Hisreply was simple, to the point, and inexplicably the hottest text I’d everreceived.Good.
Chapter Eight
“Charlie,do it again.”
Mycoworker cursed under his breath, calling me a dirty name I couldn’t make out.I could have guessed though. I figured it landed somewhere in the generalvicinity of body parts used to degrade women.
Irolled my eyes. I wasn’t going to let him get away with being a crybaby. I’dstupidly made the mistake of sleeping with the idiot a while back. We’d goneout after an epically long shift and gin was involved. One bad decision led tothe next… I woke up the next morning with a killer hangover and buyer’s remorse.He was a nice enough guy, but so not for me. “Your asparagus is charred to helland you’ve murdered that egg.”
Thepoached egg over crispy, lemon asparagus was one of Wyatt’s original ideas andit was freaking fantastic. I mean, as hard as it was for me to give Wyatt acompliment, I had to admit it was the best asparagus I had ever tasted.
AndCharlie was doing a bang-up job of making sure nobody else shared my opinion.
“Fuckinghell, Kaya,” he continued to grumble.
“I’msaving your ass,” I reminded him. Lifting my gaze off the filet in my pan, Istared him down. “Or did you want to hear it from Wyatt instead?”
Halfhis mouth twitched into a smile. “You’re as bad as he is.”
Iwrinkled my nose, hating and loving the comparison all at once. “Don’t begross.” I threw my elbow toward his grill top. “And fucking pay attention oryou’re going to burn it again.”
“Yeah,yeah,” he mumbled but turned back to his food.
Oninstinct, I glanced back and caught Wyatt staring at us with that signatureglare of his. He was either pissed at Charlie for messing up the asparagus forthe third time tonight or at me for getting in Charlie’s business.
Ourgazes clashed together, fire flaming between us. Nope, he was definitely pissedat me. He probably wanted the chance to scream at Charlie and I’d taken it awayfrom him.
Suddenly,the strangest thing happened. A shadow of a smile passed over his lips. Hewasn’t glaring at me. He was smiling at me!
Nervesbubbled in my stomach at the same time my bones turned to liquid. I quicklyturned around and tried to forget that look, that exact expression. I’d seenWyatt smile before. Once or twice. Maybe. But that wasn’t a normal smile. Thatwas sex and sin and very dirty things.
Steak, Kaya. Pay attention to thesteak.
Itwould be a miracle if I didn’t ruin this poor filet. And it was wagyu. I’d bedamned before I burned wagyu. I needed to focus.
Andnot worry about Wyatt.
Yeah,right.
Ihad been telling myself that for two days now. It wasn’t working.
Mylips still burned where our mouths had touched on Wednesday. I had stoppedcalling it a kiss sometime yesterday, at like the twenty-four-hour obsessionmark. It wasn’t a kiss. Kisses were warm and gentle and lovely.
No,Wyatt hadn’t kissed me.
He’dbranded me.
Iknew that to be true, because I could still feel the outline of his lips onmine and the heat of his body pressed into me. The gentle touch of his tongue.The riot of butterflies that migrated through me from head to toe every time Ithought about it was unforgettable.
Kissesdidn’t leave me so disoriented. Kisses were ordinary. Or at best they werenice.
Onlynice.
ClearlyWyatt had done something more than kiss me, something wholly irreversible. NowI was stuck with the memory of his touch for the rest of my life.
Bastard.
“Didyou read the review?” Charlie asked in a low voice when he plated the nowperfect asparagus.
