Because he was right; they had nothing on mine.
Fuck me.
As I turned toward Hilary to really chew her ass out, I caught sight of Alivia. She was approaching the prep station with an empty tray that she was going to fill with more plates. Tonight was so busy; the majority of her time had been spent running food.
I knew.
Since I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.
She was just so fucking beautiful.
With those gorgeous blue eyes.
The freckles that sat beneath them and across her nose.
And those lips.
I needed a drink.
I needed one now.
I dragged my stare away from her and looked at Hilary, my teeth grinding together. “Go tend to your other tables. I’ll fucking deal with this.”
FOURTEEN
Alivia
The last thing I should be doing was staying past my shift at Charred, standing at a counter, far from the prep station and where the chefs worked, practicing my cutting skills. I needed to be up in six hours to go to my other job, and I still had to drive home.
But home was the last place I wanted to be.
It had been a week since I’d started here, and things were getting even tougher at Dean’s. Every night, when I walked through his door, I was immediately accused of being a slut. But that was the nicest word Dean called me; the others were much worse. Because hooking up with strangers was the only possible explanation for my whereabouts so late at night. No one would date me, according to him, so I couldn’t be with a boyfriend. I also couldn’t be at the assisted living facility—he knew my position ended at four.
I wasn’t sure why he never considered I had another job. Of course, I was careful. I changed my clothes at work. I hadbought perfume and sprayed it on me so I wouldn’t reek of food. But when he was spewing hate, those weren’t words he ever mentioned.
Every day, he was wearing me down a little more.
But the one-month deadline I had given myself was proving to be almost impossible, and it would likely be closer to two months before I was able to move out. I never considered that a landlord would want last month’s rent in addition to the first month’s rent and a security deposit. I just didn’t have enough money saved.
I will get there, I promised myself.
I would even pick up an extra shift at the assisted living facility if I had to?—
“What are you still doing here?” Walker asked in his deep, gritty tone.
I was so lost in my thoughts; I jumped like an alarm was running through me.
With the knife still in my hand, the teeth piercing the tomato I was holding, I slowly glanced over my shoulder at him. “I didn’t realize you were still here. Rachel told me she wasn’t closing up for another thirty minutes and would come get me when she was leaving.”
“I sent Rachel home.”
“Oh.”
His eyes narrowed. “You haven’t answered my question.”
I was in the section of the kitchen that housed the pots and pans, and this restaurant had hundreds. Between us, hanging from the ceiling, was a collection of copper ones, and Walker was so tall that they weren’t far from his head.
“I wanted to work on my cutting skills.” I shifted a few inches to show him what was behind me on the counter. “Don’t worry, none of these are from your stock. I took them off uneatenplates.”
