Page 24 of The Biker and the Baker
"With me." I dust brownie residue from my hands. "She's got some sort of beef with me and I haven’t been able to figure out why."
"Oh, that."
I frown. "What does that mean?"
She sips her whiskey. "Don't know for sure, but I overheard some things. That you refused to hire her because of her size."
"Hireher? When? Where?"
She lifts a brow at me. "You serious? That girl applied for a position at the shop over a dozen times. You interviewed her at least twice."
"For real? I don't remember her."
"When you went to Germany, I had to get rid of the last head chef ‘cause she wasn't proactive, needed too much managing. Toni and I were going through previous applicants when we came across Pia’s and were impressed by her persistence. We called her in and loved her no bullshit attitude.
“Hired her on the spot. Best decision I ever made for the place. That girl’s worth her salt.” She takes another sip of whiskey before throwing me a cocksure smirk. "See, I did somethingbetterthan you this time around."
I wrack my brain trying to remember Pia's face from all the interviews I did for Cookie's Treat but come up empty. I don't remember her. At all. And if I didn’t choose her after interviewing her, it had nothing to do with her size. I think Pia is sexy as fuck. Thick curves in all the right places, just how I like them. Then again, that’s a fact I didn't realize until I saw heroutof her chef's uniform for the first time at the club the other night.
Still, there's no way I’d deny someone a job opportunity because of their size. That's ridiculous.
True, I’d never hire someone unattractive to work the floor or behind the counter at any of our establishments, ‘cause whether we want to admit it or not,looks sell.
But Pia isn’t just good-looking, she’s in-your-face gorgeous, with her cute pierced nose, daring long-lashed brown eyes, plump lips, and those deep dimples that pops out when she smiles.
“I didn’t say anything,” Cookie continues, “but after I heard that, I did some observing. Before Pia, there truly were no full-bodied employees. It makes sense why she would assume she wasn’t hired because of her size. That’s why I decided to let her bring in her own team, so she’d be comfortable.” She picks up one of the brownies and bites into it before adding, “I get that appearance is crucial for the club and the spa, but try mixing things up at the pastry. We don’t gotta be Hooters.”
“’Kay. I will.”
Have I unintentionally been a chauvinistic douche this entire time? Did I subconsciouslynothire Pia because... Wow, I hate to even think it.
“Lemme ask,” Cookie starts, and when I glance over at her she’s watching me closely. Too closely. “Why does it matter?”
“Why does what matter?”
“Pia not liking you. It’s never been a problem before. You’re good atpeople-ing, or whatever. And usually, if someone’s all up in your shit like you claim she is, they’d be fired by now. This is the first time you’ve evercome to me about an employee. What’s so special about this one?”
I jerk my head. “Nothing special. She’s just...I dunno. It just feels like I’m always in a war with her and I don’t even know what we’re fighting about, if that makes sense.”
Cookie folds her lips, hiding a smile, but the mischief in her eyes rats her out.
“What?” I demand.
“Nothing,” she mumbles before picking up another brownie and stuffing the entire thing into her mouth.
I’m about to press her ass further but my phone rings. I straighten so I can get it out of my front pocket and check the screen. “Gonna head inside and take this. It’s mom.”
Cookie snorts. Not sure what went down between her and my mother back in the day, but they detest each other, and neither'll tell me why.
As I head back into the house, I slide my thumb across the screen and my mother’s face pops up. Her beautiful dark skin glows like bronze under the lights, kinky brown curls framing her face.
“Owen, my baby!”
A grin yanks on both corners of my mouth. “‘Sup, mom.”
“I’m just checking in, see how you’re doing. If you need anything.”
In other words, she misses her only son.
