Rules of Contact
Page 54

   “Mmm,” she finally said. “I wish we had more time.”
   “My thoughts exactly.”
   “But now I need to clean up—again.”
   He grinned down at her. “Sorry about that.”
   “Don’t be sorry. That was amazing.”
   He moved aside, then held out his hand and helped her up off the bed. They went into the bathroom together and washed up. He left Amelia alone to get ready while he dressed and went to the kitchen to find something cold to drink. He poured both of them a glass of ice water.
   “I could definitely use that,” she said, accepting the glass of water from him after she came out of the bedroom. “You made me thirsty.”
   “You make me horny. Like all the damn time, Amelia.”
   She laughed, wound her hair up in a bun and stuck a couple of hairpins into it. “You ready?”
   “For more sex? Hell yeah. Let’s do it.”
   She laughed. “No. To go to work. Though I like your idea better.”
   He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, lingering a bit as she met him and kissed him back. His cock twitched and came to life again. “I am the owner, ya know. You could call in sick with no repercussions.”
   Unfortunately, she pulled back and drank more water. “Ha. That’s not my style. Plus, I love my job.”
   “Fine, then. I’m ready to leave. As soon as my hard-on goes away.”
   She looked down at him, then smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind for after work.”
   “Yeah, you do that.”
   He grabbed his coat and let Amelia walk out the door, then shut it behind him. He followed her to Ninety-Two and parked near her, a couple of blocks down the street from the restaurant. He met her at her car, then took her hand.
   She looked down where their hands were clasped. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
   “Holding hands? Always a good idea.”
   “No. Your employees seeing us holding hands.”
   “You got a problem with holding my hand?”
   “I don’t have a problem with it, but some of your employees might see favoritism in this. And that could be an issue for me.”
   He wanted to argue about it, but the logical side of him saw her point, so when they got closer to the restaurant he let go of her hand.
   She turned to face him. “Thank you for understanding and for not making a big deal out of it.”
   “Hey, the last thing you need are disgruntled cooks.”
   She laughed. “So true.”
   “You go on inside. I think I’ll head to the market and buy the ingredients I’ll need to cook tonight.”
   She wrinkled her brows. “You’re just giving me a head start so no one sees us walking in together.”
   “Would I do that?”
   “You would, and I’d kiss you for that except we’re too close to the restaurant and someone might see us. So imagine me kissing you.”
   “If I think about you kissing me right now, my imagination will go a little crazy and then my dick will get hard and then I’ll have to go sit in my car.”
   She laughed. “I’ll see you inside.”
   She walked through the door and he went down the street where there was a great fish market. He already had an idea of what he wanted to make, so he purchased some sea bass and lobster, then headed back to the restaurant. When he entered, he greeted Clifford, the manager on duty, since Ken was still out on leave.
   “Hey, boss,” Clifford said. “Didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
   “It was a spur of the moment thing. I’m going to be in the kitchen if someone needs me.”
   Clifford didn’t even blink or ask questions about why the owner was going to the kitchen. Which suited him just fine because explaining it might be awkward. “Sure thing.”
   Flynn stopped in the kitchen long enough to put his purchases in the refrigerator, then washed his hands and headed back onto the main floor to say hello to some of the regular guests. That took about a half hour. When he was satisfied he’d done his PR job, he returned to the kitchen to see that Amelia had things well under way.
   “Mind if I step in?”
   Amelia did a fine job of acting as if this was the first time she’d seen him today. She smiled at him. “Oh, hello, Flynn. You’re more than welcome to come in. Would you like to see what’s on the menu for tonight?”
   “Sure.” He walked around and greeted everyone, tasted a few things then went back to Amelia.
   “I was thinking of trying out a dish. I actually stopped at the market to buy some things. Mind if I cook in here tonight?”
   “Not at all. What would you like to fix?”
   “Pan-seared sea bass with lobster risotto. And maybe snap peas.”
   She grinned and nodded. “That sounds amazing. Do you need some help?”
   “No, I think I know what I’m doing, but you’ll be the first person I yell to for help if I screw it up.”
   She laughed. “Sure. You can work over on the left side burners near where I cook.”
   “So you can keep an eye on me and make sure I don’t burn your kitchen down?”
   She fought a smile. “Something like that.”
   “Thanks.”
   Flynn washed up and got started with the risotto. It wasn’t long before he got into a rhythm. He’d had the dish in his head for the past week. Now he just had to put it all together.
   Amelia was busy, so she didn’t stop by to check on him until he had the entire meal plated. Only then did she come over and lean in to inspect it. He could tell she was giving it her critical chef’s eye, which was what he expected from her. It had to pass not only the taste test but the visual one as well. A dish had to look appetizing before the guests would want to eat it.
   “Visually, it’s stunning,” she said as she waited for his approval. When he nodded at her, she reached for a fork and slid it into the fish, taking a small bite. He’d made extra so he could taste everything while he was cooking. He knew it was good. The question was—would Amelia think so, too?
   He realized as he waited while she sampled the sea bass, the risotto and the snap peas that he was actually nervous. He knew what he was doing on the football field. No question there. Here, he was a novice, so there was a chance he could screw up.
   Amelia chewed thoughtfully, but hadn’t said anything.
   “Stefanie, come over here, please.”