And yet, given the choice, I knew I would pick Wyatt. Sarita was important to me, yes. But Wyatt was everything to me.
Staring at Ezra’s polished shoes, I confessed, “You should know that Wyatt and I made our relationship official this week. We’re dating.”
His silence said more than words ever could. Especially when he finally spoke, it was a stilted “Oh.”
Lifting my head to at least pretend I had courage, I quickly explained, “I realize this might affect your decision, but I wanted to let you know anyway. Wyatt and I have worked together for the last five years and I feel as though his opinion of me will remain objective, but we’ve also had feelings for each other for a while.”
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “I know.”
It was my turn to say, “Oh.”
He smiled at me and I was taken aback so strongly I nearly lost my balance. “I might not have known about your feelings for him. But it’s no secret he’s been harboring a crush on you for ages. That said, if he’s written his recommendation with hearts over the I’s, I’m going to ask you to find someone else.”
I laughed, and it felt real and genuine and so light. “Thanks, Ezra.”
“Be good to him,” he ordered. “He’s as persnickety as they come, but he cares about you, Kaya.”
“I care about him too,” I said honestly, my body warming with just the thought of him.
“Good to hear.” He patted me on the shoulder. “We’ll talk soon.”
I went straight to Lilou after I left Sarita. I had to see him. Today had been crazy and all I wanted was Wyatt and his arms around me.
I was dressed for work because I’d worn my usual coat and black pants to interview today. Driving like a maniac, I slammed my car into an employee parking spot and snuck in through the side door of Lilou. Nobody noticed me. They were too busy with what they were doing.
Dinner service had just started, and the crash and clatter of the kitchen filled my ears immediately. I paused just inside the door to watch the beautiful chaos that defined my life. Rarely did I take a moment to savor the hustle and bustle. I was always a part of it, swept up in the movement and focus.
Everything felt familiar and foreign at the same time. I watched Dillon throw things in a pan and whisk furiously at the sauce just beginning to simmer. Benny stood over a huge rib roast, slicing off ribeyes to order. Endo hurried back and forth as he kept his dishwashers and bussers in line. Charlie murdered duck after duck after duck.
Wyatt really needed to fire him.
My gaze fell on my boyfriend and even in my head the word felt strange. But it also felt like not enough. After all these years, it was bizarre to think of Wyatt, my one-time nemesis, my one-time friend, as my boyfriend. The word and description felt juvenile, immature… lacking.
He was so much more than a boyfriend. He was my rock. He kept me grounded when all I wanted to do was fly off the handle. He was the man that had healed me and saved me from myself. He challenged me, always pushing me to get better, and be better. He made me want better things. He was my heart and my hope and my future.
And what we had together wasn’t just a relationship, it was the beginning of something so beautiful my heart felt like it could burst.
I had never been in a relationship that felt so perfectly right. Not that we were perfect. We couldn’t have been further from it. We still bickered and argued. We were still constantly trying to one up the other. But that only made our story more incredible.
My past had damaged me in a way I hated to admit. Nolan’s dismissal of what I thought had been love had gouged my self-worth with an icepick. He’d made me feel less than, unwanted. He’d broken me.
Wyatt did the opposite. He filled in those holes in my chest and promised he would keep filling them in for as long as I needed him. He didn’t let distance scare him or allow change to get in our way. He embraced our differences and cherished the person that I was. He made me feel loved and worthy and wanted. He healed me.
Our love healed me.
I watched him lean over a plate as he worked the finer details and garnishes, and then he wiped the edge of the plate with a towel. His profile was cast in bright light from above, sharpening his jawline and nose, highlighting his masculine cheekbone and the shaved side of his head. His tall toque stood at attention, and his crisp jacket hugged the lines of his muscular body. I watched his steady hands slash sauce over the protein and then delicately sprinkle microgreens, turning an ordinary looking dish into a work of art.
I was so lucky to know him. Not just because I loved him, but because he was so good at what he did, so dedicated to perfecting his craft and being the best possible chef out there. I had never met a man I respected and loved more.
And I knew going forward, no matter how mad he made me, I still would never meet another man that could compare to him.
Feeling my gaze on him, he passed the plate to a server and turned to face me. His mouth split into that breath-stealing grin and he cocked his head in wonder. “How’d you do?” he asked without saying hello.
I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “It’s hard to tell.”
“Did you kick ass?” he asked.
Nibbling on my lip ring, I shrugged both shoulders this time. “Hopefully.”
He started nodding and laughing. “Yeah, you kicked ass.”
His confidence in me burned a blush on my cheeks and I realized the whole kitchen had paused to watch us.
Wyatt jerked his chin and said, “Come here.”
It was that small command that ruined me. He’d stopped caring about his kitchen and the food piling up in front of him. He didn’t notice his staff watching us or the clamor of diners on the other side of the in and out doors. All he saw was me.
All he wanted was me.
And so I did what any sane, rational girl would do. I ran to him, leaped into his arms, and let him catch me.
His arms wrapped around my legs and held me there as our mouths crashed together. We kissed like we always kissed, desperately and voraciously and like we’d been waiting for this moment our entire lives. I held his face in my hands while I tasted him, butterflies swarming my belly and heat pooling between my legs.
God, how did he do this to me every single time? Would it always be like this?
Yes, I instinctively knew. Yes, with Wyatt, I would always want him this badly and love him this madly and drive him this crazy. And he would do the same to me.
The kitchen erupted with whoops and hollers and lewd suggestions. We pulled apart and smiled at each other.
“I love you, chef,” I whispered to him.
His eyes darkened, and he squeezed my ass. “I love you, Ky. Want to get out of here?”
“And go where?”
He set me down but pulled me against him immediately. “Anywhere.”
“What about the kitchen?”
“Fuck the kitchen,” he laughed. “We need to go celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?”
His smile twitched with mischief. “You finally quitting.”
“It’s not final yet!”
“A guy can hope.”
I laughed because he was ridiculous and funny and mine. “If we both leave, who will run service tonight?”
He turned his head and yelled, “Dillon, you’re in charge!”
“What?” was her shrieked reply.
Wyatt turned to Benny. “Can you help her out, man?”
Benny grinned. “My pleasure.”
“What?” Dillon repeated even louder.
I smiled at my friend. “I owe you one.”
She rolled her eyes and straightened her bandana. “You owe me at least ten.”
Wyatt pulled his hat off and tossed it at her. “Try not to set the place on fire.”
“No promises.” She swore under her breath.
Wyatt grabbed my hand and smiled at his staff. I was positive they all assumed he was having a stroke. He had never smiled this much at them ever.
/>
I mean ever.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he promised. “You’ve got twenty-four hours with Glinda the Good Witch but if you fuck anything up for her, you’re fired. See you tomorrow.”
Then he pulled me from the restaurant and we escaped into the night. We stripped out of our bandanas and chef coats and had a proper date in the sweaty clothes we had underneath. We laughed over street tacos and walked around downtown. Then we grabbed a few drinks at Craft, the bar that Killian had been poaching for. Apparently, Wyatt knew the owners too.
At the end of the night, I followed him to his house in my car where we stripped out of the rest of our clothes and spent the entire night not arguing once.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Three weeks later, Wyatt and I were on another morning date. And it was another surprise date. Although he’d promised me he wouldn’t murder me. I’d made him swear by his favorite set of knives before I let him put the blindfold on me.
Because seriously, a blindfold?
It took all my trust to let him do it. I didn’t want to say I wasn’t a trusting person by nature, but let’s be real, I was not a trusting person by nature. Or by force. And the blindfold I was currently wearing was testing every ounce of my patience.
The car turned off and I put my hands to my temples. “Now?”
Wyatt’s deep chuckle chased a tingle down my spine. “Not yet.”
“This is cruel and unusual punishment.”
His hand rubbed down my thigh and then back up, settling in the crease of my thigh. “I promise it will be worth it,” he murmured into my ear. I twitched at the tickle his breath caused.
“Okay,” I whispered. Maybe I didn’t trust the blindfold, but I trusted him.
The last month had been the best of my life. Wyatt and I liked to fight with each other, but it turned out, we liked to get along even more. We’d spent as much time as we could getting to know each other. Sure, we’d known each other for five years, but there was so much yet to discover.
And I knew it would always be like this with him. I would always want to know more. I would always want to see more of him and spend more time with him. I would always want him to know more of me.
In the few spare moments of free time we had, we were inseparable. But even during working hours, it was hard to pull us apart. Part of it was the honeymoon bliss, but we also knew I wouldn’t be staying long at Lilou.
I hadn’t heard anything from Ezra about Sarita. And Dillon remained tightlipped no matter how much I pestered her to interrogate him. My other friends were quiet too. I’d even forced Wyatt to set up a double brunch date with Killian and Vera, so I could grill the two of them.
Nobody had heard anything.
Not knowing if that was good or bad, I’d started looking around at my options and lightheartedly applied to places I could see myself working at. Wyatt and I knew we couldn’t continue to work together. Not just for the sake of our relationship, but the sake of our staff.
We weren’t Vera and Killian. We had chemistry that sometimes bubbled over. And sometimes exploded. Both in good ways and bad ways. We didn’t want to make our staff suffer in the overflow.
Besides, my ambitions would never let me get comfortable as second in command. I wanted EC. And now my life felt very much like I had everything I wanted except that one thing.
Granted, it was a giant, life-accomplishment kind of thing. But still. Not having it only made me want it more.
I’d had three call backs from jobs I’d applied for. But when push came to shove, and I was invited to an interview, I’d ended up turning them down. Those weren’t the jobs I wanted. And if I wasn’t going to settle in at one of the best jobs at one of the hottest restaurants in the nation right now, I wasn’t going to settle for a mediocre executive chef position either.
Not only that, but I wanted Sarita. I’d gotten a taste of her. She was in my blood now. I couldn’t even entertain another restaurant until I heard about my fate for certain. But as the days stretched on and I ran into Ezra more and more and he didn’t even offer so much as a hint or a smile or a word of encouragement, I started to give up on my dream job at Sarita altogether.
Wyatt’s fingers on my chin, nudged my mouth toward his where he pressed a quick, hot, delicious kiss to my mouth. It ended too soon and made me curious about what he had planned for today. “Don’t move,” he ordered, before climbing out of the car.
My door opened, and I felt his hands on me again. “Ready for this?”
“For a surprise trip to Greece?” I guessed.
He laughed and made a buzzer sound. “Wrong.”
Letting him guide me from the car, I guessed again. “You’re forcing me to become a drug mule to carry heroine over the border?”
He paused mid-step. “Which border?” I could sense him shake his head at the ridiculous question. “Never mind, no. Obviously not. If I was going to make you smuggle anything it would be nuclear weapons.”
I smiled and then felt like an idiot because I couldn’t see anything. “Are you going to propose?”
He barked a laugh. “Only you would try to ruin the proposal surprise by guessing what I was doing before I did it.”
“So that’s a yes.”
He pinched my side making me squirm. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not proposing today.”
“You are proposing though, right?”
He sighed, exasperated with me. But this was his own fault for blindfolding me in the first place. “I’m proposing you stop asking so many questions.”
I felt him lean past me and open a door. His hands gripped my waist and he walked behind me, guiding me the entire way. Even with the blindfold, I knew the room was darker than outside. Everything dimmed. I strained to hear something that would give me a clue as to what we were doing, but it was quiet.
He carefully maneuvered me through a darkened space and then drew me to a stop. “I hope it’s something kinky,” I told him.
His surprise laughter on the back of my neck made me wonder if we weren’t alone. “That’s for later,” he whispered. And then he removed the blindfold.
I blinked at the scene in front of me, trying to make sense of all the people standing there. My parents were here. And my sisters. Killian and Vera. Ezra and Molly. Dillon. Benny and Endo and the rest of the Lilou staff. Even Jo was here. What in the world?
My first thought was that I had forgotten it was my birthday. “It’s not until November,” I told them. They were smiling like idiots, all of them, but my statement confused them. “My birthday, I mean.”
Wyatt wrapped his arms around my middle and squeezed. His chin rested on my shoulder and filled in the blanks. “It’s not a surprise party. If you stop guessing I can tell you why we’re here.”
I pressed my lips together. I wanted to call him a liar for telling me he wasn’t proposing to me when obviously he was, but he was right. It would help everything if I just shut up.
Ezra stepped out of the crowd and somebody turned the lights all the way up. Sarita. Oh, my god, we were inside Sarita.
“Welcome home, chef,” Ezra greeted, reaching out to shake my hand.
“No way!” I squeaked while my friends and family cheered loudly. Wyatt squeezed me tighter and I had the suspicion it was because he thought I was going to topple over in surprise. “No way!”
Ezra took my hand, which currently felt like a limp noodle, and shook it firmly. “I hope you don’t mind the crowd,” he murmured. “Wyatt thought it would be a fun surprise.”
“I’m going to kill him,” I told Ezra. Wyatt’s dark chuckle in my ear told me he didn’t believe me.
“No, I can’t lose another chef,” Ezra groaned. “I finally have two I can count on.” He winked at me, letting me know I was one that he meant.
Me.
I was one of his chefs.
Oh my God!
A smile broke free on my face so big and wide and bright I felt like it was going split my head in two. “Okay, fine. He ca
n stick around.”
Wyatt hugged me tighter. “Congratulations, chef,” he murmured in my ear.
I shivered at the heat in his voice and the way he said chef. I finally got the appeal. And good lord, I was going to need to hear it just like that again and again.
My family approached. “We’re so proud of you, Kay-bug!” Wyatt let go of me, so my dad could pull me into a hug. “Always knew you’d make something of yourself,” he preened. “Wait till I tell all the guys at the club, my girl’s such a big deal in Durham.”
I smiled against his barrel of a chest and savored the praise. “Thanks, Daddy.”
My sisters were next. Cameron first because she was like an excited puppy that couldn’t be contained. “Yay!” she cheered. “You’re so cool, Ky. Like the coolest. I want to be just like you when I grow up!”
Claire was next. She hugged me tightly, tighter than she’d ever hugged me before. “Congrats,” she said sweetly. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks,” I told them both. Cameron beamed, but Claire looked different for some reason. There was something off with her. “Hey, are you okay?” I asked.
She shrugged and smiled, but it was forced, vacant. “I’m fine.”
But she wasn’t. My heart pinched with concern for her and all I cared about was making her feel better. “Hey, Mom and Dad mentioned that you wanted to come spend some time with me this summer. Is that for real?”
Her chin wobbled, but she caught it quickly. “I need a break, you know? Would that be okay? I’ll try to impose as little on your life as possible.”
“I’m busy,” I told her honestly. “You could move in with me permanently and I would hardly notice. I’d love for you to come stay with me. For as long as you’d like.” The best part was, I meant it.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
I had no idea what that was about, but I didn’t have time to figure it out right now because my friends descended on me and pulled me into a hug all at once. Dillon, Molly, and Vera surrounded me with their congratulations, jumping up and down and screaming in my ear all at once.