Page 106 of I Knead You Tonight

“You better,” he says. “I don’t want you wasting your talents.”

“But I love it here.”

“I love it here too, but this isn’t your end all, be all like it is mine. Slice is just a stepping stone for you, and that’s perfectly okay.”

“Do you really think I could make a career out of my culinary skills?”

“I guarantee that with a decade of true experience under your belt, you could start this town’s first five-star restaurant and thrive.”

I grin. “That sounds like an amazing dream.”

“Then make it happen, kid. Only one who can do it is you.” He winks at me. “Speaking of making things happen…I don’t know what’s going on with you and my son, but whatever you’re doing, whatever motivation you’re feeding him, keep it up.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, peeking up at him.

“It’s almost like we have the old Winston back, that guy he was before the accident—the one who was way less of a jerk.” He looks at me. “Pro parenting tip: it’s okay to call your kids jerks. Sometimes they need to hear it, especially from you.”

“Noted.” I laugh. “I’m really glad Winston’s turning his shit around, but I don’t think it has anything to do with me. I haven’t even been pushing him to do anything extra. I’ve just been worrying about my own crap.”

“I think that’s it, though. I think he sees you struggling and not falling apart and it’s giving him the kick in the ass he needs. Plus, I think he’s trying to impress you.”

My hands, which have been steadily chopping since Simon walked over, falter for the first time, and I pray he doesn’t notice.

As much as I’ve tried not to think about the conversation Winston and I had at the Fall Festival on Sunday, it keeps pushing its way into my head.

Like now.

Simon isn’t wrong. His sonisdifferent lately, and I’m starting to think I am the reason.

Winston Daniels, the man I hate, likes me…and not just in the bedroom.

When he dropped the bomb that he doesn’t detest the idea of us being together, I was shocked, because I thought I was the only one whose mind that thought had crossed.

If I’m being completely honest with myself, I like Winston too.

But the thought of telling him and giving him the power to hurt me…it terrifies me.

Winston could either love me for a lifetime or shatter me in two.

There is no in-between when it comes to us, and that’s one hell of a gamble to take.

“Impress me?” I scrunch my nose, trying to play it off like I have no idea what he means. Nobody other than Sully knows about Winston and me, and I’d like to keep it that way until I can figure out just exactly what’s going on between us. “What for?”

He pins me with adon’t bullshit a bullshitterlook. “You know exactly what for. That boy has a heart-on for you.”

“Ah, soyou’rewhere he got that term from.”

“Actually, it was his mother. She used to say it all the time to freak the kids out because it sounded so much like hard-on.”

I grimace.

“See?” He laughs. “That’s the exact face they’d make.”

“For a good reason.”

“Anyway, I’ve been around long enough to know a heart-on when I see one. He might not be the world’s greatest employee and he’s a huge pain in my ass, but he loves harder than anyone else I’ve ever met.” He looks at me meaningfully. “Just something to keep in mind if you’re ever at a point where that’s something to take into consideration.”

“I’ll, uh, keep it in mind,” I say.

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