He shrugged, playing cool, but hisshoulders were rigid, and he’d crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, but youdo know me. We could hang out. Away from food and our places of employment.”
I licked my suddenly dry lips andavoided his gaze. God, I wanted to say yes. My first instinct was to say yes.To jump at the chance to see what he was like away from a kitchen. To get toknow him without the pressure of performing. But Derrek was too fresh in mymind, a dark shadow that lingered in every corner of my new happiness.
Killian sensed my hesitation andthrew me a life preserver. “You don’t have to decide now. Just see how you feellater.”
“How will I find you?” Not that I wasthinking about going. Because I wasn’t.
“Here, hand me your phone. I’ll giveyou my number.”
I blinked at him, unable to believehe was seriously hitting on me. He had such a poker face. “Okay, smoothoperator,” I mumbled.
His lips twitched into a reluctantsmile. “What?”
“Don’t act so casual. I see whatyou’re doing.”
It became harder for him to holdback his smile. “I’m just saying; then you can text me later.”
“Mmm-hmmm.”
The smile won, breaking through andtransforming his face from ruggedly handsome toI can’t breathe when I look directly at you. “I probably need itanyway, you know, for like work stuff.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Work stuff?”
“That way I can just text you tipsand salt warnings.”
“You wouldn’t.”
He reached up to tug at the side ofhis beard, forcing it into shape. Then he curled those long fingers at me,gesturing for me to give up my phone.
Apparently, I’d also lost my mind. Igrabbed my cell from the shelf over my head and walked it to him. “If I get atext about salt, I might punch you.”
He took the phone from me after I’dtapped in the password, our fingers brushing in the exchange. It wasn’tanything. We barely touched, but a burst of sensation sizzled up my arm,sending butterflies in a craze inside my belly and flushing my cheeks with heat.What was wrong with me?
I’d sworn off men.
Allmen.
Including him.
Especiallyhim.
But honestly, did I even stand achance when it came to him? His bright green eyes were warm beneath thicklashes. His dark hair was wavy and full, pushed to one side in a disheveledsort of delicious mess. He was just a step shorter than me, since he stillhovered near the doorway and it was the first time I looked at his face wherehis beard wasn’t the prominent feature. From this angle, I noticed his tanned, perfectskin and the wrinkles his forehead made when he raised his eyebrows.
I swallowed and took a steadyingbreath.Get it together.
He punched in his number and thencalled his phone from mine. “It’s done,” he said simply, handing it back to me.“Just text me when you decide about tonight. I’ll tell you where to meet us.”
“Do you go out with your staff alot?” I knew I was being nosy, but whenever they came to the truck, they seemedto be terrified of him. Wyatt especially had a delirious case of hero-worshipgrounded in substantial work-related terror. I wondered if Killian was adifferent person with them outside of work.
Although it was hard to imagineKillian as anything but domineering.
He lifted one shoulder. “Yeah, Idon’t know. Sometimes.”
“That’s nice of you. I bet they likethat.”
His dry look disagreed with me.“Sure. Everyone loves hanging out with their boss.”
“Hey, my employees love hanging outwith me. Maybe it’s just you.”
