My brow furrowed. “I don’t understand how Hooked is going to do that for me.”
She gave me a confident smile. “You’re going to go make yourself a profile—assuming you don’t already have one—and you’re going to go connect with a woman.”
“What she means is, bury yourself in a woman,” Colson voiced.
“As much as I love you, Walker, I don’t have it in me to use those words,” Eden admitted. “But, yes,that. And I want you to continue doing it for a week. Or two.”
“Take it from someone who knows, some mindless sex is exactly what you need.” Colson smirked. “It’ll help, brother.”
My stare moved between their faces as I waited for one of them to start laughing or tell me this was a joke. “Have you two lost your fucking minds?”
“Listen to me.” She shook my shoulders. “You do not need to be alone right now. You need to be around the one thing thatisn’t going to remind you of work or food or kitchens or cookware. That’s not me, that’s not Colson or Beck or Hart. That’s a woman who will do all the things and give you all the things and, you know, who you can get lost in.”
My lips parted and, “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” was what fell out of them.
“And to make sure you’re not around a kitchen, I’m booking you a suite at the Beverly Hills Cole and Spade Hotel. Check in, get pampered, order in every meal—I don’t want you anywhere near a stove.”
“And fuck away your anger,” Colson said.
My tongue curved around my top lip. “You’re serious?”
“Dead serious,” she replied. “The room will be booked for this evening, so I expect you to go home, pack a suitcase, and head straight to the hotel. I’ll reach out to you in the morning when we board the jet to see how you’re feeling.” She released me. “Do not turn your phone off, or I’ll send one of the Spade brothers up to your suite for a wellness check.” She smiled. “I don’t think you want that.”
The owners—the Spade and Cole families—were close family friends as well as colleagues. We had restaurants in many of their hotels. The last thing I wanted was one of them banging on my goddamn door.
I lifted my middle finger and aimed it at them. “I don’t need anyone checking on me.”
“Then keep your phone on.” Eden joined Colson on the other side of my desk. “Remember, I’m doing this for your own good. And because I love you.” She moved to the doorway.
“And I’m telling you to follow her advice because she’s a fucking genius.” Colson nodded at me and trailed Eden to the exit.
Right before Eden turned, she said, “Please take my adviceand go directly to the hotel, and please, for the love of God, stay away from a kitchen.”
Once she was gone, my brother gave me a look. One I’d never seen from him before. “You haven’t been you in a long time, Walker. I want the old you back.”
As soon as he shut the door, the silence was so startling; the shaking I’d felt earlier, when the handle of the pan left my fingers, returned.
But instead of throwing something within reach, I was frozen while Colson’s words repeated in my head.
“You haven’t been you in a long time, Walker. I want the old you back.”
The issue with that statement was that I agreed.
As I stood in my office, halfway between the wall and my desk, I clicked on the app. I created a profile and went through the questionnaire, which took my brain off all the other bullshit I’d been dwelling on. Besides, forcing myself to really go through each prompt and take my time answering the questions truthfully, rather than skimming and choosing random answers, was important. Since the results would pair me with someone who had similar sexual desires, I needed to nail this part.
Someone who was only looking to hook up.
Someone who wouldn’t expect a relationship out of a one-night stand.
Once I finished, my thumb hovered over the button at the bottom that would make my account go live.
Do I really want to fucking do this?
Is burying myself in a woman really the answer?
For a whole week? Or two?
I pressed the button.
