Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Nick
Coming out of the walk-in refrigerator, Nick almost ran over Avery, not realizing she was coming in while he was headed out. They careened to a halt, but not in time to keep from colliding. He reached out to grab hold of her to keep her from falling back when she bumped off his chest.
For a moment, they stared at each other. He hadn’t seen her since he’d left her apartment this morning. Waking up next to each other had been nice and quickly turned very nice, but they hadn’t had much time to enjoy the afterglow because she’d had to get to work, and he’d been kicked out.
After sending Olivia a scan of his completed list and signed contract, he used the internet to research kink, which had had some upsides and some downsides. Eventually, he’d decided it was better to wait for the class. He had watched TV until it was time for him to finally come to Marquis.
He’d known she was here, but she’d been on the line, and he’d been in the office doing admin things.
Now, he had his hands on her again and couldn’t help thinking about this morning and last night when he’d had his hands on her in a far different way.
As if she was thinking the same thing, a hot pink blush rose in her cheeks.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Avery blinked. Stepped back.
Nick reluctantly let her go.
Right. No one here was supposed to know what they were up to.
“I was doing inventory.” He’d wanted to make sure they were properly stocked for the weekend and see if there was anything that needed to be prepped. Usually, there wasn’t since the kitchen stayed on top of things, but part of the reason they did was he was so anal about making sure.
“Oh… um… I needed to get some mirepoix.” The uncertain way she said it made the statement almost a question.
This was awkward. Everything had felt natural this morning when he’d left her apartment. This was the opposite, and he didn’t know how to fix it.
How did they normally act around each other? It was as if he’d forgotten. Where should he put his hands?
He shoved them in his pockets.
“Gotcha. There’s plenty.” Ugh. Really? That was the best he could come up with? His voice sounded stilted and awkward.
“Great.” Avery flashed him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, which were looking more panicked by the second. Yeah. They were terrible at this. “So, uh, I guess I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Right. See you on the line.”
Then he did the worst thing he’d ever done in his life. He did finger guns.
Avery stared at him.
He stared back at her. Felt his face heating and turning red.
Retreat! For fuck’s sake, run away!
Without another word—or inane hand gesture—Nick fled back to the kitchen, Avery’s giggling following him the whole way. Well, the tension had been broken.
Finger guns? Really?
At least neither his brother nor Olivia was anywhere nearby. He’d never live it down.
Avery
The cold air in the walk-in helped kick Avery’s brain out of whatever mud seeing Nick had stuck it in.
Thank goodness. That had been… painfully awkward, but giggling about his finger guns had relieved a lot of her tension.
It was hard to feel like everything was too serious when Nick was doing finger guns.
Running into him, having him touch her, had brought up her new awareness of him and the change in their relationship, and she’d basically frozen. Hadn’t known what to say. How to act.
Their relationship outside of the restaurant had changed so fundamentally, so intimately.
They’d agreed they wouldn’t change things in the restaurant, but how was that possible when things were different between them?
Yeah. She hadn’t really thought this through.
Kinda too late to go back, though. On her break, she’d checked her phone and seen the email from Olivia confirming she’d be Nick’s partner for his class.
Not that Avery wanted to go back.
Going forward and skipping the awkward phase to get to where they were comfortable working together again, without the tension and not knowing how to interact with each other, sounded pretty great. If only.
Picking up the big jug of mirepoix at the front of the shelf, Avery checked the expiration date—she knew she didn’t need to since Nick had just done inventory, but it was second nature—and hefted it onto her hip, holding it with one arm.
On her way back to the kitchen, she was surprised when Josie stepped out in front of her.
“Hey, are you okay?” The very real concern on Josie’s face was confusing. Shouldn’t she be?
“Uh, yeah? Why?”
“You’re not in trouble with Chef? It seemed like you were in trouble last night.” Normally blonde and bubbly, Josie shifted back and forth on her feet, her brow furrowed in worry.
Blinking, Avery thought back to the night before and how much Josie would have been able to see of her and Nick in the booth—Nick coming out and kicking Domi and Rae to the bar, Nick with a file folder he didn’t open in front of Josie, Nick stalking back to the kitchen after what had probably looked like a pretty intense conversation where they talked very low…
Okay, yeah, she could see how Josie had come to the conclusion something might be wrong.
“Oh, I’m good, thank you.” She smiled at the server, who looked simultaneously relieved and disappointed.
Josie was a busybody, and Avery had heard some of the male servers say she had crazy eyes.
She had always had the sense Josie liked her but also liked gossip, and Avery wasn’t sure which one she liked more.
“Nick and I just had a few things to talk about, but I’m not in trouble with him. ”
“Perfect Avery in trouble with Nick?” Chad, one of the fry cooks and possibly Avery’s least favorite member of the staff, sauntered down the hall toward them. “Doubtful. Nick would never be disappointed in Avery.” The way he said it made it sound like a bad thing.
“Nobody asked you,” Josie snapped as Chad passed them. He sneered at her while his gaze dropped to where her shirt was unbuttoned, showing a bit of cleavage. Since they were between shifts, Josie hadn’t buttoned up or put on her tie yet.
Chad was a middle-aged white guy, ambitious like everyone else in the Marquis kitchen, but he was also an ass and tended to be lazy.
She often got the sense he thought he should be higher on the line because of his age and experience, even though he wasn’t as good a cook as many of the other chefs.
Not to mention, the whole being an ass thing.
A team player, he was not, and the way he was looking at Josie, who was in her early twenties, made Avery want to kick him in his balls.
Avery scowled at him, not that he noticed.
He completely ignored her as he passed, which was about par for the course.
As much as he could ignore her, he did, even when she was the one running the kitchen. He worked marginally better with Lloyd, the other sous chef, probably because Lloyd was older than him and a man.
Wrinkling her nose, Josie stared after him. “Ugh, he’s so gross.”
While she couldn’t argue, Avery hoped Chad hadn’t heard Josie’s statement.
It might be true, but she didn’t want to deal with the clash of personalities, especially on the weekend when tempers would already be high because of how busy the kitchen was.
Chad would never mess with the food, but that didn’t stop him from messing with the servers.
“Come on, let’s get back to work,” she said, walking down the hall and hoping Josie would follow. Thankfully, she did.
Returning to the kitchen proper, Avery lugged the jug of mirepoix to Alice, who was on sauté.
“Thanks.” Glancing up, Alice flashed her a quick grin, and Avery relaxed. If Chad was one of her least favorite staff members to work with, Alice was one of her favorites. She was also in her forties, but unlike Chad, she was meticulous and proactive about her work, which was why she was on sauté.
“You took your braids out. I like the puffs.” Avery studied the little poofy knobs decorating the top of Alice’s head in lieu of the braids.
“Yeah, my scalp needed a rest. I might do something different next time. We’ll see.”
“Can’t wait.” She always enjoyed seeing the styles Alice experimented with.
“Avery, I need you over here,” Nick called from the counter. He was bent over a piece of paper, probably whatever he’d thought up for tomorrow night’s special.
“Yes, Chef,” Avery said, immediately turning. It didn’t occur to her until a moment later, she had answered him naturally, with none of the awkwardness from the walk-in. As long as she wasn’t thinking, everything was totally normal.
Good to know.
Nick
Thankfully, the shift wasn’t a total disaster when it came to him and Avery.
She didn’t mention the finger guns, he didn’t do them again, and both of them settled into their normal routine while everyone else was looking on.
Maybe a little more flirtatious than their normal routine, but not enough that anyone would notice.
However, their normal banter was tinged with the awareness the tension between them had already been satisfied once… and they could absolutely do it again tonight if they wanted to. Should he ask her? He didn’t want to presume, but he absolutely wanted to do it again, and again, and again…
On the other hand, weekends were also the most exhausting shifts, and they’d be starting class on Monday.
As the shift wound down, he kept shooting her glances. He couldn’t tell if she was ignoring him or deliberately making sure he couldn’t catch her eye, but so far, she wasn’t looking at him. She was focused on the checklist in her hand.
Nick stepped to the side, coming a little closer. A little closer. A little closer.
He bumped her hip with his.
Lifting her head from the clipboard, she finally looked at him with what was probably supposed to be a stern expression, but she couldn’t quite hide her smile.
“Yes? Can I help you?” Her lips pressed together, only twitching a little, her hazel eyes dancing with amusement.
“Are you done? I want to talk over a few things… in the back office.”
When her expression changed slightly to more repressive, he realized how it sounded, then shrugged. It was hardly the first time he’d said something similar to her, though it sounded far more suggestive now and less business-like, but oh, well.
“Give me five, and I’ll meet you back there,” she said, shaking her head, seeming to realize if she made a big deal out of his request, it would look more suspicious, not less. It wasn’t like they’d never had a meeting post-shift in the office.
Nick absolutely would not do something at work with a co-worker. Probably.
No, definitely.
Too much risk of being overheard. The gossip around here was lethal. Everyone knew when two of the servers had hooked up in the bathroom between shifts last month. Those that had missed that day of work were filled in within twenty-four hours.
If he was going to keep his promise to Avery about leaving their relationship outside the restaurant, nothing could happen in the office.
He was going to take the opportunity to ask her privately if she wanted to be private somewhere else together.