Page 15 of Don't Remind Me
“She’s like a kid,” Jase said with fondness in his voice.
Our gazes caught, our smiles matching, and for a second, it was like it had been last week before I’d said anything about Alec and taken a sledgehammer to the gentle comradery forming between us.
I broke our stare, turning my attention to my bag to pull out my laptop. “If you could get me the details for the finalized cocktail menu by next week, that’ll give me time to start designing its layout while you move on to finalizing the other three.”
“Sure, no problem. I?—”
“I just sent it. Did it go through?”
Jase let out a heavy sigh as Jillian reemerged, marching over with determined strides.
I refreshed my email. “Got it.”
She pulled out the barstool next to mine and shimmied onto the seat as I opened the attachment. I stole a glimpse at Jase, who pressed his lips together and gave a slow nod as if accepting his dismissal before picking up my empty dessert plate and withdrawing to the kitchen.
I watched him go, struck by the odd sense that not all of him wanted to leave.
Even odder was how not all of me wanted him to either.
Chapter Six
Jase
“You planningon doing any cooking today, or have you switched careers to bartending?” Aubrey asked as she walked up to where I leaned against the counter behind the bar. She grabbed the ice scoop and filled the plastic deli container she used as a drinking cup with ice.
I’d been here for the last hour, one ankle hooked over the other, arms crossed over my chest, watching the scene play out in the dining room. I hadn’t even changed out of my street clothes yet, still wearing jeans and a T-shirt. It wasn’t unusual for me to arrive early to work, but me not doing anything once I got here was.
I shot her a smirk. “Like you don’t have it covered in there.”
I’d first worked with Aubrey at my last job before coming to Ardena. I’d been the executive chef, and she’d been one of two sous chefs, the only woman in a kitchen of ten cooks. That ratio was still fairly common in professional kitchens, but that kitchen in particular made being a woman ten times more difficult, thanks to the owner of the restaurant being a grade A prick.
Every day, I’d watched the other sous chef—a guy named Christian who thought the snot in his nose deserved a Michelin star—pass off the most difficult and time-consuming tasks to Aubrey, then turn to the owner and whisper in his ear that she was slow and sloppy. He’d mock her for thinking she would ever make executive chef, knowing she would never complain. To complain was to be seen as weak, and no woman could afford that in this industry. Anything I said to the owner about firing the asshole was ignored, along with every attempt at higher wages for the line cooks and more reasonable hours all around.
When Jillian offered me the job to run her new restaurant, it had been a no-brainer. So had asking Aubrey to come with me as my sous chef.
Best two decisions I ever made.
She scoffed as she topped off her cup with water. “Of course, I do. Just don’t want you to get rusty. I’m not sure Zach or Luis could handle sous chef just yet if Jillian was forced to kick you to the curb.”
I chuckled, but my attention slid back to the couches in the center of the room.
“How’s it going?” Aubrey asked, following my gaze.
“Good, I think. Been pretty standard questions.”
Jillian’s press release from a few days ago managed to land Dani three interviews at the restaurant. She currently sat on one of the blue velvet couches, finishing up with reporter number two. I had no idea whether she’d done this before or was just a natural, but watching her, you’d assume talking to the press was her full-time job.
Her body was at ease, her legs crossed in a way that came off as laid-back while at the same time in total control, and she’d lean in ever so slightly as the reporters spoke, communicating they were in the driver’s seat, when really she was the one to plant the seed for the next question with her every response.
I’d watched her strike the same balance with Jillian as they’d worked out the final draft of the press release. How she’d smoothly sneak in and take command without the other person realizing it. A good number of my former bosses had strived for that same skill and fallen short. Something told me Dani didn’t realize she possessed it at all.
To top it off, she clearly knew her stuff. Answers rolled off her tongue without hesitation about HBC’s mission and the clinic they were trying to build, even touching on Jillian’s contributions and Ardena. And none of it sounded stiff or like regurgitated talking points.
Jillian had only been here for the first interview before needing to run. She’d sat behind the reporter and looked on with the same sharp smile she wore whenever she sensed victory.
As for me, I didn’t have a real reason for being here. None other than that this restaurant meant as much to me as it did Jillian, and I cared about the kind of press it got. I was just keeping an eye on things.
I nearly had myself convinced.
