“That was your cousin, wasn’t it?” Beth asked. She was one of the line cooks. “I mean I didn’t see who it was, but someone said it was Hudson Mills.”

  “Yes, that’s my cousin. He just got engaged.”

  “Good for him,” Beth said. “And in your restaurant. Did you know that was happening?”

  “Not until halfway through their meal,” he said. “Hudson slipped back and asked to speak to me. He knew Delaney liked my chocolate cake.”

  “Who doesn’t?” Beth said. “But Hadley has the magic touch with desserts. I love chocolate, but those white chocolate chip blondies served hot with vanilla ice cream and raspberry compote on top are to die for. I made one a month ago as a late night snack before I left. I thought I was going to start groaning like I was in the bedroom.”

  He cracked a grin. It wasn’t the first time Beth had made a comment like that to him.

  He knew she was flirting, but he wasn’t interested. Even if he weren’t dating Hadley, Beth wasn’t his type.

  Not that he knew what his type even was anymore because, at first glance, Hadley wouldn’t have been it if he’d seen her out.

  He’d always liked confidence in a woman and found it sexy. Hadley very rarely expressed that, but he still found her sexy as all hell.

  Sometimes it was in a vulnerable way and then other times she spoke up and surprised him and he found he was even more attracted to her.

  Though he had to admit there were times she was finding her confidence too.

  “Hadley does have the touch with desserts,” he said.

  “It’s amazing she is only a home baker.”

  “What’s so amazing about it?” he asked. “A lot of people get their start at home. You have the talent or you don’t.”

  “She seems to have it with decorating too,” Beth said. “I was checking out her site. I pulled one of her cards down and looked. I think the island could use that.”

  “It can,” he said. “She seems to be getting some orders.”

  “Oh,” Beth said. “I didn’t know you talked to her that much.”

  “I talk to all my employees when I’m here,” he said. He was working while the two of them were talking like he always did.

  He was a fast cook. He wanted his employees to be too, but he also wanted things done right before he wanted them fast.

  Beth wasn’t that fast and he was starting to realize it had to do with her talking more than focusing on the food.

  He wouldn’t be an ass about it though. She was moving faster with him in here and he suspected it was only because he was here. When Beth worked with Zeke he knew ticket times were slower.

  Not because of Zeke so much but with him waiting for Beth or another line cook to catch up.

  “You do,” Beth said, laughing. “Some people find you intimidating. I do in the kitchen, but you’re a nice guy and all.”

  He choked out a laugh. He wasn’t sure anyone had ever said he was a nice guy. At least to his face

  “Thanks, I think.”

  “Oh, stop,” Beth said, giggling. “You’re a big guy. The long hair. I bet you work out.”

  This was getting out of hand, but nothing was being said that was that horrible. “It’s that or look pudgy with all the food I eat that I make.”

  “I’m not pudgy,” Beth said, turning and sticking her chest out some. “I taste my food too. We burn it off in the heat back here sweating half the time.”

  “Someone is coming tomorrow to look at the AC.”

  “See,” Beth said. “Nice. Not everyone cares that much. It works.”

  “It does work, but it’s not working well enough. I don’t need someone passing out back here because of heat stroke.”

  It was warm this week and though the dining area was staying nice and cool, the kitchen wasn’t. And on top of not wanting his staff to feel ill, he didn’t want the heat from the kitchen moving to where his customers would feel it.

  People went out to eat to not have to cook a lot in the heat. They sure the hell didn’t want to sit in a restaurant where it was hot.

  “Nice again,” Beth said, winking at him.

  “We need to get these orders out,” he said and hoped that stopped the conversation for now.

  When things slowed down a few hours later, he took a quick break and went to his office. He found his phone in his hand and was texting Hadley, but she didn’t answer.

  He wasn’t sure what her plans were tonight. Maybe she was with her parents. Or she could be running errands.

  Could be walking the beach.

  It was only eight and still light out.

  He’d be closing in an hour and there was part of him that wanted to go see her, but he wouldn’t ask either.

  He was just glad he was working tonight when they closed at nine and not the next two nights that were open until ten.

  Not that it mattered. He’d be at Duke’s those nights and was open until ten.

  It wasn’t just Hadley that had to figure things out, but maybe he did too.

  27

  Extra Touch

  The following Friday, Hadley showed up with her parents for dinner at Duke’s. She texted him they were coming. It was a last minute thing. She’d worked until seven and then gone home and changed. They decided on a late dinner and it’d be past eight by the time they got here.

  He’d told her that he’d like her to come home with him if she wanted to wait. He was surprised he’d offered that to her, which meant she’d have to wait at the restaurant for him.

  She’d sit at the bar and have a drink. He’d clean up and get out of there earlier if he could, but he just wanted to spend the time with her.

  It felt like their dates were so few and far between.

  They saw each other in the mornings or at Southside more than anything.

  Maybe if they lived together it’d be different. Yes, it would be.

  But it’s not like that was anywhere near in his head at the moment either.

  He continued to work the crowd. He’d made sure there were reservations for the Breatons at eight thirty so they didn’t have to wait.

  He did have to have things shuffled around. It wasn’t the first time things like this were done to accommodate someone, and the truth was, by then it was slowing down anyway.

  By eight forty-five he knew that they were in the restaurant and the order had been placed. He remembered what table they’d be at and he saw the three orders come up that he’d make himself.

  He’d joked that he’d make something special for her and he grabbed a tomato and cut it into a flower and put it on top of her pasta dish. She’d know what it was and would laugh. Someone else might see it too but maybe not. Not with as fast as the food was flying out the door.

  Even if they did see it, his servers here didn’t know Hadley. They might think he was just doing it for a friend or a woman he was interested in.

  And he had to tell himself to not even care. Or why did he care, because the truth was he didn’t really.

  Another thirty minutes went by and he was watching the computer to see if a dessert order came up. He could see things even though he wouldn’t be preparing them. But he did want to bring them out.

  He’d told that to the server. He’d been out in the dining area a few times tonight just checking to see how people’s meals were. He tried to go out every night, even if it was for five minutes.

  He liked to be seen by his customers. That little extra touch.

  “Duke,” Mike said to him. “You wanted to bring the desserts to table twenty-nine.”

  “Coming,” he said.

  He finished the steak he was cooking and plated it and put it up on the run for the line cooks to finish with the rest of the dishes. There were only two more orders to go out that he could see and they’d stop taking them at this point. He could start cleaning his station and then get out of here early.

  Once the desserts were plated, he grabbed the three of them and walked out into the dining area and toward Hadley's table.

  “Duke,” she said, smiling. “Wow, you are sweaty.”

  It wasn’t that hot in the back. At least he didn’t think so. He was used to it. But he supposed she wasn’t used to him working as hard, as Southside wasn’t nearly the flow and craziness as Duke’s was at more than three times the size.

  “Sorry about that,” he said.

  “It’s an honest day’s work,” Stan said. “The food was fabulous as always.”

  “Yum,” Hadley said. “The famous chocolate cake. I never tried it the day it was at Southside.”

  “It’s been there a few times,” he said.

  “But never when I’m there or it’s gone by the end of the shift.”

  “You get it tonight,” he said, placing it down. “Who had what?”

  He placed down the other two desserts in front of her parents. “Glad you guys could come tonight. It’s on me.”

  “No, no,” Stan said. “I appreciate it, but you’re doing us a favor.”

  “Nonsense,” he said.

  “Really,” Louisa said. “We wanted to see Southside shine and it is. It’s everything we thought it could be and never knew how to get it there. Even Hadley has found a new purpose.”

  He smiled at his girlfriend. She’d been getting a lot of orders for children’s cakes. She had something going on most weekends and was able to make the cakes at night, then decorate in the morning and deliver them no problem.

  She seemed so happy to keep getting those orders.

  And though she didn’t cook in the back or run the kitchen or anything like that when the pub was open, she was someone others were going to with questions when they had them.

  He had her training a new server last week too.

  She was organized and efficient and she knew her marketing well.

  Her ideas were wonderful too, from the brunch special to having a Fourth of July picnic option too.

  It was not something he could have done at Duke’s, but Southside made it easier to have things like sandwiches or fried chicken baskets.

  It made him wonder why he never thought of those things before. Or why Stan and Louisa didn’t either.

  “I wouldn’t call it that,” she said.

  She had a light pink hue to her cheeks. “Your parents see you happy and that is all that matters,” Duke said.

  “That’s right,” Stan said.

  “I’ve got to get back and clean up. I shouldn’t be too long. The last order will be going out.”

  “I’ll have a glass of wine at the bar. No rush,” she said.

  He nodded and went around to talk to a few more people and check in on them and then cleaned up for the night, had his manager close up and found Hadley at the bar with a half-full glass of wine in front of her.

  “Take your time,” he said when she picked it up to drink fast.

  “It’s fine,” she said quietly. “I’d rather go anyway.” She downed her wine and they walked to his SUV.

  “People saw us leaving together,” he said. “Are you okay with that?”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “Not many know me. Or they didn’t recognize me. I’m a pretty forgettable person.”

  He hated when she said things like that.

  Right now with the soft waves she’d put in her hair, the dusting of makeup around her brown eyes, the pink hue to her cheeks and another sundress she was wearing that fit her body well, she had heads turning and wasn’t even aware of it.

  “Stop,” he said. “You aren’t and you know it. You just haven’t found the right person.”

  “Did I find him now?” she asked.

  He hoped so. “That sounds like a rhetorical question. You do that at times.”

  “Do I?” she asked with a frown on her face.

  “You do,” he said. “But I like it.”

  “I’m glad you like that about me.”

  They got out of his SUV in his garage and she had her big purse with her. He assumed she had her clothes in that. She wasn’t going into work until noon tomorrow. She had a cake to deliver for a party. She’d told him she made it before her shift today and had it in the fridge and covered in a crumb coat to chill and she only needed about two hours to decorate it in the morning and deliver.

  “I like a lot of things about you,” he said. He had her pinned against the wall. “Starting with your body. I want to see it now, but the problem is, I stink and am sweaty.”

  “Sweaty but not stinky,” she said.

  “I still need to shower.”

  “Can we shower together?” she asked. “I’ve never done that with a man before.”

  “Really?” he asked. “Might as well let you have another first with me.”

  There was part of him that was feeling protective of her when all this happened between them. He’d never been a first that he could remember with a woman.

  Even when he lost his virginity it’d been with someone who wasn’t one.

  Or if he was a first for other women with something, they never shared that with him.

  “Might as well,” she said, then turned and ran for his bathroom.

  He gave chase and felt like a kid when he didn’t feel that often.

  They were both shedding their clothes on the way and there was a litter of dirty chef’s clothing on his floor before she could stop to get her dress off. Her shoes had been kicked off on the way.

  “You’re slower than I thought you’d be,” he said.

  “Sorry. I guess you’ve done this before, but it’s not like I could run and lift a dress over my head.”

  He had the shower on, the water at the right temp and was going to jump in but remembered he needed a condom and grabbed one first.

  When he turned she was naked and in the shower and had her arm out for him to join her.

  He did, went right under the spray and felt his body start to cool off immediately.

  He grabbed the shampoo and lathered up his hair, flipping it back once it was clean and rinsed.

  Before he could grab the soap, Hadley’s small hands were running over his back and he could smell that she’d lathered him up.

  He turned and she was in the back of the shower not getting wet but more watching him. It’s not like she needed to get clean as much as he did.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, her hands going for his dick. It was rock hard and ready to roll.

  “Looks like I’m playing with you for once.”

  “You can play with me any time you want,” he said.

  “I like doing that. I’ve never had someone so big before. Not just this,” she said, stroking him. “But every part of you.”

  He wasn’t going to think of the other men she’d been with. They didn’t talk about their pasts much. She’d mentioned one or two other exes and he had the feeling that might be all there was.

  She wasn’t the type to date much and it seemed when she was in a relationship it was pretty long term.

  Or what he considered long term. Like over a year.

  He could say he hadn’t had that in a long time and even then it was years ago when he lived in Boston.

  “You know what I want to do?” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “What?”

  His hands were soaping up and running over her breasts now. Her nipples were little hard pebbles.

  “I want to fuck you from behind.”

  “I think I want that too,” she said, turning away from him and putting her hands on the wall in front of her. She wiggled her ass a little and if that wasn’t an invitation he sure the hell didn’t know what was.

  He found the condom that he’d put on the ledge, opened it and covered himself and then found her opening nice and slick and slid right in.

  “You are so tight like this.”

  “It feels so good. Maybe it’s because you are just so big,” she said.

  He grabbed her hips and pulled her back some, bending her over more. His hips were moving forward and back and he was lost in the feelings within him and not so much worried about her.

  He wasn’t used to doing that or being that selfish before.

  He moved his hand around and found her swollen bud. He knew she’d need the help to get there.

  “How is that?”

  “Perfect. I used to worry that I wouldn’t get to the end, but I don’t feel that way anymore. I always know you’ll find a way to bring me there.”

  “I will,” he said, moving faster. There was a need clawing inside of him bursting to get out, but he wouldn’t allow it to happen until she was there too.

  Her hands were on the wall, she was slipping a little, but he wasn’t going to let her fall. No way.

  His hand was moving faster on her swollen bud, his hips matching the speed. He knew there wasn’t much left in his tank at this point.

  “I’m so close,” she said.

  “Do what you need to get yourself there,” he said.

  “You’re doing it,” she said, her voice rising and the minute she finished those words she started to pulse and twitch around him at the same time he felt his body tense and then almost sputter and jerk as he ran out of fuel crossing the finish line.

  He pulled out and hugged her from behind, then turned so that his body was against the cool tiles and not the warm water hitting him.

  “My God,” he said. “You just pull something right out of me like never before.”

  “I know that feeling,” she said. Then she started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I have a reason to clean up now. I’m sweaty.”

  He grinned and kissed her on the top of her head. The water was in front of her, but they were far enough back it was only really hitting her shins as her back was still to his chest.

  His arms moved so that he wasn’t holding her. He had to take care of the condom anyway.

  She grabbed the soap and cleaned up and he did the same.

  Once they were out of the shower and dried off, he knew he wasn’t tired enough to go to bed. He would have planned to sleep in a bit more if need be, but he had to get up to bring Hadley home so that she could get ready for work.

  “Want to go sit in the living room or watch TV in bed?”

  “Can we talk?” she asked.