I already know the answer because it took us forty-five minutes to clean up the mess, but I’m still amused at how unsettled he was over ruined bread dough. You’d think I started a pyramid scheme and stole money from a children’s hospital with all theWhat a shamessaid under his breath.
“Yes,” he levels, looking back at me in the bathroom mirror.
I blink, putting a hand on my hip. “Okay, next time, you make me something ... anything while I blow you, and we’ll see how well you do.”
He grins, bringing his hand to the top of his towel. “Go get a stick of butter—”
I laugh, playfully shoving him before I walk out of the bathroom and plop down on the bed in my towel.
“Hey, you never told me if you successfully kept today a surprise from the guys.”
Chase peeks his face around the doorjamb. “Yeah, they don’t have a clue. It’s getting delivered and installed later tonight. Nobody will be there ... except for me.”
Obviously.He’s so cute.
“I think it’s so cute that you had, like, a family portrait made for the kitchen. Ten bucks says Leo tears up.”
He laughs from the bathroom before he walks out, talking. “I mean, some of these guys have been with me since the beginning in Boston. Come to think of it, Eddie’s really the only new guy.”
I’m putting lotion on my legs as he saunters past me to his dresser, looking sexy enough to eat with a towel around his waist. I fall back on my elbows and smile.
“Slut.”
He grants me that goddamn dimple and winks. “Aww, thanks, baby.”
He grabs his underwear and pulls it on before I get back to the point.
“How did you guys meet? You and Eddie ... because he doesn’t strike me as someone you’d normally be friends with. He’s kind of unfriendly.”
“I think it’s cause he’s British.”
I laugh. “That’s what I thought. But British people are exceptionally funny, and he didn’t laugh at my jokes ... not once. I don’t know, he just seemed off ...”
He looks at me likeOhbefore selecting a T-shirt.
“You can blame a guy named Tommy—he’s who recommended him. I was doing an appearance with some other chefs. I knew I needed someone new since my old sous had kids, and he wouldn’t want to leave and come to LA. So Tommy recommended him. I flew out, we had dinner, he had excellent taste and seemed to know a lot about me, so it seemed like a good fit.”
He pulls his T-shirt over his head. “Would you want me to get someone new, baby?”
I blanch, surprised by the offer because he’s dead serious. Chase is staring back at me as he buttons his jeans, not a trace of humor or malice written over his face.
“You’d do that?” I breathe out. “You would fire somebody simply because I don’t like them.”
He grins and shakes his head. “No ... I would fire someone if you told me that your gut said they weren’t cool.” He walks toward the bed, leaning over me and kissing my forehead. “I trust your judgment, Evie.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the difference between a boy and a man.
I roll my lips together, trying to hide my smile before I say, “Just tell him to laugh at my jokes, and we’ll be cool.”
Chase laughs, pushing back off the bed. “Stop making me fall for you.”
“No promises.”
My phone buzzes somewhere over on the bed, so I roll around, trying to find it, until I lie back and hold up the message to my face.
Erin:Call when you get here. We had a weirdo on set. Security will score you in.
I instantly sit up, looking at Chase, then read him the message.
