Prologue
PROLOGUE
THEO
I am on a mission. A mission to kill our food and beverage manager Allegra Sullivan.
The woman is always telling me what to do, and yes, I get it. She’s technically my supervisor. A sexy, curvy manager.
Even as my body reacts, I forge ahead, stomping all the way to her office. Since she arrived late last year, this is a regular thing. I don’t have any issues with a good manager, but I do have an issue with someone who thinks she can tell me what to do.
Me! Head chef. One of the youngest chefs to earn his Michelin rating. I do own the place. Partially. Whatever.
I get to her office, rap on the door twice before pushing it open. Did I wait for her invitation? No.
“Please do come in, Theo.”
And that’s another thing. She calls me by my first name. And I normally don’t care one way or another, but when she says my name, it makes me irrationally angry. Don’t ask me to explain it because I just told you it was irrational.
This isn’t me. Women love me. I can charm just about any woman from babies to ladies in their nineties. Not Allegra. This woman is constantly busting my balls. She gets under my skin, and I will be the first to admit she drives me more than a little insane.
She looks up from her work and smiles at me. Not a nice smile. Not the one I see her giving other people, where her eyes dance with humor. This smile is cool and the one she reserves for bad customers. The worst thing about it is that she’s still stunning.
Long dark hair, with threads of gold, dark eyes, and that curvy body…
Dammit. Every time I’m around her, I can’t keep my head screwed on straight. And I really shouldn’t use the word screw, because…well, you know.
“You scheduled something during the monthly garden club meeting?”
She shakes her head. “I did not. It was pressed upon me. I got stuck with it, which means, you got stuck with it.”
“That weekend is going to be bad enough.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I’ve dealt with the BFH who also has a GFH.”
Allegra is a military brAT, and she likes to use acronyms. Bride from hell and groom from hell. I hate to admit that I like using them because it allows the staff to let loose their frustrations without offending clients.
“You should have told them no.”
“I talked to your brother and Reggie about it.”
My brother Milo is CEO of the entire company and Reggie is the resort manager. And I hate that she talked to them and not me.
“You should have talked to me.”
She sighs. “It just happened. I was going to talk to you after the dinner rush. I know not to bother you during that time.”
“Of course, both of those jerks are okay with making me suffer.”
One sculpted eyebrow rises. “But you have a Michelin rating. I thought you could handle a little extra.”
Dammit. When she uses that tone, it makes my cock twitch and my palms tingle with the need to deliver a spanking. One thing about Allegra is that she has a world class ass. Heart-shaped with enough there to hold onto as I drive myself into…
Fuck. I cannot have these thoughts. I screw around. A lot. But not at work. I don’t think mixing work and play is a good idea. Plus, the sex might be good, but we would probably end up killing each other.
“Fine, but don’t do it again.”
She laughs. ACTUALLY LAUGHS. That laugh sends a rush of need racing along my nerve endings and that angers me.
“Come on, Theodore. You can handle it.”
What really ticks me off? The fact that she’s right. I can handle it. I really despise the fact that when she says my entire name—which I hate—it turns me on. Fuck, everything she does turns me on.
We say nothing else but keep staring at each other. She crosses her arms beneath her tits, and I can’t help it. My eyes dip for a second—only a second. When I raise my gaze back up, she’s blushing. And one thing I thought I would never see Allegra do? Blush. It’s…damn, it’s sweet and arousing at the same time.
My cock starts to harden and I’m thankful for my apron. Although, there is a good chance it won’t hide my need for her much longer.
I know better than to say anything else to her because I want to grab her up out of that chair and spank her. Oh, fuck. Nope, I need not to think about those kinds of things. But now that I have, my palms are sweaty, need pulsing through me.
I turn on my heel and stomp out of her office. Something has to give before I commit the ultimate sin and take that infuriating woman to bed.