The ball of paper on the floor was a brief sketch of the five courses, which was nothing but shit.
“And now I need to cancel,” I told them. I leaned back in my chair, my head shaking. “I can’t fucking do that dinner.”
“Before we go there …” Eden held up her hand and loudly sighed. “Let’s discuss Alivia.”
I gripped both armrests. “There’s nothing to discuss.”
“There is because you haven’t said a word to me about an NDA,” Eden voiced. “Does that?—”
“It means we don’t need one,” I interrupted.
“You’re positive she won’t speak to the staff? And that she hasn’t already?” Colson asked.
I rocked in my chair. This conversation made my breathing come out deeply and loudly. “You do know how a restaurant works, don’t you? The second someone finds out something, they tell their best friend. That’s equivalent to lighting a piece of dry kindling in the middle of a forest. Once those embers start sparking, the entire forest is engulfed in flames. In less than an hour, every single person—including the people who are out sick or have the day off—know. It would make its way back to me—it always does. And it hasn’t.”
“There’s still plenty of time for her to say something?—”
“She won’t,” I roared, cutting off Colson.
“How do you know?” he pressed.
Because when I had looked into her eyes, I could tell she wanted me.
Because when I had caught her from falling, she had leaned into my hands.
“Because she would have already said something,” I voiced instead.
“I don’t buy that.” He crossed his legs. “You don’t know when anyone is going to open their mouth and gossip. What if she’s out drinking with the other servers and?—”
“She doesn’t drink.”
“What if?—”
“Enough!” I leaned forward and crossed my hands on top of the desk. “Take this as my nonnegotiable response: she fucking won’t. Now drop it.”
There was a smile hinting at his lips … and I didn’t like it. “Does that mean something’s happening between you two?”
“No.”
“Or maybe I should ask, do you want something to happen between you two again?”
“Colson, I reached my limit the second you guys sat down in my office. Keep goading me, and I’ll walk the fuck out.”
His brows rose and stayed high, and his smirk stretched wide. “Is that a yes?”
“That’s a yes to be finished with this conversation. Move on to James and how you’re going to help her find another chef once I cancel on her.”
“Hold on.” Eden put her hand on my desk to gain my attention. “I need to make sure you and Alivia don’t have a problem working together despite what happened. And I need to know I won’t have to pick up the pieces of an HR case that’s on the verge of rearing its ugly head.”
“You have nothing to worry about.”
She slowly nodded. “Okay.” She furrowed her brow, tugging at the collar of her shirt. “Would she say the same?”
“Yes.”
“Then we can move on,” Eden said. “Why don’t you want to do James’s charity auction? The exposure would be tremendous. You would be giving back to a charity that’s sole dedication is helping children?—”
“I have zero interest in coming up with a menu for a hundred people. Zero interest in stepping foot in the kitchen where the event is being held.” My fingers clenched into a fist. “And less than zero interest in spending two days prepping and an entire day and night cooking.”
