Page 19 of Always Be My Baby

He looked up at me, sizing me up as well. “You don’t look like a Marilee.”

I snickered—the punk. “I’m not. I’m Girard, executive chef. What do you need with Lee?”

“It’s personal.”

“Well, then it seems like we have a problem because Lee’s had a hard life and it’s my job to keep her from feeling any more of it if I can help it.”

“Since when is security part of a chef’s job description?”

“It’s not. It’s in the boyfriend’s job description. We live together.”

“Shit,” he cursed under his breath, shaking his head.

“So again, why don’t you tell me what you want with Lee?”

“I was hoping I could crash at her place.”

“And who are you? Why would you think she’d let a stranger crash at her place, which, again, ismyplace?”

“Because I’m her brother Lachlan. Lachlan Bell.”

“She only has one brother and you aren’t him.”

“Our dad married my mom after he and Marilee’s mom divorced.”

“You look too old. Marilee was a month shy of ten when he left and you don’t look like a teenager.”

“I was born before my parents were married.”

It took me a second to process that information, but once it clicked, I was livid. “You’re telling me your piece of shit dad abandoned three kids, ages nine—almost ten, eight, and six, leaving them with a mother who couldn’t function, no child support, to start a new family with your whore of a mom?”

“Hey—”

I didn’t give him the chance to finish. “Get out and don’t come back.”

“Dad said—”

“Get out and don’t come back.” And because he seemed to be having trouble understanding, I helped him to his feet and marched him toward the door by his jacket collar. When Lena saw me rounding the left side of the wall leading into the hostess station, Lena led Lee back into the dining room from the right.

Lee needed to hear about this, but not right now. Not in the business she’d built from the ground up. Maybe I’d tell her after an orgasm or two to soften the blow. For now, I pushed him outside, standing in the doorway at my full height, my arms crossed over my chest to block his reentry.

I didn’t need this. Lee didn’t need this. I needed to call Tess and Jimmy.

Something told me trouble just showed up in town.

Marilee

For a couple of weeks now, Girard had been acting strangely. I’d been scared but excited to show him the treasure chest of goodies that I’d purchased atCoochie,Coochie. But given the change in his behavior, the time just didn’t scream, “Break out the anal lube!”

It wasn’t like we’d gone these two weeks without sex, that hadn’t changed, but his body never fully relaxed, which meant he was holding something back. When I asked him what was wrong he always answered, almost like a form answer, “Nothing’s wrong. Why?”

Why?Seriously?Like I was so consumed by the throes of passion that I neglected to notice that he’d stopped laughing and teasing, and generally being playful the way he normally was while we were slapping uglies? I mean, he made it good. He always made it good. But it was supposed to be fun.

What could I do? If he refused to talk about whatever was bothering him, my hands were sort of tied.

We were at T-minus one week until Valentine’s Day. The bistro had so many reservations that we opened up the party room to accommodate all the guests wanting to spend their special night with us. I couldn’t blame them. If I was going out for a romantic dinner, I’d want The Bell Jar, too. Since we both had to work, Girard and I decided to celebrate our Valentine’s Day on Sunday, the day after, because we had Monday off.

I waited for him in my office. We had a menu to plan. At the end of lunch service, he sauntered in, giving off an air of confidence one got from doing a job they loved and doing it well.

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