Chapter 25
“Hernandez!” Chef bellowed as he walked out of his office.
It had been a week since the incident. And no one seemed to remember anything. The hotel had been shut down for some retrofitting, or asbestos clean up. The story in everyone’s mind was vague at best. But that had been only for a few days. Now they were operating at half capacity, with the restaurant functioning as normal.
The General Manager, Mark, accepted a transfer to another property. He left in what seemed like a hurry. It had taken a lot of money, and a large work crew to erase all vestiges of the nightmare that had happened. There was still a block of rooms under renovation, but the restaurant was as popular as ever.
Les knew what had happened, and he also knew that there was no coming back from the property Mark had been transferred to. One simply did not cross Cyan del Fuego without experiencing consequences. She was truly a frightening woman.
“Yes, Chef?” Had he done something wrong? He felt on top of the world and on top of his game. Tori made him a superhero. He couldn’t have messed up.
“Did you request next Thursday off?” The man growled over the clank and bang of the line cooks preparing the lunch orders.
Apparently asking for a day off was a cardinal sin. Les had an ace up his sleeve if he needed to use it. Cyan had promised him all the time off he wanted, and if this was when he needed to pull that string, he would. “Yes, Chef.”
“You had better have a good reason.”
He had the best. “I’d like to take my girl out.”
“Hernandez doesn’t have a girlfriend. He’s just blowing smoke up your ass.” Stevens had to contribute, even if the conversation had nothing to do with him.
Part of Les had really wanted Stevens to remember that night, so he could remind him how he saved his ass. The muscles around Les’s lips tightened. Stevens wasn’t worth his time, and he was not going to engage in an exchange of insults right now. He slid the large knife into the creamy cheesecake, rotated the cake, and made another slice.
“You never go out with the same girl twice. A second date does not make someone your girlfriend,” Stevens continued.
“Aren’t you funny? I have a girlfriend,” Les sneered in reply.
“You two worked it out?” Chef chuckled. Chef didn’t remember getting knocked out or almost succumbing to gas, but he remembered that Tori had come crying to him looking for Les.
“I apologize profusely every day, so we’re good,” Les confessed with a smile. He loved apologizing to Tori, he usually did it while they were naked and in bed.
“Oh, that sounds interesting.” O’Connell joined in the conversation.
A wolf whistle from one of the line cooks indicated everyone was now involved in this. “Is she hot? Hernandez always gets the hot babes.”
“She’s beautiful,” Les answered with a wistful sigh. Thinking about Tori made his gut tighten, in a good way.
“You sound smitten,” O’Connell said.
“I think Hernandez is in love,” Stevens said with a childish sneer.
“For once, Stevens, you are not wrong.”
“Sorry, Hernandez, being in love is not a good enough reason for me to give you a Thursday off on such short notice.”
“It’s her birthday. I wanted to do something special.”
“You mean a little uh uh uh”— Stevens thrust his hips against his work station— “from you isn’t special?” He always had to make the conversation crude.
“Can I punch him, Chef?”
“So, it’s Tori’s birthday, huh? Where were you planning on taking her?” Chef asked.
“I was thinking of keeping it low-key, making her a picnic, and going up into the hills behind my cousin’s vineyard. It’s a nice spot, and since it’s not harvest time, this would be the perfect opportunity.”
“Bullshit.” Stevens fake coughed. “No way, his cousin owns a vineyard.”
“Stevens, you need to shut up,” O’Connell commented. “Chef, you have to give him the day off. I think that’s great you’re dating Tori. I like her. A picnic in the vineyards sounds so romantic.”
“Thanks, I’m trying.”
“You’re dating two-ton Tori?”
Les threw the knife in his hands down but grabbed the edge of his table so that he wouldn’t seize Stevens around the throat and start shaking. A growl left his lips. “Can I punch him, Chef?”
“O’Connell, I need you to take that prep over from Stevens. Stevens, come here,” Chef shouted.
“Yes, Chef?” Stevens strode over to where the big man stood.
“Never insult a man’s woman when he is holding a larger knife than you are. There’s a large tray of calamari in the walk-in. Go clean it.” Chef pointed. “Never talk about Tori, or women, like that again.”
“That’s not fair,” Stevens whined. “The calamari is on the menu tomorrow.”
“I’m adding it to the specials tonight,” Chef barked.
Stevens shot Les a dirty glare, as if this was all his fault.
“Hernandez!” Chef’s yell was even louder now that Stevens had tipped his mood into the foul zone.
“Yes, Chef?” Les stood straight, completely at attention.
“You can have the day off. Do something nice for Tori. She’s a good kid. And you are not allowed to punch Stevens in my kitchen or in my restaurant. Is that clear?” He cocked his head to the side, waiting for Les to answer.
“Yes, Chef. Thank you, Chef. Perfectly clear, Chef.”
Tori clutched Les’s hand as they walked into the Agave Grill. It felt weird being here with him for dinner, not on her own or with those other two. They followed the hostess to a table and slid into a booth.
Maria walked up to their table, order pad in hand. “Haven’t seen you in here for a while.”
“It’s only been a week or two,” Tori said.
“That’s a long time when you are typically here three nights a week.” She turned her attention to Les and prattled off something in Spanish, an angry tone to her words.
Tori watched with wide eyes and then turned to Les when she left. “What did you do?”
“Why are you blaming me?”
“It sounded like she was blaming you.” Tori stopped speaking and straightened as the busboy delivered chips and salsa.
She dipped a chip into the spicy sauce and began crunching.
“Sofi is her prima. I guess there is some drama going on between her and Hank,” Les explained.
“Why yell at you?”
“Mi amor, that is something you are going to learn fast if you are with me. You are your family. And mi primos are my brothers. We take care of each other, and we have each other’s backs. And in this case, Hank needs someone who cares to go bash his head in for messing up with Sofi. He needs to set it straight.”
“Both of your families are close knit groups, aren’t they?”
Les nodded.
“But other than your mother, and Tia Connie, they don’t overlap, do they?”
Les shook his head and shoved a salsa covered chip into his mouth.
“Okay, so Hank and Sofi, I thought they were serious,” Tori said. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been a little distracted.” Les smiled.
A flush crept up her neck. Since that night at the hotel and after when they made up, they had been a little out of touch with the rest of the world. Tori didn’t mind, she wasn’t ready to deal with reality just yet. Reality meant finding a new job and not playing house with Les. She really liked playing house with Les
“But if cousins are involved, it’s big, or it’s being blown all out of proportion. I’ll call him later,” Les said.
Maria returned, her fist on her hip, and looked at Les. “Well? What are you planning on doing about it?”
“I’ll bash his head in and make him see sense.”
Maria didn’t budge. Obviously, his answer didn’t satisfy her.
Les opened his palms and raised his eyebrows. “What?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
“Maria,” Les huffed. “I’m out with my girl. If it’s so urgent, you go.”
Tori felt butterflies when he called her ‘his girl.’
Maria switched her gaze between Tori and Les. “Oh, oh, when did you two…” She turned to Tori. “Are you sure you want this cabezón?”
Tori laughed.
“Fine, I won’t make you go deal with Hank right now. But will you talk to him? She’s heartbroken. So… margaritas?”
“And a flan,” Tori added. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m starting with dessert tonight.” She wasn’t about to confess to Maria that she was following tonight’s date in reverse order because Les had started her evening with some mind-blowing sex. Dessert seemed like the next logical progression.
Les reached his hand across the table. Tori slid her fingers in against his. She loved holding his hand, anything to touch him.
She wanted to ask him about what had happened at the hotel, but this wasn’t the place for him to explain why a group of werewolves had invaded. Or why everyone in town thought it was a gas leak that led to the discovery of something that required a major block of rooms to be refurbished. She’d ask him later. Right now, she just wanted him.
After dinner, they held hands and walked back through town.
“Are you going—” she started to ask about that night.
“Shit, that’s right, I have to call Hank. Thank you for reminding me.”
She held his hand and strolled past the shops on Main Street. Tori window-shopped, and Les berated his cousin in a mix of Spanish and English.
“What was that all about?” Tori asked when he finally slid the phone back into his pocket.
“That was mi primo being an imbécil over children they don’t even have.”
“Seriously? Are they getting married?”
“Apparently not if she has to name their firstborn after him, and he’s insisting on a little Hank Junior.”
“Wait, they are arguing over baby names? Are they even engaged?” Tori shook her head at the ridiculousness of it.
“They might be, but they haven’t told everyone yet. Ironing out the details first.”
“I would think the detail would be whether to have kids, not what to name them.” Even though she already had her first child’s name selected, she still wasn’t sure it was worth arguing over. She would cross that bridge when she came to it.
Les shrugged. “Hank never had his own name, so why should his kid?”
“What about you? Is your name your own?”
Les nodded. “Yep, all mine. You?”
“There was a Victoria a few generations ago, a vague family connection so that I could inherit some antique linens with the name embroidered on them.”
“Kids?” The question caught her off guard.
“Um, probably. I guess it depends on where I am and who I’m with.”
“You’re with me. Are we having kids? I know you already have the first name picked out, don’t you?” Les was razzing his cousin for arguing over names, but the tone in his voice didn’t make Tori think he was picking on her. She hadn’t expected to be at this bridge tonight.
She sighed and nodded. That tightening at the back of her throat started. She pinched her lips shut and willed the feeling to subside. Her eyes flooded against her will.
“I think Sam is a good name.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Tori lost control and buried her face against his chest with a sob. She wanted Sam to meet him so badly. And here he was, understanding and wonderful.
Les held her while she cried the unexpected surge of emotion out of her system. He muttered soothing words in Spanish while he stroked her back and smoothed her hair.
She felt Les’s arms tighten around her.
“Look at that, Hernandez is so bad at everything that Tori the farm girl is crying in public. What did you do, asshole, cook for her?”
“Back off, Stevens,” Les growled. He shifted Tori to his side, leaving one arm free.
She looked up at Lucas and wished he would just go away. In the group behind him stood Emily and Bella with another man she didn’t know. Tori leveled a glare at them.
“Come on, ignore him. Let’s leave.” Tori reclaimed Les’s hand and started to lead him away in the opposite direction. Les followed her.
“You’re just a hack piece of shit that needs to get out of my kitchen. Not so tough when Chef isn’t around, are you?”
Les stopped and turned around. “It’s not your kitchen, dickhead. If it were, you would be the executive in charge on Chef’s days off. And you aren’t. I am. What you are is some trumped-up sous chef with a big mouth.”
Lucas charged forward. Les stepped up to him and halted in his path. Les was taller, but Lucas was broader.
“Because of you, I had to gut and de-ink sixty pounds of calamari.” Lucas pushed his snarling face closer to Les.
“No, Stevens, you did that all on your own.”
“You don’t know shit about real cooking. You only know how to make pansy-assed desserts. Anyone can make a fucking cake.”
Les snorted. “Apparently not. You didn’t get the position, did you?”
Lucas fumed like a snorting bull.
Tori pulled on Les’s arm. “Leave it, Les. Come on.”
“Ya know, Lucas, maybe we should just leave.” Perhaps Emily wasn’t as selfish as Tori had been thinking.
“Yeah, listen to your little girlfriend.” Lucas sneered.
Tori had enough of him. “What is your problem, Lucas? You were actually a nice guy once.”
“Fat girls think they can talk to nice guys. So why are you talking to me?”
Tori shook her head. He was a sorry asshole, and if he kept this up, he would be a sorry asshole without any friends.
Les looked at Tori. She blinked up at him and placed her hand on his arm, begging him to leave with her eyes. He eased a step toward her, and she released the breath she was holding.
“That’s it. Run away with your little piggy girlfriend.”
Les froze. Tori pinned both Lucas and her ex friends with a glare. They had at least had the decency to look uncomfortable.
When Lucas began making grunting pig sounds, Les tensed up under her hand.
Les coiled. “This isn’t Chef’s kitchen.”
Tori couldn’t exactly remember how, but one second, she was behind Les urging him to leave. The next, her knuckles cracked as she slammed her fist into the side of Lucas’s face.
Lucas staggered back, his hands covering the spot where she made contact.
“Ow, shit!” Tori held her hand to her chest. She looked at it and then cradled it again. “That really hurts.”
“She hit me,” Lucas called out in shock. “I’ll get your ass fired for that.”
Les wrapped himself around Tori. “No, you won’t. Now get out of here before I knock out those teeth that she loosened.”
Lucas turned to his group and muttered something.
Emily ran over and put a hand on Tori’s shoulder. “Are you okay? That was, wow, didn’t see that coming.”
Tori faced the other woman. She didn’t say anything, only shook her head.
“I gotcha. Sorry about that.” Emily left quietly.
“How’s the hand?” Les gently flipped her right hand over and had her wiggle her fingers. “I don’t think it’s broken. Let’s get an ice pack on it.” He lifted her aching hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back.