Page 117 of The Other Guy

That’s how long it’s taken for me to realize that I don’t want a future without her.

She’s under my skin.

I love the way she smells of coconut and sugar. I love the way she looks at me like I can hang the freaking moon. I love her laugh anytime of the day, but especially in the morning when her voice is still a little tired; and the way she always takes a tiny sip of her coffee first to check the temperature of it. There’s a million little things that I like about her but not a single one that’s better than the rest. It’s all of them combined that makes me eager to see her and talk to her and touch her.

And the way she responds to my touch? It’s addicting. It doesn’t take either of us but a graze of our fingers to get turned on. Hell, just being in her presence is enough for me to be ready for more. We run hot constantly.

I used to think doing the same thing day in and day out and not making a deep connection with anyone else was enough for me. I thought since I made a good living, owned my business and home, had a pretty nice vehicle and a great family that doubled as friends, that I didn’t need anything else. Physically and financially, I was satisfied and I didn’t realize how much I was missing out on emotionally because of it. Until Sierra.

She blew all my ideas out of the water. Reminded me there’s definitely more to life than simply functioning.

“Earth to Jack,” Kyle says, calling my attention by snapping in front of my face.

I lift my head from where I was staring at the paper on the table in front of me and grin.

“Sorry,” I say sheepishly, embarrassed that I got caught zoning out to thoughts of his niece.

But of course he knew exactly what was going through my head. “Thinking of Sierra again?”

“Yeah.”

“Not that I’m opposed to that, because I like you for her and so do Keith and Samantha, but let’s get back to work so you can get to your girl, yeah?”

“Good plan.” I grin.

We’ve been going over his current menu and marking it up, changing just about everything that can be made from — or mostly from — scratch and adding items that will make The Landing more unique and might draw people in for more than just the drinks.

“Have you thought about putting in a commercial brick oven or smoker?”

“I haven’t. That’s pretty expensive, isn’t it?”

I pull out my phone and open the search browser to show him what we’re looking at for pricing. “There’s quite a range for the ovens. Anywhere from around three grand to quite a bit more. You’d be in the quite a bit more range because of using it indoors and commercially, and you’re not currently set up for it. But, the brick oven isn’t only for pizza. You can bake pretty much anything in there and it’d be unique. Or you could build a back patio with a brick oven back there and do it only in the summer. I believe outdoor ones are a little cheaper.”

“What about smokers?”

“Again, your price range is all over the place. Though, unless you’re a pro at smoking meat, there’s not as much about what you’d be offering that brings something people can’t do at home. A lot of people have their own smokers, me included.”

“You do? What the hell, man? Why haven’t we been using it?”

I roll my eyes. “Relax. We will. I just haven’t had the chance to use it lately.”

“We won’t discuss what you’re filling your time with instead,” he jokes.

For several minutes, we write down different options and he decides in the end that he wants to think on it for a few days.

“If you decide not to purchase anything right now, which is completely fine, we’ll work on the menu. If you go with the new oven or a smoker, then the menu will be a little different.”

“Makes sense. Maybe we can come up with a few ideas for menu items for all three options? That way I have a little more information to help me decide.”

“Absolutely. If you decide to purchase a smoker, your options seem endless. Pulled pork, smoked chicken wings, brisket, turkey, or chicken. It’s pretty wide open. You can smoke vegetables, too. Give them a different flavor. If you go with the brick oven, I’d recommend starting just with pizza. You can build up your name through that and add menu items later but people will come for the pizza alone. But you can do individual baked pastas and appetizers in there, too. If we just update your kitchen without purchasing anything major… man, I have so many ideas.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. Remember, I went to culinary school so this is kind of my thing. If I didn’t own the gym, I’d definitely have opened my own restaurant by now.”

The corner of his mouth twitches but otherwise he doesn’t give me any indication that he heard me.

I take another look at his menu and stand up to walk around the quiet bar. It’s only four in the afternoon but it’s a Friday and I figure it’ll start to fill up soon. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you have to change anything up here. It’s bar food and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you want, I can have my dad come and take a look at things with you. This is what he used to do for a living.”

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