Page 49 of Long Shot

“But you do.”

My mouth opens. Then shuts. I thought I hid that better. Ah, well. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. I mean, I see the parade of beautiful women in and out of the bar, but obviously, it’s not a good idea for one of your hookups to be someone at work.”

“One of my hookups.”

“Yes.”

He rubs his forehead. “I’m not trying to hook up with you, Reese.”

I blink. Well, that’s humiliating. My skin tightens and my cheeks and eyes burn. “Right, of course not! I just . . . don’t know why you’re doing this. But okay! We’ll take Jack surfing on Sunday.”

He nods, a faint furrow still between his eyebrows. “Okay.”

My face still hot, I twist my fingers together.

What is wrong with me? I controlled a kitchen full of staff, most of them men, most of them sexist and foul-mouthed, and I gave back as good as I got. And now this one man has me blushing, for God’s sake, blushing and stammering and making a fool of myself.

I’m off my game. I need to get back in the game.

“Okay, fine,” I say. “I’ll do it.”

One of his eyebrows flies up behind his shaggy hair, that sexual tension still crackling between us. I know exactly where his mind went. “Uh . . . do what?”

I close my eyes. For the love of . . . “I’ll do it . . . I’ll help in the kitchen.”

11

CADE

“We need to figure this out.” I look around the crowded office with Beck, Marco, Danny, and Reese all sitting or standing. “We need to know what Reese’s role is going to be.”

“I don’t want to be in charge,” she says, lifting her chin.

I grind my teeth. She totally wants to be in charge. I can tell she’s salivating at the chance to take control and direct things in the kitchen. Why is she denying that?

“I think you have to, Reese,” Danny offers. “You’re the one with the ideas. The knowledge. The experience.”

Her lips tighten, one corner twitching up into a grimace.

I let her off the hook. “Danny’s in charge. Everything you do, you run past him.” I meet Reese’s eyes. “You’re not responsible for other staff. Just the food.” I don’t want to come across as a tyrant, but I sense right now this is what she needs.

I see the way relief releases the tightness in her eyes and mouth. She nods.

I guessed right.

Some kind of weird emotion fills my chest. I shake my head to refocus. “Are you up for redoing the menu?”

Her eyes sparkle. “Yes.”

“What kind of time frame do you need?”

We talk more business.

“You’re set on Mexican food?” Reese asks.

We exchange glances and shrug.

“It seemed to go with tequila,” Marco says.

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