Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
KIRA
THAT WAS NOT ON MY CHECKLIST
I didn’t want to like the food. My stomach absolutely roared when I took the second bite. It was freaking delicious, but that didn’t make him a perfect fit for Brothers Three Taproom.
Unfortunately, it made Kain N’ai even more appealing than he should be. Did Ronan align himself with brutes to match his own personality?
“Arrogant idiots,” I muttered as I took another bite. I wanted a bowl of the grilled pineapple all on its own. Maybe to even dip it in something spicy as its own appetizer. “Dammit,” I whispered and picked out another pineapple.
“Excuse me? Is this where I go for the interview?” A bright-eyed blond stood by the edge of the bar. Her hair was in a high ponytail and she wore black shorts and a black T-shirt as if maybe she had already come from a job. I knew the uniform well.
Crap. My interview.
“I didn’t plan that.” Ronan’s voice came from behind me.
“Evidently planning isn’t any part of your life right now, pal,” I said out of the side of my mouth.
A rumbled growl came out of his chest.
I smiled at the girl. “Have a seat at the bar, I’ll be right with you.”
She nodded with a smile. “Great, thanks.”
I pushed Ronan out the back doors and down the stairs. “I cannot believe you. All this talk about how I can count on you and first you’re drunk in your workshop—”
“I’m not drunk.”
“Really? It sure smells like moonshine is still coming out of your pores.” I pointed toward the taproom in the general direction of the kitchen. “And now you’re taking over the kitchen. Just like all the other men in my damn life.”
His eyebrows snapped down. “What men?”
“Oh, don’t even start with that.” I had to try and keep my voice down.
He stepped closer and the heat of his skin tried to scramble my brain.
His earthy ginger scent was wrapped in the staleness, but it was still there, which just pissed me off.
I put my hand on his chest to stop him from coming closer.
This stupid jealousy kick was getting annoying.
As if there had been anyone like him in my life before.
That alone scared the crap out of me. I shouldn’t be this wound up about him after a few weeks, for God’s sake. Not to mention that the hum under my skin just wouldn’t go away no matter how angry I was. Or that I longed to lean into him even now when I was pissed at him.
He didn’t come closer, but it still seemed like he was crowding me. “This is why we shouldn’t have gotten involved. No part of this is proper.”
“What the hell do we have to be proper about?”
“This! It’s my responsibility to be a goddamn professional, and you come out like a hungover frat boy with your friend who’s even worse.” The fact that he didn’t understand that made me want to rip one of his braids out.
“You don’t even know Kain or what’s going on with him.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see the applicant was craning her neck to see what was going on.
Yeah, she was definitely someone who was used to food service.
Most were gossipy as hell. I’d been on the receiving end of gossip for long enough that I didn’t want to create it here too.
I bunched his shirt in my hand and dragged him further out of earshot. “I don’t really care.”
“Nice, Kira.”
I let him go and folded my arms. “I don’t have time to care.
I have eight people coming in for interviews today.
And you were supposed to help with that.
And now I’ve got Beckett making gooey eyes at him because Kain’s a dude’s dude type.
Next, he’ll club the animal himself before cooking it, for God’s sake. ”
Ronan folded his arms to mirror me and tipped his head, giving me a bland stare.
“Okay, so that’s maybe a slight exaggeration, but I don’t think it’s by much.”
He rolled his eyes. “Beckett is the one we want to impress, right? What does it matter if it’s my friend or some person we interview?”
“That’s not the point. I have gone through the applicants to find people who actually are, I don’t know, chefs maybe.
So what if your friend can make delicious eggs.
” Best eggs I’d ever tasted, but that wasn’t important at the moment.
“Go get him a job at the café if he needs one. I’m sure Laverne would love him. Especially if he’s a project.”
“First of all, I didn’t know he was going to do that. Secondly, Kain has an eclectic set of skills. And you should give him a chance.”
It seemed like he wanted to say more, but he tightened his jaw and just gave me a hard stare.
“I need someone I can count on to work their butt off for me for the next few months. I’m sure Mr. N’ai—”
“Jesus, Sunshine. It’s just Kain. He’s one of my oldest friends. And isn’t this taproom about taking chances?”
He was right, Beckett had given us both a chance. But there was one big difference between what Beckett had done and this. He had known Ronan’s reputation before he offered him the job. And I’d worked for Happy Acres for over ten years. “He could flake and disappear. I have no background on him.”
“You have me.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know you very well either.” The words came out of me like a shot. This was something that needed to be carefully thought about. Not just because it sounded like fun.
Ronan took a step back, his face going blank. “I get you’re upset.”
“You act like this is all a game. Hell, you made a sleepy grab at me while Beckett was right there in the workshop and now this. He’s our boss, Ronan.”
“It’s not that serious.”
“Yeah. Obviously not to you.” Again, making me look like I can’t do my job or that I’m in control of the taproom.
“Are you ashamed of me or something?” I could see his fists tightening under his arms, making his biceps bulge. “Or is it you have trouble with Beckett seeing you with someone?”
“You are ridiculous. Whatever we have going on is separate and private from work. And not what this is about.”
“Couldn’t prove it by me.”
“If you got your head out of your ass, you’d see what I’m saying.
Put yourself in my shoes. I worked my ass off to get this place ready, and your friend walks in with a borrowed shirt and starts rearranging things like he already owns the place.
Talk about entitled.” He opened his mouth to interrupt and I just kept going.
“I’m just supposed to hire him because he can scramble some eggs! ”
“Maybe if you weren’t so rigid about going with the flow.
Or,” he made a sarcastic gasp, “if you had an open mind about what’s good for the taproom and not just what’s already listed on your clipboard.
Kain and I know each other. We wouldn’t have to waste time getting to know each other to make the menu amazing. Did you look at it that way?”
Another thing out of my control. Just like when Beckett brought him in. Like I’m just supposed to fall in line without details and information.
“And if the hiring was supposed to be about both of us, as you said when we were supposed to do the interviews together, then I’m tossing Kain’s name in the ring.
Keep the scheduled interviews. Bet you’ll see that he’s the best one for the job anyway.
Difference is, I don’t mind being proven wrong, unlike you.
” He went around me and back up the stairs.
I tipped my head back, staring at the blue sky that practically hurt my eyes with its perfect blue. Now I was the bad guy? The hell with that. He didn’t like being wrong either, stupid Viking brute.
Storm whinnied and I moved over to pet his neck. “I don’t have to be right, dammit,” I said under my breath. He bumped my shoulder with his huge head. I just needed to look at things from all sides. And all the problems. I couldn’t just try someone out. We didn’t have that kind of time.
Storm tried to nibble my hair and I pushed him away. “Sorry, I don’t have a snack, buddy.”
And why the hell did Ronan care so much about me and Beckett? He was my best friend—that was it. If he couldn’t deal with me having a best male friend, then we had even more troubles to contend with.
Reason number eleven why we shouldn’t be doing any of this hooking up crap while we were trying to work. It muddied the waters. Just business from here on out.
I went back up the stairs to find him speaking with the woman. He was reading over her application, chatting with her as if we hadn’t just argued.
Damn him.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” I said pleasantly.
“No problem. I was just telling Ronan that I’m on my lunch break.”
Of course he was on a first name basis. “Jessica, right?”
She nodded.
I walked behind the bar to find my clipboard. I’d already looked through the applications and did a first pass on vetting them. “You work at a restaurant in Kensington Square?”
“I’ve been stuck for a while at Bella’s. I haven’t been able to move up to what I really want to do. Mostly because there’s a lot of seniority ahead of me. Not to mention it’s a family restaurant.” She fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I don’t have the right last name, let’s just say.”
Ronan nodded. “Yeah, I get that. What are you looking for, Jess?”
She nibbled her bottom lip.
“We’re looking for chefs and creatives,” I said gently. “We want to find ways to bring in young adults and the date night type people. Specialty drinks and food to match. Not a set menu.”
Her blue eyes widened. “Wait. A different menu all the time?”
Ronan grinned. “Think of it as a micro-brewery for hard cider. We’re opening with three main ciders for the first week or two and I’ll be rotating in different small batch ciders based on what’s popular once we start going.
This will be a fast paced kitchen with a lot of collaboration between me and the chef. ”
I wouldn’t have put it that way. It might be too chaotic for people looking for a stable job. And honestly, the way he talked about it scared me a bit. But I was trying to get out of my comfort zone. The steadiness of the orchard had left me feeling restless—the taproom had me pumped.
“I’m creative and I can tell you right now, I’m interested based on that alone.” Jessica stopped fidgeting and laced her hands together. “I’ve been making the same cheesecake for four years. I hate it.”
I pressed my lips together against a laugh at her vehement tone.
“Okay,” Ronan said amiably. “What would you bring to the table?”
That was not on my checklist of questions for the interview. I started to interrupt when she smiled and lifted her chin in pride.
“My specialty is plating. There’s not a lot of time for that in the restaurant. Nor can I do much with the same menu night after night. But if you look at my social media account and website, you’ll see I’m good with small plate and meal prep.”
Ronan handed her back the application. Her face fell. He cupped her hand before she could pull away. “The references on here are good and I’m sure Kira will vet you completely, but tell me why I—we—should hire you.” Then he encouraged her reply with a reassuring nod.
I opened my iPad to look at her website and my chest fluttered with interest. I jumped to her social media accounts and saw her engagement. I hadn’t really thought about that aspect. I assumed I’d have to farm things out to a marketing group for our various accounts but maybe not.
“Because I love making things pretty.” She laughed softly. “That sounds vapid, I know—but when it comes to bringing people into a new place, I think the aesthetic is as important as the product. At least at first. No offense.”
Ronan grinned. “None taken.”
I scrolled a few more of her posts and saw she was as good with desserts as she was with snack food. That she always found a way to taste her food at the end of her quick videos with as much unabashed pleasure in the actual food as she was with the pretty plate.
I glanced at Ronan, who was looking over my shoulder. Our eyes met and his eyebrow quirked as if daring me to go off book.
My heart pounded so loud, I had to take a slow breath to ease the roaring in my ears. She may have come in looking to be a chef or an assistant chef, but I had a feeling she might actually be better at the social media side.
Something I hadn’t thought enough of. Especially if we wanted to bring younger people into the taproom. The way to do that would be through social media and using both Lennon and…hell, even Kain’s outrageous style to our advantage.
I sure as hell hoped I didn’t regret this.
I closed the iPad cover over the screen and held it against my chest. “I’m not sure you’d be a good fit for our chef position.”
Jessica’s eyes dimmed.
“However, I would like to discuss perhaps hiring you on to help us with social media, as well as photography and video. If these videos are your own, of course.”
Her blue eyes widened. “What? Oh, yes. I do all my own edits. I don’t have money to pay someone to do them for me.”
“Good. Perhaps we should have a conversation about this further. I understand you’re under a time constraint today, but I’d really like to have a longer meeting with you, and maybe we can figure out something that would work for both of us.”
“I-I don’t know what to say.”
Ronan leaned both his elbows against the bar and gave me a near smirk. “I’d say you and Sun—Miss Webb here have something to talk about. Both of you being creative types.”
I’d never been called a creative person in my life.
Organized.
Spreadsheets had been my life once upon a time.
I was exacting with a schedule.
But not creative.
Never before Ronan anyway.
I held my hand out to her. “Call me Kira. Can we discuss a time to talk?”
“Yes.” She nodded quickly, her smile huge. “God, yes.”
“Perfect. We may have our chef already. If you have time, maybe you’d like to meet him? See if you two would mesh.”
“I’d love that.”
The next interview was waiting by the door. There were two of us. I forced myself to relax my fingers on my iPad. “Ronan, why don’t you talk to the next person? I’ll introduce Jess to Kain.”
“No problem.” He pushed off the bar and straightened. “Sure you’re all right with this?”
I met his gaze. The stubborn edge was still there under the layer of professionalism, but I appreciated that he asked. “I’ll catch up.”
“You got it.” He turned the charm to a twenty as he headed toward the front doors.
Even in stained shorts and a shirt that was a touch too small for him, he still had this aura to him that said leader and boss.
I wasn’t quite sure how he did it and I might have hated him a little right then.
I gave Jessica a tight smile. “Let’s go meet our possible chef.”
I said possible, but I had a feeling my careful plans would need to be rearranged—again.