Chapter 15 #2
“I—” I started and was cut off by a knock at my door. I’d never been so fucking happy for the disruption. “Come in!”
The door opened, and staring back at me from the entryway was the most gorgeous blue-eyed woman, who had a soft smile on her lips, until she scanned the room and said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you had company. I’ll come back.”
Oh, this was about to get really fucking interesting.
I’d bet a month’s salary that one of the two would be texting me before they even reached the fucking parking lot.
“They were just leaving,” I said to her. “Why don’t you come in, Alivia?”
As she took a step in, I didn’t miss Eden’s expression when she quickly glanced at Colson and then turned her focus to Alivia.
“Alivia, this is my sister, Eden.”
Eden stood and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Alivia.”
“Oh my gosh, hi.” She was holding a box and set it on the corner of my desk to free up her hands, clasping her fingers with Eden’s. “It’s so great to meet you.”
“And this is my brother Colson,” I said, finishing up the introductions.
I watched them shake hands and say several cordial words to each other before I voiced, “Eden, Colson, I’ll talk to you both later.”
“Yes, you will,” Eden promised, giving me a smile that was so telling.
When we were finally alone, Alivia slowly turned toward me. “Meeting your sister and one of your brothers was not on my bingo card today.”
I’d never told her the gender breakdown of my family.
I wondered if that meant she’d put my name into Google or if she’d overheard one of my employees discussing the Westons.
“You’ll be seeing much more of them. They come in often and eat in the bar.” I forced my eyes to stay on her face, although I wanted nothing more than to take a visual dip down her perfect body.
“Can I ask you something that may or may not be appropriate?”
As she wrapped her arms around her stomach, I finally took that dip, but I didn’t make it past her chest, watching the way it was rising and falling much too fast.
“You can ask anything you want. That doesn’t mean I’m going to answer.”
She was standing in front of a chair, but didn’t sit. “Does your family know about us? Specifically the siblings I just met?”
“Why?”
Her shoulders lifted. “I … don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.” God, she was so fucking beautiful. “Why are you asking?”
“Your sister. She gave me a look. Not a look that bothered me or anything—I don’t mean that. But I swore I could see in her eyes that she was connecting my name to a face. Or I could be totally paranoid and saw something that didn’t really happen.”
I gripped the back of my neck with both hands. “You’re not paranoid. It happened.”
She dropped into her seat. “Walker, you told your family about us?” The emotion was heavy in her voice.
“I’m your boss, Alivia. I signed a nonfraternization policy. I had no idea if there would be ramifications of you working under me, and I needed to discuss that with them, along with the NDA.”
“Which you still haven’t had me sign.”
I huffed. “I know …”
She went quiet, appearing to hug her stomach even tighter. “I still will if you want me to. I’ll never say a word, but I know my word means nothing to you.”
The tone of her voice cut straight through me.
The softness, the sadness of it.
Everything had been taken from her.
A home.
Stability.
Food.
I couldn’t take the memory of us away, too, and tarnish it with a legal document. Fuck, that still felt so wrong.
“Why are you in here?” I brushed my thumb across my lips.
Because if she stayed much longer, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from putting her on top of my desk and spreading those delicious thighs around me.
She hadn’t even blinked—that was how hard she stared at me.
“Oh, right … that.” She lifted the box that she’d placed on the corner of my desk and put it on her lap, carefully pulling off the lid.
“I found these in my locker.” She aimed the contents toward me.
A set of four knives, positioned in a block of hard foam.
“There was no note or anything. I can’t imagine anyone else giving these to me … but you.”
I had known exactly why she was in here.
I also knew she’d arrived for her shift less than ten minutes ago and it had taken her no time to come in here.
“I can’t have you using your shit knives on my cutting boards. They’d probably leave rust stains and tear up the wood so badly that I’d have to buy new ones.”
She kept her mouth closed when she laughed, so the sound only came out of her nose. “Walker …”
“If you’re going to learn how to be a chef, you need the proper tools.” I nodded toward the box. “That’s a starting point.”
“Thank you.” Emotion moved into her eyes. “I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you—and those words aren’t even enough. I’m so grateful.”
I pointed at the door. “Go.” She gave me a short nod, and as she was walking to the door, I said, “Alivia …” She looked at me over her shoulder. “Those knives are extremely sharp. Be careful.”
“Do you want me to sign something that says I won’t sue you if I cut myself?” She smiled. “Or maybe I should have you sign something that says you won’t break into my locker again.” She winked.
That fucking mouth.
Damn it, I liked it a lot.
But I said, “Out. Now.”
“Yes, Chef.”