27. Michael
FIVE WEEKS LATER
“Doors will open in t-minus two minutes, chef,” Danny, my head maitre d’ announces.
I look over at Lexi, who’s elbow deep in whisking one of the sauces for our entree. She smiles nervously at me and nods. “We’ve got this.”
“We’ve got this.” And I think, for the first time since the beginning of the summer, I mean it.
Lexi and I had been preparing for months, developing recipes and sourcing investors. At one point, though, things started to look quite bleak. It felt like we were stuck, creatively and financially.
As head chef, I’m in charge of developing our plates and the vibe of our place, but I was creatively burnt out.
One day, though, it all came to me—the direction in which I wanted the restaurant to go, the type of food we really wanted to serve, and the type of environment we wanted to have—clean, but not cold; modern, but cozy.
And though I’m not sure whether I’d admit it out loud, much of it has to do with Diana, I think.
Something about being with her unleashed a creative side within that I’d never experienced before.
You can feel the passion in the spices, the comfort in the base of the recipes, the devotion in its execution, and the beauty of it all in the plating.
She’s my muse, in more ways than one.
Then, once Jonathan gave us the money, everything sort of happened at lightning speed.
As soon as the cash hit our bank account, we put a deposit on a space that needed minimal renovations.
Lexi and I finally agreed on a name, H & H, which stands for Haynes & Haynes.
Through Jonathan’s connections, we were able to find a designer to redo our space, and because we were going for minimalism, it didn’t really take a long time to source things to style the restaurant according to the aesthetic we were going for.
Honestly, it’s insane what money and influence can do.
Five stressful—yet equally blissful—weeks later, and we have a restaurant soft launch for friends and family only.
“Are there any people at the door already?” I ask Danny.
“Your daughter, I believe. She’s with another woman and her children.”
I suck in a breath, stomach rolling. “They’re here already?” I turn to look at Lexi, who gives me an encouraging smile. With a nod, she tells me to go and meet my daughter—and Diana and her girls—at the door.
When I see the four of them outside the restaurant holding hands, I stop dead in my tracks before they even spot me.
Diana holds Cami’s hand on her right, while she holds Rachel’s on her left, who in turn holds Emiliana’s.
Diana smiles down at Rachel as she talks to her, my daughter rapt by her words.
The imagery of it all, of seeing the four of them together, there to support me in arguably the most important moment of my career, hits me like a cannonball to the chest.
We belong together. We could have this life together. It feels more right than anything I’ve ever felt before.
The girls love each other, Diana’s kids are amazing, and over the summer I’ve grown to care about this woman more than I could’ve ever imagined.
Diana and I haven’t decided on the final fate of our relationship, but as the final days of summer near, I know I’ve made my decision.
There’s no way I’m letting this end. We’ll find a way.
Just because she’s moving back to Colorado, and we won’t get our daily lunch dates, our intimate moments, or the almost family-like days we share with our children, doesn’t mean we have to end.
I will find a way to make it work. We will find a way to make it work.
“You ready to come in?” I ask when I open the door of the restaurant for them.
Diana beams at me, the girls’ energy buzzing around as well. “Are you ready? I mean, I’m sure you’re prepared, but emotionally,” she whispers.
The nervousness in her voice, the concern for my wellbeing, is heartwarming. Without thinking, completely forgetting that the girls still don’t know the intimate details of our relationship, I lean down and kiss Diana once on the cheek.
I stop dead in my tracks, realizing my mistake, a cool chill running through my entire body.
Fuck.
I pull away suddenly and stare into Diana’s eyes, whispering a quiet apology.
Her skin blazing red, she smiles softly and shakes her head, telling me we’ll talk about it later.
I try to avoid the girls’ stare, to play it cool, but my gaze drops to Camila, and something about the way she stares at me through narrowed eyes tells me we definitely won’t be able to keep this from the girls for much longer.
That’s fine, honestly. It’s what I want.
So I clear my throat and personally lead them to their table, taking four menus with me as we go. I pull out the chair for Diana and each of the girls, and hope they all have an amazing meal before heading to greet the second group of diners waiting by the door.
Lexi, the kitchen and wait staff, and I wrap things up at two A.M. with a glass of champagne and a toast to the future of H&H. Exhaustion runs bone-deep, but rather than go home and have a well-deserved goodnight’s sleep alone, I drive to Diana’s, where my kid is sleeping over.
I sneak around the back of the guest house and tap lightly on her bedroom window, waking her with a jolt. When she sits up in bed looking at me like I’m a madman, one hand over her chest, I know she’s where I belong.
“Hey,” she whispers after pushing her bedroom window open. “Everything okay?”
I beam up at her—I can’t help it. Tonight, I opened my restaurant, with my daughter and dream girl by my side, and a sense of family I never hoped to have.
“I’m on kind of a natural high, and wanted to share it with you.”
This makes her laugh with a nod. “Okay. Come in.”
She steps aside, and lets me climb through her window like a teenager, only with less grace. I fall with a thud while she stifles a giggle, but I don’t care—nothing can stop the buzz of happiness coursing through me.
“You were incredible tonight,” she whispers against my lips before kissing me. “I don’t know much about fancy food, but I know it looked and tasted amazing, and even my picky girls loved it. And thank you for making something special for Emi. I really appreciate that, and she did too.”
She goes in for another kiss, but I pull away. “I gotta warn you, I’m super sweaty. And I kinda smell like smoke.”
“Let’s take a shower, then.” Her grin is mischievous, her eyes sparkling even in the darkness of the bedroom.
I fucking love it.
“It’s late. Won’t the girls hear?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at her bedroom door. Still, the thought of having her now, with all this adrenaline coursing through me, makes the blood rush to my dick.
Diana shakes her head as she slips her hand in mine, leading me to the bathroom. “They were practicing all day for tomorrow’s talent show, and even did the full routine a few times after we got home. Once I put them to bed, they were out like a light.”
With care, she unbuttons my chef’s coat and pushes it off my shoulders, letting it drop onto the tiled floor with a thud. She reaches for the light switch while I kiss down her chest, pushing her underwear and pajama shorts over her hips.
I reach over and turn on the shower while she begins to kiss up my neck, pulling on my earlobe before whispering, “I’m so proud of you, Michael.”
I groan, in love with her praise. “Thank you, baby.”
“Please. I want you so bad,” she moans against my lips.
With my hands on her hips, I walk her backwards into the shower, pressing her up against the cold tile.
“I’ve waited all day for this,” I whisper into her neck as we let the hot water fall over us.
She laughs, a little breathless, as she digs her fingernails into my shoulders. “How? You had your opening today. I’d think you’d be more concerned with that.”
I growl and bite her clavicle. “You’re all I think of anymore. Whether it’s fucking you, or just being with you, you’re always in my head. I’ve had to learn how to multitask.”
I press a leg in between hers, and move her up and down my thigh. Diana moans, her hips taking a life of their own as she fucks my leg.
“God, you’re already so fucking wet, baby.”
“You’re not the only one who—” She gasps once, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.
My laugh is smug. Dark. Hungry. “What were you saying?”
It takes her a minute to focus, to answer. “You’re not the only one who can’t stop thinking about us.”
Us.
There’s no way I can help groaning at the word. It sounds too good.
“I want you so much,” I tell her.
“God, Michael. Please,” she begs again.
“Don’t worry—I’ve got you.”
I start kissing down her chest again, stopping at her breasts. I take one nipple between my teeth while I roll the other with my hand. Above me, she calls out my name.
“Shh! You’ll wake the kids.”
When I get to my knees in front of Diana, to worship her like she deserves, she stops me. She runs her fingers through my wet hair once, before tugging at my nape, forcing me to get to my feet.
“This is your night. Your time to celebrate. Let me do something for you.” And like the goddess she is, she sinks to her knees, never breaking eye contact, and takes me into her mouth.
“Fuuuuuck,” I groan, slamming my hands against the tile wall to keep from falling over.
As she works me, I try not to focus on how good her mouth feels, try not to look down to see her lips around my cock.
Because I know the second I do, it’s all over.
And I want this to last as long as it possibly can.
But when I feel her tongue play with the tip, my eyes roll to the back of my head, and I almost lose it.
“Stop,” I puff out. My hands dig into her hair to pull her off me. “Jesus fucking Christ, Diana.”
She beams up at me, and I’m positive the steam from the hot water is not the only thing fogging up the mirrors.
“You okay?” she asks, getting to her feet.
I pull her to me, relishing in the feel of her wet body, perfect tits pressed against my chest.
“Am I okay? Fuck, yeah, I’m okay. Better than that.
I feel like I’m dreaming right now. I’ve just opened the restaurant I’ve always wanted to have, and I’ve got the perfect girl in my arms. Naked.
Wet in more ways than one.” I snicker when she blushes.
“I’m fucking amazing, Diana. And you’ve played a big role in that. So thank you.”
Her brows pull together, eyes bloodshot. “Anything. Anytime.”
Without another word, I press a kiss to her lips and hitch one of her legs over my hip. I hold both her wrists over her head against the wall with one hand, while the other lines my cock to her entrance.
Part of me wanted to drag this out, make it last longer. But the other part can’t wait another second to be inside Diana. So in one swift movement, I push into her to the hilt.
She moans my name. I groan into her neck, licking the drops of water off her tits.
“Fuck.”
It’s all I can say, all I can think, as I start to fuck her. Right here. In her shower.
In the back of my mind, I’m mildly aware that, any second now, I could slip on the tile and crack my head open.
But my body wants it—this—so much, it uses every bit of adrenaline stored in its system to make sure my muscles are locked in tight.
Besides my hips and tongue, my body has become an immovable force. Nothing is stopping me from this.
When her moans grow louder, when the words coming out of her mouth stop making sense, I know she’s close. And thank fucking god for that because I’m not sure how much longer I could take.
“Michael.” Diana gasps, her arms breaking free from my grasp to wrap around my neck as she comes. She holds onto me for dear life, and fuck if I don’t do the same to her.
“Let me come inside you. I need to come inside you.”
She nods frantically, whispers yes in my ear before kissing me just below it.
With a groan, my hips start a desperate rhythm, fast and rough and hard toward the finish line. When I feel myself start to lose control, when my mind begins to blur, I pull her closer into me just before emptying myself inside of her.
After we come, we’re quiet. When I pull out slowly, she whimpers and I kiss her on the tip of the nose.
Diana and I take turns soaping each other, and I take special care when I wash her between her legs, conscious of how sore she might be after our little tryst. When we’re done, we towel off quickly and slip into bed.
Immediately, I pull her into my chest and press a kiss on her forehead, inhaling her scent, holding it in for several seconds, memorizing it.
After a while, just when I’m about to fall asleep, she pulls back to look me in the eye.
“What are we going to do? I can’t leave Colorado—Rodrigo would never allow it. And I don’t even know if I want to, honestly. Not yet, at least. And you just opened a place here in Long Island. You’re not exactly going to up and decide to leave after one day, are you?”
And I know exactly what she means. Because things have changed. Yes, we agreed to continue to do this thing and see where it goes. But it’s evolved into something more than we ever could’ve expected. She and the girls will go back to Colorado soon. Me and Rachel will stay here.
Still, that isn’t even our biggest problem.
It’s that the girls don’t even know we’re together.
They don’t know we meet up almost every day.
They don’t know we talk on the phone for over an hour before going to bed after they’ve fallen asleep.
And they sure as fuck don’t know that I’ve been falling for Diana since the beginning of the summer.
“No. But we’re staying together,” I say with confidence.
There’s no way I’m letting this end. “We’re staying together even though we’ll be miles apart.
We’ll figure it out. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go.
No way in hell I’m letting us—the girls included—go.
” I don’t want to come off too strong, but we’re a family.
Or at least the beginning of one, aren’t we?
“We’re going to stay together and see what happens and you’re going to kick ass at work and maybe even go back to school and become a lawyer.
” She laughs at that and calls me crazy, tells me that’s not happening, but I keep going.
“And when the time is right, we’ll figure out how to be together geographically. ”
Diana pauses for a moment to think it through before breaking into a smile. “Okay,” she whispers. “Okay. We’ll tell them tomorrow. After the talent show. At dinner.”
“Perfect.” I pull her into my arms and fall asleep with a smile on my face, dreaming about the years to come.