15. Logan
Chapter 15
Logan
S omething had changed.
Watching Sunshine climb into the ice bath with my omega had made my heart pound. Sunshine was a breath of fresh air. She didn’t expect me to talk incessantly, and she understood food in a way few people did.
When I first met Julian, I knew he was mine. His pineapple and coconut scent made all my alpha instincts drive me to court him as best I could. I wasn’t outgoing and so I expressed myself through food. I made sure to cook everything he craved, that he didn’t have to worry about things like his laundry while he was studying to be a firefighter and anything else I could do to make his life easier. I thanked whatever forces of the universe were at play that Julian chose me.
Luca was a happy accident. When we met Luca, our scents locked together, and I knew we were supposed to be together. It had been years since we considered adding someone to the pack.
Until Sunshine.
The blonde beta kept the three of us captivated. She was funny, sarcastic, and smart. In short, she was perfect.
But she was hesitant, and no matter how many times I told Julian she might not be ready, it didn’t sink in. We wanted her to be ours.
It had been almost a year since Pack Beneventi broke her heart.
She was crazy about Julian. She grinned every time he was around. It had taken more time for her to connect with me and Luca, but I thought she was interested in us as well.
I wasn’t the best person at reading body language, but even I knew she wouldn’t snuggle with us on the couch for hours if she wasn’t comfortable. Comfortable as friends or yearning for more. That was the big question.
My phone buzzed.
Julian:
Sunshine is already there
I’m hung up at work, but I’ll be there in a few minutes
I texted Sunshine to come in through the back door. She could have walked in through the front but going through a crowd of people she didn’t know would just embarrass her.
I opened the door for her, and Sunshine gave me a small wave.
“I hope it’s okay we bother you at work.” She smoothed her hands down her cotton t-shirt and jeans. I rarely saw her dressed down, and the effect was stunning. She looked soft and comfortable, like we could curl up together on the couch and stay there. Forever.
“You’re never a bother. Besides, I invited you.” I stepped back. “Service is almost over.”
The country club was a venue I worked at often, and when they updated the kitchen, Mrs. Braxton asked me for input.
Sunshine took in the expansive, rustic kitchen. Cream and blue backsplash tile made the place look homey even though there were four industrial sized stoves and ovens.
“Retirement party,” I said. “Small service, elegant menu.”
“Nice.” She shifted, looking like she wasn’t sure where to stand. It was a marked difference compared to when she was in the kitchen with me during an event.
Maybe she wasn’t comfortable being alone with me in circumstances that didn’t involve work. My heart sank at the thought. Maybe she was only interested in Julian but just liked me as a friend.
I held back my sigh. Trying to date as a pack was hard.
If I had Luca’s charm, I’d place my hand on the small of her back. Before I could get the nerve up, I’d already walked back to the stoves on autopilot. Instead, I patted the high-top counter in front of me. “Have a seat.”
When she’d rested against Julian in that ice bath, something had clicked into place. She didn’t just lust after my omega. She trusted him. Trusted him enough to let him talk her through being in a stressful situation.
I didn’t know what to do with that information. I didn’t think Julian realized it, not as a conscious thought, at any rate, and neither did Luca.
I put a bowl of pasta in front of her. “Eat.”
She pulled out a stool from under the other side of the counter-top and sat down, a pretty smile on her face. “You don’t have to feed me every time I see you—not that I don’t love the food.”
I snorted, moving some of the pans into the sink. Feeding her was the only way I knew how to flirt. I had told Julian to slow down, to let Sunshine flirt back in a way that let us all know she was ready for the next step.
Now, I wasn’t so sure that had been the right call. Maybe we’d missed some signal, something that was her way of telling us she wanted more. She never treated us like anything other than friends, but that didn’t stop her soft linen and sky scent from getting stronger when we were around.
I couldn’t get the image of her and Julian out of my head. They’d looked like they belonged together, like she was already in our pack.
Sunshine twirled her fork in the fettuccine Alfredo. “Do you do small parties like this often?”
“Nah.” I added the final swirls of raspberry coulis to the vanilla bean infused panna cotta and garnished it with a pistachio tulle. “Mrs. Braxton owns the country club and lets me use the kitchen when I need it. Sometimes I do small parties for her in exchange.”
“Oh, that’s a nice set up.” Her brown eyes lit up, and my heart lurched in my chest. It was all I could do not to lean over and kiss her.
She licked some of the cream sauce off her lip. I sucked in a breath, the scent of the kitchen and Sunshine flooding me.
“Is Julian coming too? I was supposed to meet you guys here, wasn’t I?” She looked around the kitchen like she thought maybe she was in the wrong place.
“He’s on his way.” I shifted my weight, feeling like an idiot. I wished knew how to woo people. I hadn’t charmed Julian so much as thrown myself at him.
“Okay, great.” Some of her honey blonde hair escaped from its bun, and I pulled my hand back from reaching over the counter to push it out of her face.
“Luca’s on his way too.” I moved the rest of the pans off the stove, grateful for something to do other than stare at the beautiful beta looking at me.
I should ask her personal questions. That’s how people got to know each other. With personal stuff. I didn’t bother with social niceties. I sucked at them, and people made their own assumptions anyway.
But, for Sunshine, I would make an effort. She and Julian played video games together and had an easy banter, so maybe that was something that she’d enjoy talking about.
“How’s the racing game with Julian?”
Sunshine blinked. “Good? He still beats me.”
I grunted, not sure how to follow it up now that I’d started this conversation. I hadn’t had to ask questions to get to know Luca and Julian so much as they’d volunteered information to me.
“Animal Crossing isn’t so competitive. It’s just rearranging your village and decorating your house and doing chores.”
“Julian says he likes those chores better.” I didn’t see the appeal of video games, but I could manage the racing game when Julian wanted to play.
“Oh, crap.” Sunshine sat up straight and whipped her phone out. “I forgot to order the silverware.”
I watched as she typed furiously on her phone. I was used to her seemingly random thoughts. Somewhere in her mind, the two were connected. Years of dealing with Luca’s scattered thoughts made it seem normal she would remember silverware from a conversation about video games.
When she’d finished, I leaned against the counter. “Julian said you were still stressing about the proposal for Mrs. Cullen?”
Her face went pale, and she looked like someone had punched her. She forced a smile. “I have some really nice mockups, but I don’t think she’s going to get the whole vision.”
“What’s wrong?”
This was what Julian had been talking about. I did know her well enough to see the shift in mood, even when the pretty beta was trying to put on a good show.
Sunshine flicked her wrist. “I can see it all in my head, but I don’t have a venue, and all I have are these mockups that won’t really capture what I’m trying to do. It’s going to sound like a science fair, or a museum visit.”
She looked so crushed that I wanted to hug her. Luca got the same desperate, panicked expression on his face when he had to present a big case.
“Plus, I have a bunch of other events to work on,” Sunshine added. “And my brain is just going at a thousand miles an hour.”
A vague plan formed in my mind. “We could do a mock set up with a sample menu.”
“At the conference center at Cosmic Bonds?” Sunshine made a face. “She was really high and mighty about not wanting it to be about the foo-foo stuff.”
I grunted. There were many events I’d catered for since the business took off. Mostly I spent time in the kitchen, but before and after the event I liked to walk around, experience the space. If I got a feel for the place where I was serving food, it felt like getting the essence of what I was trying to do. Cosmic Bonds had a great vibe going on, so I wasn’t sure what Mrs. Cullen’s hang up was.
The back door opened, and Luca and Julian came in at the same time.
Julian reached out both arms and pulled Sunshine straight into a hug. “Hey, babe, thanks for coming.”
Luca gave her a tamer side hug, and then I felt like an idiot for not having hugged her. In my defense, we never usually hugged.
My alpha and omega came and gave me kisses on the cheek.
“Did you tell her yet?” Julian grinned between me and Sunshine.
“I suggested the sample menu.” I gestured at the countertop where I’d pulled out a lot of random ingredients. “You can talk about the next part.”
Sunshine frowned. “Tell me what?”
I passed Julian a plate and watched as he grinned at Sunshine. “So I was thinking about your problem. And Logan is right. We should do a little set up, so Mrs. Cullen gets what you’re trying to do.”
Sunshine frowned at her plate of pasta. “She didn’t really like the vibe at Cosmic Bonds.”
“We won’t do it at Cosmic Bonds.” Julian elbowed Luca. “Tell her.”
Luca gave her the suave and charming smile that made people flock to him. Sunshine’s cheeks turned a little pink, and she swallowed hard.
I hid my grin that Luca had the same effect on Sunshine as he had on Julian and me.
Luca slid into the seat next to her. “You need to show Mrs. Cullen your vision, yes? So why not find a breath-taking spot to set up some of your ideas so she can walk through the event herself?”
Sunshine looked so hopeful it almost hurt. “But you can’t book venues for previews.”
“I can.” Luca winked. “Mrs. Renata owes me a huge favor. She’s agreed to let us do some simple set up at her Italian villa?—”
“The Villa Del Salerno?” Sunshine squealed. “That place is booked out for years .”
“It is.” Luca grinned. “But she likes things quiet there, so we have this weekend to set up?—”
Sunshine’s face fell. “Mrs. Cullen wants to see the mockups tomorrow. If I put her off, she’s going to think I’m flaky.”
Luca pressed his lips together. “We could tell her the delay is for a good reason?”
I knew what to do. I pulled my phone out. “I got this.”
I hit the contact button for Mrs. Cullen.
Sunshine frowned. “What are you doing?”
I held up my hand. Julian was smirking like the cat that ate the canary and Luca was giving Sunshine a look that said he was considering dragging her back to the house.
“Chef Kahele,” Mrs. Cullen said over the muted sound of silverware on plates and quiet conversation in the background. “Such a pleasure to hear from you. To what do I owe the honor?”
“Is this a bad time?” I asked, even though I didn’t care. I knew the woman would be making a point of receiving a personal phone call from me.
“I’m at dinner with some friends of mine, but I can always take a call from one of the best chefs on the California coast.” She laughed.
“Excellent. About your charity gala, I had some menu ideas after Sunshine showed me her mockups.”
“Oh?” Mrs. Cullen was too sophisticated to sound excited, but her voice had a telltale lilt that betrayed her interest.
I grinned, leaning into my role as the eccentric chef. “I know you’re supposed to meet with her tomorrow, but I wanted to ask for your indulgence.”
“This gets more and more interesting. You’ve agreed to cater the event?”
“I can make it work,” I said. “But I want a little time to let my concept come to light. Can I ask you to reschedule your meeting? Saturday evening should give me enough time. Then you can have the concept, venue, and menu presented at once and make whatever adjustments you want.”
Sunshine’s jaw dropped. I gave her a thumbs up.
“Of course I can,” Mrs. Cullen said, sounding delighted. “You know I admire your vision, and having it attached to one of my events is quite exciting.”
Worry snaked through me. I didn’t want to steal Sunshine’s thunder, and make it seem like I’d had all the ideas. I just wanted to use my position to help her. “It was Sunshine’s vision, but her ideas melded so well with the artistry of my culinary palate, I just had to experiment.”
“Of course, of course. I’ll let Sunshine know I’ll reschedule. It’s just a few days anyway.”
I made small talk for another minute and then hung up.
Sunshine was staring at me.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I hope I didn’t overstep. But if I made it about me needing time for the sample menu…”
“You didn’t overstep.” Sunshine laughed. “You’re usually so quiet, I forget how well you manage people.”
Relieved I hadn’t upset her, I went back to fiddling with random ingredients. At some point they would come together into a menu but I wasn’t sure what I was doing with them yet.
“There we have it.” Luca held his hands up. “You can set some things up in the Villa, Logan will get the sample menu up, and then Mrs. Cullen will see your entire vision, not just a copy on paper.”
Sunshine clasped her hands together, looking at the three of us. “This is amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”
“You can thank me by playing Animal Crossing,” Julian said. “I need you to water my flowers.”
“Of course.” Sunshine laughed, her eyes shining. The worry had left her expression and, with it, so had my own tension.
She leaned over the counter. “What’s your vision for the menu?”
“Something extraordinary,” I said.
Matching a menu with the wonder and nostalgia Sunshine was creating was the perfect challenge to throw myself against. Much easier than figuring out if she wanted more from us.
“Of course,” Luca said, rolling his eyes. “It’s okay if it’s not the most perfect thing.”
Julian paused, fork full of pasta, and then looked between the three of us as if he’d just had a realization. “Oh, no.”
“What?” Luca leaned over Sunshine to brush his hand over Julian’s shoulder.
“I’m surrounded by perfectionists.”
I laughed. Sunshine shook her head. “I’m not a?—”
“Yes, you are,” the three of us said at the same time.
She grinned at that. “Okay, fine. I am. I just like things to be done...”
“...a certain way.” Luca agreed.
“All the time,” I added.
Julian shook his head in mock horror. “For the love of cheese, save me.”
Sunshine gestured at the bowl of cilantro in front of me. “What are you thinking?”
Julian finished his plate of fettuccine alfredo. “More food, please.”
“Something upscale and nostalgic.” I grabbed Julian’s plate and topped it off, making sure his noodle to sauce ratio was perfect. My omega liked a little bit of noodle with his sauce.
“Ohhh.” Sunshine’s face lit up. “I like it.”
“Nostalgic is good,” Luca said, musing. “You could do surreal things.”
“Like?” I asked, rearranging the bunch of herbs I had left over from the dill and herb salad I’d made as the salad course.
“I don’t know, you’re the chef.” Luca blew me a kiss.
“Something dreamy.” Sunshine bit her lip, looking into the middle distance. She was thinking, always a good sign when we were talking menus.
“What about finger foods?” Julian stole some bread. “I assume they’re going to be walking around, so sitting and having courses might not work?”
“Or they do…” Sunshine trailed off, still staring almost over my shoulder. “I was thinking of breaking up the experiences all over the location, so they could mingle as they wanted. Maybe it’s not just a buffet, or seven course meal, but different foods in different places.”
I perked up. That would be a pain to execute, but it would help center the menu. “Maybe a place for desserts.”
“Chocolate chip cookies.” Sunshine’s face lit up, looking at me. I would have given almost anything to keep her looking at me like that. “Nostalgia. Apple pie. Cherry cheesecake.”
I grunted, trying to get my brain to spin out entrée ideas. Nostalgic desserts were a good place to start but following that to dinner didn’t help. “Pot roast. Meatballs. Meatloaf.” I made a face. None of those entrees were right. “We need upscale.”
“You can upscale anything,” Sunshine said, waving her hand. “Maybe we focus on the food vibes. Like maybe lots of smaller courses that can be enjoyed together or separate.”
That would match up with the dessert idea.
“I keep thinking about blue food, or angel food cake, or something that feels like going to an art show.” Sunshine took another bite out of her pasta.
“Maybe lots of appetizers then,” Luca added with a shrug. “It would be easier to manage them in different locations.”
An idea tickled the back of my mind. “Or it’s part of the discovery. You lead them around the location, discovering different entrees.”
“I have an idea to do a virtual reality room, decorated to look like the sky, to simulate flying. I also want to do a small circus, with maybe a ringmaster and a trained tiger.” Her voice shifted, and she looked down. “It sounds insane, but it makes sense in my head.”
“It sounds great. Like an experience.” Julian put his hand on her forearm. “You could also focus on sound and texture. Like maybe somewhere an orchestra is playing, and then in another location there’s a jazz band playing who will let the guests play alongside them, to give them the feeling of being in a band.”
“That’s a great idea.” Sunshine twirled more fettucine onto her fork. “Maybe the food is part of that. Like a hunt, or surprise. They turn the corner, and find another room, this one serving light soups.”
I nodded, almost there. “Like dim sum. The food comes around, can be eaten separately, but all together.”
“Like Kaiseki,” Sunshine jumped in her seat, clapping her hands together. “There’s your upscale.”
My mind lit up. Kaiseki was the Japanese tradition of an eleven-course meal that focused on flavor, balance of texture, and igniting the five senses. Most kaiseki dishes were light, designed to all be eaten in one sitting, like a rich broth before a vinegar vegetable palate cleanser.
It was as much of an art as a set of recipes, with the chef focusing on fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Energy buzzed through me and I wanted to start cooking, now. “You’re the most brilliant woman I’ve ever met. That’s perfect.”
Sunshine blushed but looked pleased. “It doesn’t have to be all Asian-inspired.”
“But the concept of simple dishes done beautifully,” I said, grabbing some leeks, cheese, and pastry dough out of the refrigerator. “That’s seen across many culinary disciplines.”
“You can focus on flavors that are evocative,” Sunshine said, playing with her piece of bread. “If you wanted to do a seafood soup, you could still layer in the flavors without it being a massive bowl of food.”
“I love watching the two of you bounce ideas off each other,” Julian said with a grin. “It’s one part sport, one part flirting.”
Sunshine’s face turned red again and she shoved a bite of fettuccine in her mouth. I shot Julian a look.
“What? You never talk about food with anyone but me and Luca.” Julian looked pleased with himself. “I love this idea. It sounds like you’re going to be in the kitchen a lot, and this means I get leftovers.”
“Sunshine has a good feel for what a menu should look like,” I said finally. My voice sounded more gruff than I meant for it, but I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be flirting more.
“You’re the chef,” she said, still looking a bit red. “I just like throwing ideas at you.”
I nodded, and we spent the rest of the night trying and discarding ideas for dishes I could execute. I wanted each dish to stand on its own but also work with whatever we were serving in the room with it. Using the concept of kaiseki would help, because then I could focus on the five senses to make the menu cohesive. It would be too easy to make it a jumbled mess.
I promised to meet up with Sunshine the next day when we could work on the menu some more, and as I drove home with my pack, I couldn’t help but focus on the small whiffs of Sunshine’s linen and sky scent.
Once the three of us were in bed, Luca and I on either side of Julian, he pounced.
“Sunshine wants us,” Julian said.
Luca shifted his weight and rubbed his chin on our omega’s shoulder. “She does. But she doesn’t flirt back. We don’t want to push before she’s ready.”
“She might not know how. She never pushes us away when we flirt.” Julian sounded sure of himself. “She was perfectly comfortable when we snuggled on the couch together.”
“Maybe Julian’s right,” I started, not sure how to articulate my feelings.
Luca and Julian waited, neither of them pressing me. “She watches you two. She isn’t unaffected, but she doesn’t flirt back. But she trusts you, Julian.” I huffed, annoyed at my lack of ability to express myself. “She feels like pack.”
Luca and Julian both made noises of agreement.
“I’m going to flirt a little harder,” Julian said. “If you two are ready for the next step.”
“I am,” Luca said quietly. “I keep wanting to take her to dinner, to a show. But I’m too worried about making her uncomfortable.”
“I’m trying,” I said. “I don’t know what else to do, but I’ll try not to make things harder.”
Julian patted my shoulder. “You’re doing great. She loves hanging out with you.”
“I need more excuses to be alone with her,” Luca said, sounding put out. “Julian’s her buddy and she talks food with Logan.”
“Which makes me her coworker,” I grumbled.
Julian laughed. “Okay, okay. It’s settled. We will flirt and see if she’s open to the idea of dating.”
I didn’t think I was going to be particularly good at dating, but if it meant seeing Sunshine more, and being able to touch her when I wanted to, I was up for that.
I just had to focus on getting our menu together while Julian put whatever plan he had into motion.