No way she was going to rat anyone out. Some of the servers got moody in the back, but she hadn’t seen anyone take it out on a customer. If she did she wasn’t sure she’d say anything either.

  Life was just easier in the shadows where she liked to stay.

  “That’s good to know. I’d like to be informed if there were problems, but understand it doesn’t happen. I’ve been vocal with all the staff about that. Don’t feel like I’m just saying it to you.”

  That made her feel better. “Do you want me to help you put all this away?”

  “Nope,” he said. “It’s just about done. Everything is here and once the truck pulls away, I’ve got staff coming in to deal with it. It’s part of their job.”

  She wasn’t here the last few deliveries or wasn’t paying attention more than anything else. “Okay. Where do you want to meet? In your office? I’ve got my laptop to show you some things I’ve put together.”

  Her purse was big enough to toss her laptop in there.

  “If you don’t have plans for the day, do you mind going out to eat? Brunch or something while we talk? I guess I hadn’t put much thought into how much I was going to have to talk to you about when I asked if we could speak today.”

  “I don’t have any plans,” she said.

  “We can find a place to eat, or we can go back to my place where it’s quiet and I’ll cook for you.” She paused when he offered that. “If that makes you uncomfortable we can stay here and I’ll cook for you and we can talk in my office. I should have suggested that too.”

  “We can go to your place,” she said. “It’d be nice to taste your food. I’m not uncomfortable and, to be honest, I’m not sure I want anyone here to know I’m doing that much more for you.”

  She didn’t mind the whole taking pictures and posting them on social media. That was common. But she was going to manage his accounts by the sounds of it. Or at least what she drew up. She had a lot of different ideas and plans. Being new here, the last thing she wanted was to be talked about how her parents had the place before and now she was coming in and getting special treatment.

  She’d already gotten comments about why she wasn’t taking over the pub if she was working here. No one understood and she didn’t want to get into it with them.

  “Is there a problem?” he asked.

  She should have figured he wouldn’t let it drop that easily, but she’d be honest. “No. Just that people talk, and if I’m taking pictures and posting, that is one thing. I’ve got a few ideas or plans drawn up for you to decide on what you like.”

  He nodded his head. “Perfect. That is what I was hoping for. If you want to follow me to my place, then let me lock up. I’ll text you my address in case we get separated.”

  “Thanks,” she said, going back to her car. Five minutes later they were on the road.

  She wasn’t sure where he lived but found it was in the middle of the island. He wasn’t that far from either location she was guessing. Though Duke’s was on the north end of the island it wasn’t at the top, but a few miles in so not that far from his place. Southside was more like twenty minutes for him, but that wasn’t much of a drive either. It was more traffic and slower speed limits than mileage.

  They turned down one more street and he was on a dead end, the last house there. His house was more modern than she expected too. There were so many houses on the island that were over two hundred years old, but this looked to be a newer area of the island.

  “This is almost a development,” she said when she got out of her car. He’d pulled into his garage and she followed him through a door into a mudroom of sorts. “I didn’t know there were any on the island.”

  “A few,” he said. “My cousin Bode Bond started this years ago. Another one too. Lots of land not developed yet. Bode runs the construction end of Bond Realty and I know he splits his resources between the apartment buildings they maintain and build and homes along with repairs too.”

  “And the retirement community, right?” she asked. She knew about that because her parents had talked about it. They could buy a townhome there and considered it, but for now just liked the place they owned that had been in their family for years.

  She figured at some point it might be too much work for them and they’d consider moving, but they were very active still and liked their place. Maybe they hoped she’d take it over at some point, but she was in no position to give them what the value of the place was and they’d need it to buy something else.

  “That’s them,” he said.

  “Do you want my shoes on or off?”

  “You can keep them on,” he said. “I’m a neat freak in the kitchen, but in everything else I think I’m normal. It’s not like we are tracking in mud or rain.”

  He’d kept his sneakers on. He was wearing jeans like she was. Early May on the island wasn’t warm enough in her eyes for shorts, but it was still warmer than it’d be if she was in Maine.

  They moved from the mudroom into a kitchen and she wasn’t shocked at how big it was. Nor how beautiful.

  Everything was top of the line for a chef. “There is no way this house had a kitchen like this,” she said, laughing.

  “No,” he said. “This house is only about ten years old and the kitchen was huge. Bigger than it needed to be for the size of the house. It was probably great for someone else’s standards but not mine.”

  She could only imagine what it would have cost to gut and redo this on top of a house that wasn’t that old. “Did you design it like this?”

  “Actually no,” he said. “The layout is close to the same. I swapped out all the appliances for what I wanted. The cabinets and counters were nice and acceptable to me. But the island I had redone, as that is where I do most of the work.”

  Which made more sense. It was huge with a big sink on one end and another sink over by the fridge. There was also a six-burner gas stovetop on the island by the sink. Lots of prep space on the other side. She could see where the average homeowner might not like it on one side, but for someone who cooked for a living it worked out better.

  “It’s great,” she said.

  “Have a seat,” he said. “Pull out your laptop and we can talk while I make some food.”

  “You don’t have to cook for me,” she said.

  “Yes, I do,” he said, smiling at her.

  Her heart was racing more than it had in the presence of any other man. There was a tiny part of her that felt like this was a date even though she knew it wasn’t.

  “If you insist, then I’d love it. I haven’t tried anything you’ve cooked yet. I suppose that sounds horrible, doesn’t it?”

  “Not really,” he said. “You haven’t worked for me long and when you’re working you don’t seem to be eating.”

  Lots of people grabbed something quickly while they worked but not like a full sit-down meal. She wouldn’t take advantage of it either.

  Besides, who had time?

  “If I’m hungry, I grab something quick like a piece of bread.”

  That was probably why she was thinner than she’d been in years. It’s not that she didn’t want to eat or didn’t like food.

  Nope. The stress of her messed-up life caused her to lose the weight. And now that she was working so much, she didn’t have time to eat much more than filling a need.

  When she was home, she didn’t want to cook much for herself, but she did eat.

  The few times she’d had dinner with her parents she’d stuffed her face. Maybe she did it so they didn’t comment on how thin she was, but she was just trying to get through.

  “What do you like?” he asked. “Brunch food wise? Though by the time I’m done it will be close to eleven and we can have an early lunch. You tell me. I can eat anything.”

  It was about ten forty-five at this point. “Brunch is good,” she said. “I’m not a fussy eater. You make me what you want. I don’t know what you’ve got in the house.”

  He laughed at her. “I’ve got pretty much everything. Do you like burgers?”

  “Yes,” she said, trying not to sound confused.

  He grinned at her. “I’m going to make us brunch burgers. This is one of my favorite things. I’d put it on a menu, but I don’t have a brunch menu.”

  “What’s the difference between a brunch burger and a regular burger?”

  She was booting up her computer while she sat at the island and he was moving around the kitchen grabbing all sorts of ingredients. Beef, eggs, bacon, potatoes, cheese.

  “This burger is smaller and on an English muffin served with an over easy egg, bacon, cheese and hash browns on the side.”

  Her mouth started to water. “I’ll peel the potatoes for you,” she said. “You shouldn’t have to do all the work. We can talk while I do it.” He hesitated and she added, “Or isn’t anyone else allowed to do anything in your kitchen? I understand if you say that.”

  “You can peel them,” he said. “Just do it in the sink and the garbage disposal will take care of it. We only need those two and I’ll get the burgers ready.”

  He opened a drawer and handed her over a peeler and she stood up to move next to him. He pulled a spice rack out from under the island and started to grab all sorts of things.

  “That’s convenient.”

  “Everything in this island is an ingredient or a cooking utensil that I use often.”

  Not surprising. “While we work, should I start with what I’ve put together? I’ve got a few different ideas because I’m not positive what you are looking for. I’ve found options are always better.”

  “We can do that. But first I want to let you know that I met with Kelsey yesterday morning.”

  “Kelsey?”

  “Oh, sorry. My twin sister.”

  “You’ve got a twin sister?” Why didn’t she know that?

  “I do. My mother and she own a CPA firm. Kelsey does the books for your parents. Obviously for me too. She is the one that put us in contact.”

  “I didn’t know that,” she said. He frowned at her. “I don’t talk business with my parents much. I knew someone did the finances for them and all, but we didn’t get into how this whole thing got set up with you.”

  He shrugged. “Not a big deal. Anyway, Kelsey does payroll and all too. For the two hours a day that you are baking you’ll be paid at the baker’s rate that I have for Duke’s.”

  “What?” she asked. Part of her was thrilled this was happening and she didn’t have to be the one to bring it up. She was never good in those situations. Asking for money. Or anything for herself for that matter.

  But she sure the hell didn’t think she’d be paid the same as he was paying other bakers in his restaurant.

  “There are different rates of pay for positions,” he said, grinning at her as he was mixing the ground beef and all sorts of other things she couldn’t keep track of.

  She was on her second potato now and he was pulling out a bunch of pans and putting them on the stovetop. Dang, he was moving fast so she was peeling faster too.

  “I figured as much. I’m more shocked you are paying me the same as your professional bakers. I’m a home baker.”

  “I don’t care about experience. I care about results. Your results are proven so far. That’s how I work.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “I really mean that.”

  “You’re welcome. I also talked to Kelsey to get an advertising budget and what to pay you for this work too.”

  “You don’t have to pay me differently for this too,” she said.

  “Please,” he said. “Don’t insult me. I’m not taking advantage of things. Kelsey suggested that maybe you give me a flat weekly rate once we get the work hashed out. I need to hear what you’re doing and the time you think it will take and we’ll go from there.”

  “I don’t want to insult you,” she said. “I’m just not used to negotiating or naming prices.”

  “Maybe you should learn to be that way. Stand up for yourself.”

  She sighed. “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately. Why don’t we go over what I’ve got planned or lined up? You can decide on what you want and I’ll know about the amount of time it will take me to do the work.”

  “That’s doable,” he said. “Now that the potatoes are done, go sit back down.”

  She did as he said because she knew she’d be in the way.

  He pulled out a grater and started to run the potatoes over it quickly and effortlessly. She couldn’t move that fast if she wanted to. Once the potatoes were shredded, he had them in a bowl and filled it with cold water to sit.

  He moved over to get some bacon going in one pan, the patties now formed and aside.

  “You mentioned you’ve got a Facebook page already for Southside.”

  “And Duke’s,” he said. “You can do both places for me.”

  He went back to the potatoes and was draining the water and then laying them on a towel and twisting all the water out of them. Her eyes couldn’t help but go to his muscles that were visible with his T-shirt on and her body started to heat up.

  “Okay,” she said. “You’ll need to set up the other social media accounts too.”

  “Which I hoped to do today with you so that is why this is working out better here. We’ll get to it after we eat.”

  She should have realized he would be this organized. Guess they were going through with this regardless of the option he picked. She wasn’t sure what to expect.

  “This might sound horrible. Can I just sit here and watch you work and not talk? I find I can’t focus because you’re moving so fast and I’m amazed.”

  He stopped what he was doing and looked at her. There was a smile on his face. His long hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wasn’t sure how she’d felt in the past about men with long hair, but it just fit Duke and she was growing fond of it.

  “Sure,” he said. “We can talk while we eat or after.”

  She nodded and just watched him work. Fifteen minutes later she had a plate in front of her and she was pretty sure there was drool coming out of her mouth.

  Duke sat next to her on the island and they ate together.

  “This is out of this world,” she said after she finished chewing. She had no idea the spices he added and how simple ingredients could taste like this. “You really should put this on the menu at Southside. Like a Sunday brunch menu.”

  “I’ll think about it. Maybe open at ten and serve that menu from ten to twelve. Or open at nine? I’ll weigh it in my mind for when things pick up over the summer and staffing.”

  “I’m just talking in general,” she said. “You know more about this than I ever will. Just the world should be able to experience what I am right now.”

  She was chowing down like it was her last meal for a long time.

  “That’s nice to hear,” he said.

  They talked about the pub and things she liked there with the changes he’d made, then when they were done eating she offered to help clean up, but he told her he had a routine. He’d said it politely enough so she stayed where she was and was just going to enjoy the time with him.

  She’d remind herself later on it was a work lunch and not a date.

  12

  Taking The Plunge

  “How did it go with Hadley today?” Kelsey asked Duke later that night.

  They were at his parents’ house for dinner. His mother was in the kitchen and his father was coming out of his bedroom where he’d gone to change once he got back on the island not that long ago.

  “Who’s Hadley?” his father asked.

  “The woman that Duke thinks is cute and works for him now.”

  “You know,” he said to his sister, “you just love to ride my ass.”

  His father shook his head. “I tell Kelsey all the time it’s going to come back and kick her in the ass. So you find an employee attractive. Nothing new there.”

  He fought the urge to roll his eyes. “It’s not that.” He explained who Hadley was and the work she started out doing and then was going to take on.

  “Sounds like a gem to me,” his father said. “They aren’t easy to find. I know. I found it with your mother when she was working for the firm I used for my first business venture.”

  He’d heard this story before. That his parents met when his father bought his first of many ventures. Karen Riley was young and fresh out of college and assigned to his father’s account. The rest was history.

  “I’m focusing on my business,” he said. “Nothing more.”

  “Everyone says that,” his mother said, walking into the room. “I’m sure all your cousins that are taking the plunge said the same.”

  He wasn’t sure how this dinner got turned around on him like this. He might have found an excuse not to come if he knew that was going to happen.

  “We’ll leave you alone on your personal life,” his father said.

  “However dismal it is,” Kelsey said.

  “You’re one to talk. You’re older than me and still single.”

  Kelsey stuck her tongue out at him. “Your brother has you there,” his father said. “How about a beer, Duke? I could use one.”

  “One will go down smooth.”

  His father went to the kitchen to get the beers and he and Kelsey were left alone in the family room not that far away. “Did things go well? You didn’t answer me.”

  “They are good. Hadley has a bunch of great ideas and we hashed it out. She said once everything is set up she’ll probably spend about five to ten hours a week doing social media posts, maybe responding if need be and then working on the website. We are holding off on a website for Southside right now.”

  “No reason to put the money into one until you own it,” Kelsey said.

  “My thoughts exactly. Just because the first few months are doing well doesn’t mean it’s going to continue.”

  “You know as well as I do it’s going to be fine. I’m more concerned about you having to balance your time between both places and burning out.”

  “Aww, are you worried about me?” he asked his sister.