“Thequiche?”
“Thetruth, damn it.”
Nervesswirled in my belly and my skin felt hot and itchy and too tight. Was this themoment I ruined everything again? Was this my bad luck on repeat?
Wyattand I had finally found this amazing, wonderful, incredible thing and I wasgoing to leave him to work at Sarita. Hopefully. Okay, to be fair, I wasn’tleaving the city. But with our crazy schedules, I might as well have beenleaving him to move to Mars.
“Kaya,”he growled impatiently.
Iblew out a quivering breath and decided it best to just rip off the Band-Aid.This was a fantastic morning. I would probably remember every detail of it forthe rest of my life. I honestly had no idea how Wyatt would react to my secret.Although, we had discussed the possibility of me leaving at some point for myown restaurant, it had only been hypothetical until now.
“Sarita,”I blurted, anxiety getting the best of me. “I’m trying out for Sarita’s executivechef position.”
“Sarita?”
Ishrugged.
“Isthat where you’ve been Sunday evenings?”
Isquinted and tried to keep my voice from quivering from fear of his reaction. “Vera’sbeen, er, kind of training me to take over. Hopefully.”
“Sarita?”he repeated as if it were the most unbelievable thing he’d ever heard.
Ishrugged again. “I don’t know… yeah…” Confidence bloomed somewhere near myknees and started walking its way up to my heart, one baby step at a time.“Sarita. I like her a lot. She has more of a vibe I can relate to. And I lovethe design of her menu and bar. I… the position opened up and I knew I wantedit. Ezra’s interviewing me next Monday.” I sucked on my lip ring for a secondand then added, “Oh, so I need that day off too.”
Hisexpression remained unreadable, mysterious and closed off. “Are you sure youwant to work for Ezra?” he asked. “He’s pretty much the worst.”
Goodquestion. But I already knew my answer. “I get that. But he also has some ofthe best restaurants in the city. Maybe even the country. I want to run one. Iwant to do the awards and the magazine spreads and make a name for myself. Ezramight be hard to work with, but I know I can reach my goals in one of hisrestaurants. Plus… I can’t explain the connection I feel with Sarita. It’s likewe bonded on a spiritual level. I was made for her. And she was made for me.”
“Whatif you don’t get the job?” he asked.
“ThenI quit cooking. Completely.” I laughed at my joke, but he didn’t seem to findit as funny. In fact, he didn’t laugh at all.
“Beserious, Ky. What if he doesn’t give it to you?”
Whatif? What if what if what if what if?
Thewords had been bouncing around in my head for weeks. Hell, maybe I’d beenfacing them for years. What if I had stayed in Hamilton? What if Nolan hadmoved to Durham? What if I wasn’t so defiant and at the same time, paralyzed withthe fear of failure?
Butfor the first time in years, the question didn’t hit me quite so hard. “I keepworking for you,” I told him honestly. “Or Vera and Killian. Vera has doneeverything but flat-out offer me the sous chef position. At least that’s alateral move.”
Hiseyes narrowed. “Fuck Vera and Killian.”
“Wyatt!”
Hissmile took the edge off his harsh words. “Seriously though, they’re trying topoach from me already? Filthy rat bastards.”
Ipressed my lips together to hide my smile. “I think they’re trying to findpeople they can trust.”
Hegrumbled more curse words, but eventually he said, “That job would never haveany advancement. Vera and Killian will always be ECs. You’ll only ever be asous chef there.”
Nodding,I said, “I realize that. That’s exactly why I’m not seriously considering theposition. I was flattered she asked, but the position isn’t for me.”
“Shewould ask. She’d be dumb not to,” he grunted. “You’re too fucking good for yourown good.”
Hiswords were meant as an insult, but they hit me right in the chest with hope andtruth and a whisper that maybe Sarita wasn’t impossible.
“Sarita?”He grunted for the third time.
