“Yes,” I reply with a cool smile. “Their first date. I wanted to make it special.”
“We’re lucky the place is mostly ready to go then.”
“Lucky. Yes, we are. We’re talking about my brother and my best friend,” I tell Carla. “To be honest, I never saw it coming, but I couldn’t be happier.”
“And you’re their Cupid.”
“I doubt he’ll ever do better than Vivian. She’s as real as they come. Smart, beautiful, educated, strong. She’ll keep him on the straight and narrow, no matter what.”
“It’s nice, what you’re doing,” Carla says, “making sure their first date is perfect.”
“Oh, I’m going to make it perfect. I’ve got a special menu made up for them. If they don’t get married by next year, I’m the lousiest chef in this city.”
“Are you kidding?” she replies, almost laughing. “Most of the buzz around The Black Swan is about you, the young, ambitious new head chef. Which reminds me… I heard something. There’s a rumor going around in the hospitality industry.”
“What’s that?”
“The Kane. They’re miserable. They’ve been miserable since they let you go,” Carla says. “Maybe Alex can confirm, but I heard they made an offer for you. They wanted you back. Double or triple the salary, among other things.”
“Oh, I know,” I reply. “I turned them down over and over again. They’ll find someone else.”
“If I were Alex, I never would’ve told you. Risk losing you? No way.”
“They’d never lose me to The Kane. They’d never lose me, period. Thanks to them, I got my mojo back. Haus of Sin, The Black Swan, that’s where I belong. And the guys, they told me every time a new offer came in. They figured I should be the one to decide. Besides, The Kane’s management sent me private offers, too. The answer will always be no.”
Carla shakes her head slowly. “It’s incredible, the amount of damage one guy can do.”
“Yes, well, Jeremy’s not hurting anyone anymore, that’s for sure. And now that the truth is out, The Kane was left looking like a fool for dumping me. But that’s not my problem. I’ve got a dream gig going on right here.”
“Speaking of… Alex asked if you could meet him in the Cocktail Room,” Carla says. “When you’re done in the kitchen, that is.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
I smile at her and make my way across the restaurant’s main hall. I peek into the private salon first, where I’ll be hosting Kaleb and Vivian on their date tomorrow night. It looks wonderful. Private and cozy, yet luxurious and generously lit—though the latter is easily changed with a dimmer switch.
In contrast, the Cocktail Room is bigger, breezier, and more colorful.
Alex sits at the bar, nursing a whiskey. Max is behind the counter, drying tumbler glasses with a white cotton cloth. And Vincent waits by the window, gazing outside as the evening sets over the city with vibrant shades of pink and red.
“You asked to see me?” I say, then point at the stains on my tunic. “Pardon my appearance. I may have finally unlocked the perfect sauce for that duck breast.”
“And you look fantastic doing it,” Alex replies and sets the glass down.
“Is this about the grand opening? Are we any closer to a date? End of spring would be ideal,” I say.
He shakes his head slowly and gets up. “Not yet. We still have one thing we need to iron out before we can open the doors.”
“What’s that?” I ask, my mind already looking for possible answers.
“Making an honest woman out of you,” Alex says.
The answer takes me by surprise. I need a moment to register the words and their meaning. The guys cautiously approach me with steady but certain steps. I also need a moment to wrap my head around how good they look, with their silvery beards and ink tattoos peeking out from their unbuttoned shirts. Just last night, I was tracing the contours with my fingers, planting hot kisses here and there. My lips tell a story of their own.
“Wait, what?” I manage.
“You’re as much a part of The Black Swan as you are of our lives,” Alex says. “It doesn’t feel right if we don’t make this official between us in every single aspect.”
“All across the board,” Max adds, making good use of one of his favorite business terms as he takes out a black velvet box and opens it.
