Chapter 8
Bianca
My first meet and greet and it was going to be ruined by freaking Wayne the chef and his stupid hot face. It took everything in me to keep my composure and not scream at him to get his stupid face out of here.
I’d heard he stopped doing personal meals, and of course had assumed it was my fault. He’d hated me so much that he’d had to quit his job. I’d felt horribly guilty and for a solid month wondered what was so terrible about me that Wayne would run from his chosen career.
After I’d finally been able to push it out of my mind, I’d felt better, but the little guilt monster had still raised his ugly head a few times over the last three months, making me wonder what it had been.
“So, you’re a caterer now?” I curled up a lip. It seemed like a step down.
“Sort of. I’m helping Miss Olivia today, but normally I’m doing something similar to my personal chef gig.
I host a service where meals are prepped and either delivered or available for pickup.
I can take on more clients this way, and I’m not in people’s homes, digging my nose in where it doesn’t belong.
” He winked. “I learned that lesson the hard way.”
Whoa. So, he recognized that he’d been in the wrong when he’d butted into my life. That was nice to hear.
He looked damn good. The dark circles under his eyes were gone and his black hair was shinier than I’d ever seen it.
He seemed to be taking better care of himself.
Maybe all the time he was saving by not going to people’s houses and cooking was doing him good.
“Well, that’s all well and good, but the fact remains that I wanted Miss Olivia to cater. ”
“I can’t help that,” he said. “Olivia and I are partners now. I’m sorry, but the information is in the catering contract that you signed.
” He shrugged. “I do sincerely apologize that this isn’t what you wanted, but I promise I’ll do my best to make sure it goes off without a hitch. I don’t want to disappoint you.”
“When did all this happen?” I asked, waving my arm to the taco bar half set up in front of me. “The new business?” I had an idea, not long after he quit me. Really soon after, actually, quick enough that I’d thought it was all my fault.
“Not long after I quit working for you, I realized how unhappy I was. I love cooking, but I’m not big on customer service.
I made some changes in my life and about that time, Miss Olivia approached me about a partnership.
I don’t usually handle the catering side.
She’s got a normal team for that, but in this case, I’m here.
” He grinned extra big. “And glad to be here.”
Damn, his dimple drew my eye every time. I wanted to lick it.
Shit. I had to get my mind out of that particular gutter. “Do you like it?”
He nodded eagerly. “I love it. I still deal with customers, but it’s in the environment of the restaurant where they put in orders, and I’m not the only one that handles them.
It’s not all on me. I get to cook and plan menus.
I even hired a pastry chef and delivery driver.
The lowered stress means when something does crop up, some complaint or something, I feel more equipped to handle it without overreacting. ”
I sniffed. “Did you know you’d be catering for me tonight?”
He nodded. “I chose to come here. I wanted to see you again. Remember, I told you I’d be seeing you around?”
I rolled my eyes and nodded.
“Well, this is around, I suppose.” He chuckled and looked down, giving me a chance to once-over his body.
Damn, but he looked good in the all-black chef clothes. It was just like what he would’ve worn to my apartment, but… Had he been working out? It seemed like he filled out the shirt a bit more. The seams were ever so slightly more strained against his shoulders.
Damn it. Why was he so infuriating and still so hot?
“Well, I don’t want to keep arguing. My event is starting soon.” I ran my eyes down the table. “Did you get everything I requested?”
He beamed. “Down to the last avocado.”
I doubted very much that it would be perfect, but his food had been delicious before. If I was being honest, I’d missed it terribly. I’d been living on frozen dinners and takeout.
And spending extra time at the gym to make up for all the takeout, too. Ugh. The sodium was horrible.
“Well, I suppose it looks in order,” I said, even though most of the dishes were still covered, so I had no idea if anything was in order or not. I turned to walk away and make sure the other elements had come together like décor and security, but Wayne chuckled as I moved away.
I couldn’t help the corner of my mouth twisting up slightly at the sound of his laughter. I had no clue what it was about me that made him so damn happy to see me, but I could’ve gotten used to this new, less stressed attitude he had.
After leaving Wayne, I got busy making sure the décor was perfect, the music was ready, and all my supplies were exactly where they were needed and what I needed. The last thing I wanted to happen was to get into this and be missing something.
I’d been planning this event for a month.
My viewers had applied for the chance to have their makeup done by me.
I’d sent them specific instructions for how to prep their skin for the week before, and I’d selected those who seemed to have no acne or stubborn problems. As this was my first event like this, I didn’t want to take on anything complicated, though in the future I had plans for doing makeup on problem skin.
Finally, everyone began arriving. I stood at the door while Kaylee filmed everything, her elbow resting on her little, perfectly round belly.
She was about three months away from being due, but from behind, it wasn’t even apparent that she was pregnant at all.
And she didn’t have the first stretch mark.
No doubt when I finally settled own, and if I had children, they’d destroy my body. That was just my luck.
It was a damn good thing my job was mostly focused on my face and not my body.
Once everyone had arrived, we moved to the photo booth and a professional photographer took shots of us before we moved on to eating lunch.
Too nervous to eat, I flitted from table to table and sipped a glass of champagne as Wayne’s servers made sure everyone was happy with the taco bar.
Even though they went through the line to build their tacos, I’d requested the servers to fill glasses, bring napkins, clear the tables, and so on.
It made the event feel much classier to me.
I didn’t miss the side-eyes and giggles from many of the women, my fans. They all noticed Wayne, as did the two men I’d invited.
But that didn’t matter. Wayne could be noticed by anyone in the world and it didn’t make a difference to me. Why would it? We weren’t anything to one another. Acquaintances. Former employer and employee.
That was it.
Wayne caught me looking his way and winked, causing my skin to flush when I knew I’d been caught. I stuck my nose in the air and turned to the fan I was currently chatting with. “So, who is he?” she asked in a hushed voice. “He’s hot.”
“Just the caterer,” I said with a dismissive wave. “No big deal.”
She snickered. “Yeah, right. He’s got his eyes all over you. And he just winked at you.”
I shook my head. “No way. He worked for me once and we didn’t get along.”
The woman narrowed her eyes at him. “Well, if you’re not with him, how about you pass me his number?”
I laughed and patted her on the back as I stood to move to the next table.
“That wouldn’t be very professional of me.
Maybe he’ll give it to you, though?” I had to bite back the urge to growl at the woman and tell her Wayne was taken, which was totally insane.
I didn’t have even a little bit of a claim on him like that, didn’t even want to. What was wrong with me today?
She grinned and gave Wayne some side-eye, but I purposefully didn’t look that way. Once I was pretty sure everyone had finished eating, we moved on to the workshop portion of the day, and I did makeup on four different people, two women and two men. This took a while, but it was totally worth it.
Unfortunately, I was turned so that I could see the caterer, Wayne mostly, cleaning up all the food. We’d moved far enough away, and the catering staff were being quiet so it wasn’t a problem for the noise, but he kept drawing my eye away from the face I was making over.
I managed to focus, barely, and made my fans up impeccably, then on to more pictures. The videos were going to be amazing and a great addition to my content. I couldn’t wait to start editing them.
After that, it was just hanging out and sipping champagne.
Slowly, the followers and fans left. The food was all packed up.
The servers were gone, and my dad had overseen taking down the décor as I helped and moved back and forth, talking to the stragglers while trying to help and nudge them on out the door.
I was utterly exhausted. I hadn’t done anything physically draining, but the mental toll of the day had been intense. Good, but intense.
After saying goodbye to the last server, I turned and realized there was one more person in the club, sitting in the corner.
When he stood, my heart sank as I realized who it was.
Damn it. It was my ex. Andre. We’d gone out for a few weeks, months and months ago, but he kept coming back. Like a wart that wouldn’t let go.
After our breakup, he’d send texts off and on, usually about once a week, talking about how much he missed me.
Then it got less frequent, so I didn’t worry too much about it.
But then a couple of months ago, we’d run into each other here at this club, while I was out with Liza for a girls’ night.
Since then, he’d texted often, and in the last couple of weeks he’d been sexting me late at night.
Half the time it included a video of him jacking off or at the least a dick pic.
I’d had to block him, because he was not getting the hint, even when I blatantly told him to leave me alone.
With a sigh, I looked around. I was the last one here. Damn it. I didn’t want to be alone with Andre.
I walked toward him but was careful to leave a table in between us for safety. No telling what this dickhead could do if he really wanted to. He sure didn’t know how to take the word no.
“Andre, we broke up. A very long time ago,” I said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
“I know,” he said. “But I figured you just needed some time to come to your senses. I saw how you looked at me here, that night when we got our second chance.”
Fucking hell. “I didn’t look at you any sort of way, Andre. I was hanging out with my girls. There is nothing between us.”
He laughed. “We both know you’re flaky. You can’t stick to a decision for too long.”
His words hit too close to the truth, too much like how I used to be. “I’m not like that anymore, Andre. Now please, if you came expecting me to have a change of heart, you’re wrong. We are done. For good.” I said the words staccato, emphasizing each one.
“Your stupid fucking videos have changed you. You used to be flaky, but now you’re turning into a stuck-up bitch.”
My blood boiled, and I opened my mouth to tell him where he could shove it, but without warning, Wayne appeared. He shoved Andre up against the club wall and stood in front of him, towering over Andre’s frame. “Apologize,” he growled.
“Who the fuck are you?” Andre righted himself and snarled his lip. “You’ve got a bodyguard now?” he asked, looking past Wayne at me.
“Don’t talk to her,” Wayne said in a low, deadly voice. “I’m a chef, asshole. My knife skills are better than a surgeon’s. How would you like for me to carve that pretty face up for you?”
Andre paled and he looked back up at Wayne before whimpering and shoving himself along the wall, to the left away from Wayne, and right over a chair. He tumbled onto the club floor, but quickly righted himself.
He glared at Wayne and shook his head, then shot me a scathing look before running full tilt out of the club front door.
As soon as the door shut behind him, I breathed a sigh of relief and sank into a chair.
“You’ve got some kind of taste in men,” Wayne said. He hadn’t moved except to turn and look at me. “He’s your ex?”
“Yeah,” I said as I glared at him. “I have to question who I’m attracted to as well.”
He’d been about to say something else, but he snapped his jaw shut before bursting out laughing. “Is that so?” He walked closer. “Me?”
I rolled my eyes and stuffed my shaking hands under the table. “A brief lapse in judgment. And long over. Never to be repeated again.”
He moved even closer, standing just a few feet away now. I didn’t stand, but instead looked up at him as I tried to figure out if the sudden heat I felt was radiating from him or if the club HVAC had kicked on. “Are you sure about that?” Wayne asked in a low, husky voice.
“I’m sure,” I whispered, then forced my shaking knees to put me upright. “And I’m sure I’ve got things to do that aren’t here.” Grabbing my purse, I headed toward the door, but Wayne was hot on my tail. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Go away.”
“Not while your apparently insane ex is around,” he said. “I’ll walk you to your car at least. Can’t be too careful.”
That made me think of the time he’d called me reckless. But at least this time he was offering to be helpful instead of just straight up criticizing. “Okay, thanks,” I said. “I appreciate that.”
When we reached my car, I turned and looked up into his blue eyes and tried not to blush. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Um, I’m not sure that I got everything taken care of in there.”
“Don’t worry. Cleanup was included in the contract. I’ll make sure it looks good.” That grin was plastered all over his face again.
Not sure what else to say, I opened my mouth, but Wayne spoke first. “Get home and set all of your alarms,” he said in that sexy, growly voice. Damn.
“Okay,” I whispered, and hopped in the car. I was going to do exactly as he said, all the while wondering when our relationship had changed so I didn’t mind him giving me a direct order like that.
Not only did I not mind it, fucking hell. It was hot.