,” he repeated and slowly wiped his face.
As I would with anyone else, I yanked a napkin from the buffet table, trying my best to wipe his face and chest. Why were my fingers tingling?
And why did he just grab my hand? The move shot a jolt of current with tremendous power from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.
His grin was partially infectious, mostly evil.
“Are you going to say you’re sorry?” he asked, although to my mind, the question sounded more like a demand.
“Sorry isn’t in my vocabulary.”
“I thought so. I knew the kind of woman you were from the day I met you.”
“And what exactly is that kind of woman?” I jerked my hand free, almost forced to take a deep breath from the still tingling vibrations. I planted the same hand on my hip, glaring at him. He’d done nothing but pick at me for almost two months. My food. My clothing. My jewelry. My shoes, for fuck’s sake. Was I supposed to wear rubber clogs in boring black? Not this girl. I had them in every color of the rainbow. My sizzling purple ones were my favorites.
He’d had the nerve to call me a purple people eater. Whatever the hell that meant.
“The kind of woman who needs to be taken over a man’s knee.” He took a single stride closer. His close proximity, his glorious musky aftershave, and his massive body almost made me swoon like a lovesick puppy.
Almost.
His comment shocked me so badly, I didn’t retort right away like I normally would. In fact, I was so rattled, I spun on my heel, grabbing an almost empty tray to refill one last time. If I didn’t get far enough away from him, I might use one of the sharp knives on that gorgeous face of his.
“What’s wrong, Chef Dreyfuss? Can’t take the heat?”
I stopped short, shoring up my shoulders and issuing a sharp growl. As I slowly started to turn around, I finally noticed guests were watching our temper tantrum, including the bride and groom. They’d stopped dancing, gawking at us as if we’d turned into purple aliens.
“How. Fucking. Dare. You.” I came this close to using the tray as a dangerous Frisbee, aiming at his bigger-than-life head. I was positive I wouldn’t miss.
“Oh, yeah?” he countered loudly.
“Oh. Yeah, big boy.” I threw my head back in an act of defiance, spun around again, and took slow and purposeful strides out of the room. Did I just hear several guests applauding our scene?
Oh, God. I was mortified. No man had gotten under my skin the way he had. No man had brought spots of blood in front of my eyes like that thick-headed Navy SEAL. And no man had ever made me want to drive a stake through his heart. Okay, so the last mental statement wasn’t accurate, but Hunter Fox was by far the worst.
I couldn’t hurry into the kitchen fast enough. I sucked in a breath, holding it so I wouldn’t let off a primal scream. Why had I allowed the man to get to me so badly?
As soon as I walked in, I noticed the three employees inside jumped away. Maybe I’d been too harsh on them, but I blamed the hot man one thousand percent.
Thankfully, I could fume in private soon enough. At least this kitchen had been set aside to serve the reception only. I’d tasked the restaurant manager and second sous chef to watch the other kitchens in use for the dining room and grill. I’d spent enough time smiling for the happy couple. I was happy for them, but their joy reminded me of the asshole I’d dated not long ago. At least I’d discovered his infidelity early on.
Men were jerks. All of them.
“Go ahead and take a break. I’ll get the rest of the food out. Then we’ll clean up.”
The three of them eyed me cautiously.
That was the moment Hunter decided to waltz in. “Do you know what you are, lady?”
“You already told me in Italian. A pain in the ass.”
His entire brow furrowed, and for the life of me, I thought it added to his handsome yet highly dangerous persona. The hunky jerk was like a mountain man meant for a magazine ad.
With his dirty blond hair and light green eyes the color of fresh grass in the spring, he could be any woman’s perfect fantasy.
Not mine.
Never mine.
“Yeah? Well, you’re a hotheaded chef with a nasty attitude.” He tried to back me against the counter.
I skirted out of his way, noticing the three staff members were enjoying the row. If they had popcorn in their hands, it would make for a perfect Friday evening matinee.
“Out!” I barked at them.
“See? You hate everything and everyone in your life,” Hunter threw in.
“I don’t hate everyone. I adore Bella and her daughter. Even her puppy. Your brothers seem very nice. You’re the only one around here I can’t stand. Out!” I told the employees again.
“Lady. You don’t know me.”
“And I don’t want to know you.”
He sucked in a breath and we both looked toward the staff members, close to shouting at the same time. “Out!”
I’d never seen three people scurry so fast in my life.
When we were alone, I slammed the silver platter onto the stainless-steel table, enjoying the clattering sound as I grinned at him.
I’ll be damned if he didn’t do exactly the same thing, his grin more devilish than before.
“You arrogant ass,” I hissed, take a step toward him.
“Beats being a pain in the ass.” He eased closer.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
We were maybe one inch apart. I could smell the glass of bourbon he’d indulged in on his breath. The warm scent mixed with the exotic spices in his aftershave, and I was instantly lightheaded.
“You need to learn a lesson,” he breathed, his tone lower and husky, so much so that another shiver drifted down my spine.
“Maybe so, but you’re not going to be the one to teach it to me.” I thudded my palm against his chest and the bull of a man didn’t budge a single inch. Not. One. Inch.
I had the sudden urge to knead his chest, but denied myself the pleasure. He would get far too much of a thrill from me doing that.
“Back off, buster,” I told him. I was pushing my luck, and I knew it, still unable to figure out why I was coming as close to being fired as humanly possible. This was a dream job, and I’d found a perfect, quaint house to live in nestled near the mountains. The air was clean, the streets were safe to walk, and I was making a fortune in comparison to what I’d made at the restaurant where I’d worked before. I’d thought of it as being an indentured servant.
So why was I pushing my luck these last few weeks?
“I don’t think so.”
“I think so.”
The bantering wasn’t unusual, but there was more of a sense of urgency, the wave of electricity so intense that I was coming close to suffocating. The entire situation was nuts.
I was certain by the crazy look in his eyes that I’d reached the end of my rope. He was about to toss me out the door with not so much as a ‘don’t let the door hit you in the ass.’ But he didn’t.
Hunter did something that would end up being the shocker of the night.
He jerked me into his arms, wrapping one hand around the back of my neck.
Then he crushed his mouth over mine.