Chapter 30
THIRTY
Alivia
Istood in the center of Alivia’s with my head back, turning in a circle to take in all the renovations that had happened in the last two days since I’d been here. For two days, I’d done everything in my power to get here, but cooking for James and my full-time job had kept me away.
The kitchen had been in almost-perfect shape when we signed the lease agreement.
Walker had suggested just a few additions to make things operate more smoothly, so those had been constructed this past week.
As for the dining room, it needed some work.
A new configuration, some tweaking design-wise, lots of paint and plaster and lighting to give it the cozy vibes I was after.
We were only two months away from opening day. A date I could barely process. Everything was happening, and with each new revelation and step forward, the emotions that it brought made my eyes constantly fill with tears.
There wasn’t an hour that passed that I wasn’t asking myself …
How is this my life?
How is this all happening?
How am I getting everything I’ve ever dreamed of?
“What do you think, beautiful?”
Walker’s voice wrapped around me; my head lowered, and my feet halted.
I looked at him. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, taking up almost the entire entryway.
God, that man was so hot. He stared at me with hooded eyes, and behind that hungry gaze was the most breathtaking green.
A green that was going to be the main color of the restaurant.
If I felt like home when I looked at him, then my guests would feel like home when they were here.
“What do I think?” My shoulders lifted as I took the longest, deepest breath.
“My mind won’t stop spiraling from all the amazing things that are going on in my life.
” I closed the distance between us and circled my arms around him, my head going back again to gaze up at him.
“I can’t believe I get to wake up every morning and go to bed every night with the man I’m absolutely in love with.
” My eyes closed, and I brought in another big breath.
“That we get to do this together.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him.
“That none of this would be possible without you.”
“I was asking about the renovations, but I like your answer better.”
I laughed. “Oh. Those. Yes. I can’t believe how much they got done in two days.”
He rubbed his thumb over my chin before both hands lowered to my ass. “For the record, all of this would have happened whether I’d co-signed the lease or not.”
My lips spread wide. “I love the endless faith you have in me. And I love how that belief is so strong, you make me want to believe in the impossible.”
He cupped my face, and he brought our mouths together.
I could feel him breathe me in before his lips pulled back from mine.
“James has already booked you for three more private meals at her house. That’s not faith, Alivia.
That’s hard work. That’s perseverance. That’s overcoming every obstacle that was put in your way, and, baby, there were millions. ”
My eyes closed, and tears threatened to enter. I hadn’t been this emotional in my entire life. Not even when things got their worst with Dean. Not even when we had lived in Mom’s car.
And where most crying was fueled by sadness, this was an overwhelming happiness. A wave of I can’t fucking believe this is my life completely taking over and making it hard to breathe. And before I knew it, the small, salty drips were staining my cheeks.
“There were a lot,” I admitted.
“A lot?” His brows rose.
“Okay, maybe tons.”
“That’s better.”
“I just … can’t believe any of this. It’s …
wild, Walker. Completely, utterly wild.” I stared into his eyes.
“Some people have the confidence to say exactly how their life is going to play out, and what they want, they get. And some people aren’t confident that tomorrow won’t be as shitty as yesterday.
I’ve always been the latter. So, every morning when I wake up, I can’t believe the day before was better than the last.”
He rubbed his nose over mine. “That makes you even more deserving.”
My chest was getting heavy. The knot was moving its way into my throat, and that usually meant the tears were next.
“Can I admit something to you?”
He traced around my lips. “Of course.”
“There’s no place in the world I’d rather be than right here.
” I couldn’t smell the dust from the construction.
I couldn’t see all the work that had been done in the dining room.
The only thing I could smell and see and feel was him.
“There’s nothing stronger, more protective, more loving than your arms.” I let out a breath and rubbed my cheek against his upper arm.
“I love you, Walker. More than anything.”
“I love you more.”
Flowers were certainly not the gift to get Walker. Neither was an engraved flask, given that he was barely drinking anymore. But to celebrate his final shift at Charred, I wanted to get him something. Something to remember this moment forever.
I didn’t give him the gift when the entire kitchen staff stopped at the prep station to applaud him when the last meal of the night was served.
I didn’t give him the gift when he stood in the center of the kitchen and thanked everyone.
And I didn’t give him the gift when he grabbed my hand and linked our fingers and brought me outside to drive us home.
I waited until we were showered, and then I hid the gift in the kitchen before I joined him in the living room and covered us with a blanket.
This had become our nightly ritual after we returned from a dinner shift.
Too hyped up to immediately go to bed, so I would get him to watch a movie—something he’d started doing—or we’d talk.
Tonight, the TV was off, and my fingers were raking through his beard. I pressed my lips against the side of his forehead and whispered, “What are you thinking about?”
“How relieved I am.”
“I can tell. Normally, you’re completely upright. You don’t even put your feet on the ottoman. But look at you now, you’re totally reclined. And your breathing—even that’s more relaxed.”
He turned his face toward me. “It was a good shift to end things on. No real disasters occurred. No one gave me a reason to raise my voice.”
“I would have murdered you.” I laughed.
“I was waiting to hear you say that.” He poked my side and banged his head against the cushion. “Fuck, Alivia. That place was killing me. Life was killing me.” His fingers dived into the back of my wet hair. “And then you walked into my hotel room, ready to be ravaged, and everything changed.”
I laughed. “That feels like forty-seven lives ago.”
“It does.”
I propped myself up on my elbow. “I got a message from my mom today.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t listen to it until after we got out of the shower. I knew what it was going to say. Unfortunately, I was right.” My hand went to my chest, and I pushed against it. “She’s never going to just be my mom, Walker. She’s always going to want something from me.”
“You don’t need her to be a mom.”
“I know.” I nodded. “I just wish I could tell her about Alivia’s. I wish I could invite her to the opening. I wish I could hear her tell me how proud she was.”
“I’m proud, baby. And my family is so fucking proud of you.”
I kissed him. “You know how much that means to me.”
He was holding my cheek, rubbing his thumb across it. “But I know how it would feel to get that from your mom, and it fucking guts me that you won’t.”
“Ever …”
His lips pursed. “Probably not.” He held me tighter. “Don’t let that eat at you. You have too many amazing things happening. Don’t give your mom a fucking inch of space in your mind.”
“I know. I’m really trying not to.” I traced his bare chest, playing with the metal chain that had warmed from the shower. “Let’s talk about something way happier, like what you’re going to do with Toro’s menu. I feel like I have an unfair advantage because I get to be the taste tester.”
“That’s tomorrow’s project after we get home from checking on Alivia’s.”
“The walls will be done tomorrow?”
“They should be. If not, the contractor will be getting the wrath of me.” His voice turned low and gritty.
I banged the center of his chest. “Walker …”
“The fucking walls were supposed to be done yesterday. He deserves to get his ass chewed out if he puts us behind. We’re on a strict deadline.
There’s no room for fucking off.” He smiled.
“You have meals to serve in that kitchen, and we’re not pushing out the opening even a week later than we planned. ”
“I can’t even be mad at you for saying any of that.”
“Good. Don’t be. And how about you plan to just stay in the car when we arrive at Alivia’s tomorrow? When the coast is clear, I’ll signal you inside.”
“You mean, when you’re done screaming?” As I rolled my eyes, smiling, a random memory came to me, and I started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh my God, I just remembered Keith’s face tonight.
” I giggled again. “When he leaned in to give you a hug.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Even though you promoted him to executive chef, that man is terrified of you. And you, being you, didn’t even react when he went to hug you, so he got in close, and then his arms dropped—I could see the oh shit moment right on his face when he realized you weren’t going to hug him back. Rachel and I were dying.”
“At least Rachel knows better than to hug me.”
I snorted. “Keith is going to be awesome though. You guys made the right choice in promoting him. It’s just going to be a little strange, working for him and not you.”
“You still haven’t gotten any shit about me at work, have you?”
Walker hadn’t wanted the pastry chef who helped us out at James’s charity event to say anything to the staff at Charred. If they were going to know, Walker wanted that news to come from him. So, the next day, he told all the chefs, knowing that word would spread from there.
And it had.
I shook my head. “Not a single peep about it.” I held up my hand. “And maybe they’ve said things behind my back, but no one has said anything to me, and no one is treating me any differently.”
“Not that it matters. You won’t be there for much longer.”
I sighed. “But it does matter. I love it there. And I’m sad that I’m leaving—not sad that I’m leaving to go to Alivia’s, but sad that I won’t be at Charred anymore. That restaurant has done so much for me. I mean, who would have even thought I would get the line cook position? Certainly not me.”
“You’re about to be executive chef of Alivia’s. I promise you won’t miss Charred. And if you do, we’ll go back and visit. But instead of eating in the back kitchen, you’ll be sitting at a table.”
“That’s a plan I can get behind.” I rubbed my stomach. “Speaking of eating, I’m starving.”
“I love when you say that.”
I laughed and got up from the couch, holding out my hand to him. “Come on. Let’s go make something naughty.”
“Naughty?”
“Yesss.”
“I can’t wait to see what you have in mind.”
I led him into the kitchen, and when I left him at the island, where the present sat, I grabbed a few things from the pantry.
“What’s this?” he asked.
I could feel his eyes on me as I reached for a glass dish in the cabinet and brought that over to the island, along with the other food items in my hands.
“It’s just a little something I got you.”
“You’re not allowed to buy me things.” He eyed me down.
Which only made me laugh. “Yeah? Tough.”
I ripped open the bag of graham crackers and layered those on the bottom of the dish, followed by slivers of chocolate, and topped those with oversize marshmallows.
When he hadn’t touched the wrapping paper, I said, “I wanted to celebrate your last shift at Charred. You’re impossible to shop for, by the way, but I think I found something that’s so you.” I nodded toward the box. “Open it.”
He let out a loud breath and tore off the paper and the lid, and he lifted the gift out of the tissue paper inside.
“Alivia …”
I put the dish in the microwave and rushed over to him. “It’s so perfect, isn’t it?”
He held the chef’s whites against his chest to see how it would look. Embroidered in the top-right corner was the logo we’d had designed for Alivia’s, and in the left corner was his name and title.
“It’s perfect, except for one thing.” He folded the top and set it back in the box.
“What’s that?”
“I’m not the co-executive chef of Alivia’s. I’m just—”
“My everything. That’s what you are.” My hands went to my hips. “And being the boss, I get to decide what your title is, and that’s what I picked, and I don’t want to hear another word from you.” I laughed.
There were suddenly hands on my ass, and he was lifting me and setting me on the island. “This mouth has been a little extra spicy tonight.” He kissed me.
And when I pulled away, I tapped him. “You deserve it.”
His forehead went to mine. “I love the chef’s whites. Thank you. And you’re right, they are perfect, even with that fucking title.”
“I got myself the matching one, so we’re going to be twinsies.”
He chuckled. “I like that.”
I set my arms on his shoulders. “You’re also going to love the dessert I’m cooking up. It’s not fancy—don’t set your expectations high—but it’s going to fulfill everything you’re craving.”
“How do you know what I’m craving?” He pulled me to the edge of the counter, his arms surrounding my waist.
“Because I know you.”
“If you know me so well”—he held my face, moving his lips close—“then you’d be feeding me your pussy right now.”