Catering to Love (14 page)

“Gabi, I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Thank you.” He shook her hand and left.

Feeling satisfied, she cleared the table and entered the kitchen when she heard Corey reprimanding Joey in a stern voice. “If you don’t get your act together, you’re outta here.” Joey’s face flushed when he saw Gabi.

While not completely concealing her displeasure, Gabi gestured to Corey to follow her out to the front of the restaurant. “Would you care to tell me what that was about?”

“I didn’t like the way he filleted the white fish, and I’ve had it.”

“Corey, first of all, please do not speak to the staff like that. You don’t have the authority to fire people. If you have something you want to say to them, speak in private, offer to help, or come to me.”

“You’ve got this business thing all wrong. What happens if he does something like that when we’re busy?”

Gabi stared him down. “I’m headed to my office. Please join me in there.”

“I’m busy.”

She glared at him, “I’m not asking, Corey. I’m telling you.”

Corey clamped his mouth shut and looked away. Gabi headed toward her office and waited for him. She was extremely disappointed Corey had treated Joey so shabbily, and even more surprised when he showed up promptly.

“Okay, I’ve been pretty silent about your smart remarks until now. After seeing you chastise Joey in front of everyone, I’m not about to let you get away with this. You just asked me to trust you, to let you show me how to run a business. If this is how you go about doing it, you can forget it. I don’t care how you did things in your restaurant, you won’t do them like that in mine. Whether it’s before, during, or
after the rush hour makes no difference. These are real people with feelings, and if you need to browbeat someone just to stroke your own ego, you talk to yourself in the mirror. I’ve seen what harsh words can do to employees and I won’t tolerate it in my place of employment. If you want to maintain sous-chef status in this restaurant, you’ll do things my way. So leave your ego at home.”

His mouth thinned with displeasure. “You’ve got a lot to learn.”

“Perhaps I do, but this is my restaurant and I’m going to learn it my way. Am I making myself clear?”

“Perfectly!” He turned on his heels and stormed out the door.

Gabi’s pulse raced from the altercation. Was he even worth keeping on staff? She lowered her head into her hands and closed her eyes. She had some serious thinking to do. True, he was egotistical, but was that due in part to having had his own business? His aversion to female bosses? There was no doubt he was a valuable asset. Some of his comments were right on target, but his attitude was what bothered her the most. He was an excellent chef. She liked that he thought outside the box. Gabi sighed and rubbed her forehead to relieve the headache just beginning to form between her brows. She dropped a couple of ibuprofen into the palm of her hand, put them in her mouth, and washed them back with the water left in the bottle sitting on her desk.

Ten minutes later and she had convinced herself she was being too emotional, that making any decisions in her current state of mind would not be in her best interest. As a new resident of Pennsylvania, it wasn’t like she had a circle
of chef friends from which to choose a replacement. The business was doing well, better than she’d anticipated given the problems that can occur with new ownership. Was she willing to risk firing him and possibly not finding a suitable replacement? What if she did make a switch and the person turned out to be a nightmare? A move like that could destroy her business. She sucked in a deep breath and expelled the air from her lungs. It was in her best interest to give him another chance. But was she being blinded by his good looks? No, she wasn’t that dumb. Or was she? The fact was, he was always on her mind. Was that because she was falling for him, or because he demanded so much attention?

She shook her head and pulled a tube of lip balm from her pocket and smeared a coat across her dry lips. Adjusting her jacket, she walked out into the kitchen. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he’d even be at his station.

“Nice job today, everyone,” Gabi said at the close of business. “How did you guys feel about the changeover?”

Joey was the first to respond with a loud whoop. “God, it felt so good to be doing something different.”

“I liked it too,” Steven said.

“And I like having him help,” Leslie offered. “Actually, Steven knows a lot more than I do, and it’s nice having a partner to bounce ideas off.”

Gabi smiled. “Awesome, guys!” She watched them gather their belongings and head toward the door. “Hey, you guys want to celebrate tonight?”

“I can have a fast drink,” Steven said.

“Okay, let’s finish cleaning and we’ll be on our way. By the way, I want to try a new recipe tomorrow. Fruited duck breasts.”

“Mmm,” Joey said. “Do we get to do a taste test?”

“Of course. How else will you know what it’s supposed to taste like?”

“See, I knew there was something I liked about this woman the minute she walked in the door,” Leslie said.

Gabi turned and continued cleaning her area when she noticed Corey’s workspace hadn’t been cleaned. She huffed out an annoyed breath and continued to finish her chores. The fact that he’d been quiet after their altercation had her wondering if he was angry and lamenting over their conversation. Maybe he was planning to quit. Even though she pretended it didn’t bother her, she knew that losing him would leave her without backup support. But deep down she also knew that problem would be secondary to the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the thought that she might never see him again.

She emptied the dish drainer and attempted to hang the pots back on the overhead rack when she heard him clear his throat.

“Here, let me get that for you.”

She turned abruptly, shocked to hear his voice. “Oh. I thought you left without cleaning your station.” Her heart rate increased when she saw the first spark of warmth in his smile.

“No. I was actually outside blowing off steam.” She gave him a raised brow. “And that’s why I stuck around, because I want to talk to you.”

A knot formed in her stomach. “What do you want to talk about?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.”

“I want to apologize for being such a jerk today.”

“Joey’s the one you need to apologize to, not me. But…”

He held his hand up. “I already did.” He moved toward his station and began cleaning up. He scoffed. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but even one of my closest friends walked out on me the other night because of my attitude.” His lips tightened.

His sudden change of attitude so soon after she’d laid her cards on the table made her suspicious of his intentions. What was he trying to do? Throw her off her game? Was he now killing
her
with kindness? “We’re all going out for a drink if you’d like to come along.”

Later that night, Corey pulled his car in front of the restaurant and cut the engine. “Thanks for driving,” Leslie said. “See you both tomorrow.”

“I’m right behind you,” Gabi said. She put her hand on the lever to open the car door.

Corey pulled on her arm. “Wait. Can we talk now?”

“Okay. What’s on your mind?”

“Despite my tantrums, I do think you’re an okay boss.”

Gabi shot him a cynical side-glance, and something in that look of hers caused his heart to beat faster. And all he could do was imagine her in his arms.

“I’m really sorry for my behavior.”

“I’m curious about something—is yelling at the employees in front of others something you did in the restaurant you managed?”

“Yeah,” he stammered, unable to look directly into her eyes, “I guess I’m guilty of that. I just wanted everything to be perfect. Although I’m not… not by a long shot, but I’ve always expected those around me to be. Maybe it’s because I thought it would make me look good. I don’t know.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I guess it’s a carryover from my childhood. My parents were very successful in their line of work and expected their children to be the same. I fought them too,” he shrugged, “even ran away from
home once when I couldn’t live up to their expectations.” He shook his head. “And when I finally found my passion for cooking, something I was really good at, that was taken away from me too. I lost everything and couldn’t turn back. I’m not very proud of my behavior, but lately, it seems like no matter what I do, it turns to crap. As a result, I’m frustrated and push away the very people I love.” He snorted. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, except I do want you to know I’m sorry, and I promise to try very hard not to do it again.” The expression on Gabi’s face told him she wasn’t buying it. “I know you don’t believe me. So I guess I’ll just have to show you.”

“I guess you will.”

“Well, I’d better head on home. Thanks for inviting me. Thanks, too, for allowing me to clear my head.” She extended her hand. When their hands touched, the warmth emanating from her skin made his heart race, and he thought he could see a sparkle in her eye. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Gabi closed the door and released a shaky breath to relieve the strange feeling inside her. What was wrong with her? This guy had been an absolute jerk, yet she couldn’t stop the burning attraction she felt for him. What? She’d suddenly become interested in bad boys? And an employee to boot? So what was wrong with that? she reasoned.
Everything
. She ambled toward her bed and undressed. Maybe what she needed was a shower. The warm water always helped release anxiety. Yep, that was definitely what she needed now. But did she really want to stop dreaming about him just yet? Her hand went up and touched her mouth. She so missed being around a bunch of flirty guys who were always laughing and having fun. At least in New York, she’d had lots of men around her when she and the girls went out. She snickered. It was good for her ego. Yeah, that had to be it—her ego needed stroking. Gabi heaved a deep sigh and stepped in under the steamy water and held her face up to the deluge, telling herself this would wash away the feelings. Nothing good ever came from an employer dating an employee. But
she had to admit, the growing feelings she felt for him were tantalizing. Maybe too much.

She was kidding herself if she thought this could turn out to be anything but a disaster. She increased the heat of the water, deciding erasing this ridiculous thought from her mind was probably all for the best. She remained under the water for a long time, trying not to think about him or what it would feel like to be in his strong arms. She had a business to run, and she didn’t need this guy distracting her in that way. He’d already become a fixture in her mind. Certainly more than she’d wanted. Gabi wondered what it would be like tomorrow when they were together again. She glanced down at her hands and remembered the heat from his touch. Her expressions were always so easy to read. Had he realized she’d wanted him to kiss her? And the fact that she’d leaned slightly forward as though she was going to kiss him instead. Geez! How awkward was that? Well, she was a hugger by nature. Always wanting to make people feel better. That was it, wasn’t it? She dug back into her mind and convinced herself it might have just been her nurturing side taking over. Is that what she’d been thinking at the time? She couldn’t remember—her thoughts were cloudy.
Right!
But wasn’t it interesting that the image of his slight smile afterward wasn’t? He had to have known. She humphed. “Hell,” she said aloud. She wasn’t fooling anyone but herself.

She exited the shower and toweled off. With the clean smell of lavender lingering in the air from her body wash, she smoothed scented lotion over her body. Lavender always made her sleep better. She slid under the covers and released another shaky breath to relieve the butterflies fluttering inside her, then tossed around trying to find a comfortable
position. She shook her head. Sleep wasn’t likely to come so easily tonight.

Gabi shuffled down the stairs a little later than usual. Her sleep had been disturbed by conflicting dreams about love and romance and someone shoving a whipped cream pie in her face. Her stomach felt queasy, but she told herself she couldn’t hide any longer. She had to see how Corey acted today. Maybe he was feeling it too. She sucked in her breath and blew it out before entering the kitchen, wondering what he’d have to say. Preparing what she might say if he brought up last night didn’t help. Her mind went blank when she saw him.