Heightened Assurance

Chapter 1

Jade Hines

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. Because once again here I was, staring in the face of yet another failure.

No, he wasn’t a failure, but this entire situation was one.

I should have told him no when he asked me out, but I didn’t.

I said yes because he had invited me to this restaurant.

Adjacent was the type of place you couldn’t just walk into and get a seat.

It was booked…like really booked. Some days might have been easier than others, but on this particular day, it was packed.

Normal people didn’t get in here because one, people came from all over the world to experience this food.

Then to make it even more exclusive, the head chef didn’t cook every night.

He was only there two nights a week. Tonight he was here and the food was magnificent.

“Did you hear me, Jade?” Preston asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“No, what did you say?”

“I asked if you were going to finish your potatoes."

I blinked a few times, completely thrown, because was this negro really asking me about my food when he finished his in freaking fifteen seconds? Then he popped his lips. This shit was embarrassing. “Yes, I’m going to finish my potatoes."

He nodded, then his eyes did a greedy gloss over my plate before he looked away. I was grateful he didn’t say anything else. I was a slow eater, meaning I didn’t scarf my food down as fast as others. I took a minute.

“If I can have everyone’s attention up front please.” A woman’s voice got my attention. When I looked up from Preston and turned toward the voice, my eyes feasted on the woman. She was about five-two with thick coils that crowned her face.

Once she had everyone’s attention, she began to clap. “We’re celebrating yet another successful night of chef’s choice. Let us all thank the chef.” She clap[ed again just as a familiar face exited the kitchen.

He was beautiful. So fucking beautiful, a deep chestnut with tattoos at his neck and the most serious eyes as they glossed the room.

Somehow, some way, his eyes landed on me, and mine were locked on him.

There was immediately nothing or no one else in the room, just me and him.

I didn’t know whether to look away or lose my fucking mind from the way he was looking.

The sound of silverware clinking against a bowl made me turn around, and the moment I did, I was pissed.

This grown ass man was finishing my food, from the spoon in my potatoes to the last lambchop I was sure I had on my plate.

I knew that because his cheap ass had ordered angus slider burgers and chips.

“Are you serious?” I couldn’t hide my annoyance even if I wanted to.

“C’mon, Jade. It’s not like you were gonna finish it. You were playing with your food. I assumed you didn’t like it.”

“Just because I didn’t scarf my food down like you doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to eat it.” I groaned, tossing my napkin onto the table. I was over this.

“My bad,” he grumbled, still fucking chewing. “I’ll order you some mor?—”

“No need. I’m going to the restroom.” I was on my feet before he could finish his statement.

I was pissed and ready to go, but I rode with him.

On the way to the washroom, my eyes were on my phone, wondering if I should have just called one of my brothers to pick me up.

They would have gladly, but I didn’t want to interrupt their evenings, so I decided to suck it up.

When I looked up, I was looking at him again, but in a closer vicinity. It was then that I realized who he was.

“I know you.” I pointed, eyes glued to him because Chef was fucking fine. So fine that my brain was short circuiting.

“Do you?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Your brother is Kinga, right?”

He nodded.

“We met at my brother Rennix’s pool party a few months back.”

He nodded, eyes traveling from my face down my frame. He wasn’t subtle about it either. “Yeah, Jade.” He said my name with a familiarity that made my heart flutter. He knew who I was from the jump.

“Yes, Jade.” I was about to tell him that it was good seeing him, but his next few words interrupted that.

“You didn’t seem to be enjoying yourself out there.”

I shook my head. “But I’m a good sport, plus the food was good. Kudos to the chef.”

He chuckled. “Being a sport can land you in some fucked up situations, love.”

“Possibly, but I rode with him. Meaning I have no other choice.” I shrugged, about to walk around him, but he grabbed my arm.

“You always have a choice. I got you.”

I didn’t know what he meant, but his hand went from my arm to my hand, where he led me through the kitchen. A few seconds later we found ourselves in what I assumed to be his office. It was basic, a desk and chair. In the center of the desk was a laptop, but that was about it.

“You got me.”

“Yeah, I’ll take you home when I’m done here.”

I was taken aback. “No, I don’t want to take over your evening. I’ll be fine.”

His eyes and jaw seemed to tighten at the same time. “You can chill in here or come out there.” Of course he disregarded my statement.

I just looked at him before deciding to play along. I’d take his company over Preston’s any day. “I’m sure you don’t want me standing over your shoulder while you cook.”

“Nah, I don’t mind. You can leave your purse in here.” He licked his lips and I swear my heart palpitated.

This was some straight up romcom motion. I mean, I had seen literally a thousand scenes like this play out for a thousand TV women. Was I one of those women in real life?

“Are you coming or not, love?”

I tossed my purse onto the desk and nodded. “Uh, yes.” Suddenly I found myself interested in being in a kitchen even though I had never been before.

I didn’t know what I assumed the kitchen of a chef looked like, but when I stepped into his kitchen I was proven completely wrong. In his space there was no loud chaos like in the movies or TV shows. In the kitchen, besides him, there were three others cooking, all in their own worlds.

“What did you order tonight, Jade?” he asked, his hand fresh off a plate he had just placed on the metal shelf to be picked up.

“Chef’s… Well your special with lambchops. It was delightful.” I smiled.

He nodded. “You wanna try my blackened salmon?”

I bit into my bottom lip at the thought. “Um, I gu?—”

“For me, sweetheart.” He grabbed a fork and dipped it into where he had just plated salmon. I assumed it was for another person’s order but when he held the fork up to my lips, I quickly realized it wasn’t.

I opened my mouth, the “for me” part sending convulsions between my thighs. Shit.

When he put the fork in my mouth, I just knew I shouldn’t have been here. This man was sinful, and his presence was even worse. I closed my eyes, enjoying the taste of the thing that was even more sinful than him. It was good, perfectly textured, and cooked to perfection.

“How does it taste?” he asked.

I could feel his eyes on me. So when I opened mine, it happened again, another moment where it was only him and me in the room with intense, world altering eye contact. I only knew minimal things about him. Just a name, maybe familial ties, and that he had this place, as well as a child.

“It tastes divine,” I complimented. Then I moved to create a little bit of space between him and me.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He gave me a quick glance then moved to the other end of the counter. A knife appeared in his hands and the sound of that very knife hitting the chopping board quickly, many times sounded through the space, yet he still gave me his attention. “Tell me about you, Jade.”

I shrugged nervously. “What do you mean? What would you like to know?”

“What do you want to tell me, beautiful?”

Again I shrugged, but I didn’t mean to. I just wasn’t used to telling anyone about myself.

I was boring, the type of woman who was too caught up in her work and family to have a real life.

The type who was looking for love in my couch cushions because everything else seemed too dangerous.

“I’m boring. Not a renowned chef or anything.

I own two clothing shops, I spend entirely too much time with my nieces and nephews, and I’m a movie buff.

” I threw that last part in there, because why not?

He laughed. “A movie buff, huh?”

I nodded. “Now your turn. Tell me about you.”

He just looked at me, gazing past my skin but into my eyes. He was about to speak, but someone interrupted the moment, calling out to him.

“Chef!” The voice of the woman from earlier had us both looking in her direction.

“Yeah.”

“We hit our mark for the evening.” She smiled proudly, then everyone around us began to clap.

Though they stood around praising him, he didn’t seem to care for it.

Instead, he stood there looking around awkwardly.

If I didn’t know any better I’d think it was him possibly being extremely humble, but there was something else there.

Something heavy and dark in his eyes that threatened to tell a story.

For the rest of the night, I pushed the desire to know his story to the back of my head and focused only on the man before me.

He wasn’t much of a talker, but he talked about food, and several times he held food up for me to taste.

The fork quickly became obsolete and his hand held out random pieces of meat and maybe even a damn green bean at some point.

The man could cook and now I was in fear I’d crave his food even after tonight.

I didn’t know how long I allowed him to spoon feed me, but before I realized it we were walking toward his car and the night was over.

Though he was sure to pack a to-go plate for me, I was sure I’d crave the hand feeding me the food too.

“I don’t remember when I’ve ever eaten that much food.” I shook my head as we walked.

“That’s because you probably don’t be eating for real?”

“Probably not. I don’t really like to cook.”