Tim rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”
“Tell them you’re sorry,” John says with authority in his voice. “You apologize now.”
Tim stares at the ceiling before whipping his head, drunkenly, back and forth between me and Jake. “I am sorry.”
Shaking his head, John calls out for his butler, who arrives and takes over from Jake and ushers Tim away in a matter of seconds. John turns to us, head down.
“I saw he was getting wasted but didn’t think he’d push things.” He looks my way. “I’m so sorry if he made you feel uncomfortable in here. I should have been more on top of the situation.”
“It’s fine.” I wipe my hands on my chef’s coat and smooth back my hair. I don’t want to think of what could have happened if Jake hadn’t walked back in, but I’d like to bet on myself that I could have at least stunned him with the whisk. Which is still in my hands.
Jake, now standing beside me, puts a hand on my arm. “Are you really okay?”
“I am. Believe it or not, I’m fine. It’s just so weird the way he was talking, like he knew we were a couple or thought we were one.”
John shrugs. “The guy lives for the Blades, he was just mad and being ridiculous…and a stupid pain in my butt,” he says. “Not that it’s an excuse. Trust me, I’ll be dealing with him tomorrow. You’re never too old to tell on your brother to your parents, and that’s what I intend to do, after I let him know my thoughts first.”
“He made a few offhand comments to me when I was serving him,” Jake adds. “About making out with the locals. It was really odd.”
“Again, I am sorry.” John then turns his attention to me. “I hope his actions don’t affect what I’m about to ask of you, but I have several business meetings lined up with investors coming into town to sit down with me. I was going to arrange for dinners out when they were here, but if you’re willing—and I promise to keep my idiot brother out of the picture—will you come back to do those meals?”
Not going to lie, the thought of coming back sends a thrill of excitement through me at the same time it sends a rush of hesitation.
“Can I let you know?” I wave a hand around the room. “I really need to focus on cleaning this up right now, but I can discuss this with you further later this week.”
“Sounds like a plan. And again, I’m sorry.” John shoves his hands in his front pockets and turns to leave, but turns around again as he gets to the door. “Tonight was lovely. I’m sorry he ruined it.”
As the door swings shut behind him, I feel Jake’s arms wrap around me fully. Turning, I let myself fall into his embrace, a little bit of shock starting to sweep my system.
“Did all of that really just happen?” I manage.
Jake angles his head so he’s peering down at me. “Are you really okay? He was getting pretty aggressive.”
“Yes…no?” Shaking my head, I bury my face into his chest. Taking a few breaths, I stand up taller and take a step back, tilting my head to one side as I take him in. “You stood up for me.”
His face twists into a puzzled expression. “Huh?”
“He went to reach for me and you grabbed his hand before I could even react.” Smiling, I thread my arms around his neckand take a step closer so I’m snug against his body. “I don’t think anyone has ever physically put themselves in a position to stand up for me like you just did.”
“Well, I didn’t want to see what was going to happen if he did touch you.” Jake closes his eyes. “I could feel this fire inside of me each time he looked over at you, and when he leaned across that butcher block…”
“And we don’t have to even think about what could have happened because it didn’t.” Standing on my tiptoes, I place my lips on his cheek and kiss the side of his face, the smoothness of his clean-shaven skin sending a flutter of fresh nerves through me. “Thank you.”
As I lower myself back to the ground, his lips come down on the top of my head and he lets them linger there for a second before speaking.
“It really was weird the way he was acting, right?” Jake says as I get back to work, packing up my things.
“Completely. It’s like he knows something we don't about us…if that makes sense.” I laugh. “He kept putting emphasis on us being a couple, or at least alluding to that.”
Jake shakes his head as my phone dings from my purse. I walk across the kitchen to retrieve it as he dries some of the dishes I’ve washed and starts putting them away.
“Do you think you’ll still meet with John about being his chef for those dinners?”
I pull my phone out of my bag but put it down as Jake asks this. “I don’t know. Tonight was great until it wasn’t, and I don’t ever want a repeat. Can he promise me that it won’t happen again, like really? That guyishis brother.”
“You can always put a contract together that protects you, and I’m going to insist you always have servers with you that can also be your bodyguards.”
“We’ll see,” I say, looking at my phone. A feeling of curdled milk twists in my stomach when I see there’s a text from Todd.
